MAESTRO (in theatres)

Immersive perfection graces Bradley Cooper’s cloning of Composer/Conductor Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990); elegiac in deportment, dazzling depth, Cooper as star, producer, director oozes with the “blood, sweat and tears” of a rarefied genius, a polymath whose skill, innovation conquered the galaxy, anchored eternally in the stratospheric.

“Maestro” without apology, spotlights Bernstein’s sexuality; in essence the man had a gargantuan capacity to love; he worshiped women, adored men; he was uninhibited in his devotion, manifestation of desire and the object of his passion; viewers understand, respect the man; unnecessary, was the ubiquitous reminders of the whims of his heart.  Flamboyantly, from commencement, stunningly filmed in black and white before morphing into color, Bernstein’s debut into the realm of the immortal, gifted by Bruno Walter’s illness, is immaculately, with overwhelming exuberance, depicted by Cooper. Bradley Cooper’s six-year engrossment with the Bernstein family, comprehensively prodigious, resulted in an indelible chronicle.

“Maestro’s” soul revolves around Bernstein’s familial circle; his marriage to actor Felicia Montealegre; Carey Mulligan reaches an insurmountable pinnacle as a woman who realizes her husband loves her, collectively with his incapacity to be “in love” with her; her ravishing, painful awareness reverberates with authenticity.

“Maestro” will beg comparisons to “Tar”, a fictional, female conductor, (Mahler’s 5^th soars); Cate Blanchett’s remarkable performance was dissected by the educated and neophytes alike. Cooper, in an entirely different category dons the persona, both private and professional of a man known universally; Mahler’s revered 2^nd Symphony conducted with unsullied versatility and mimicry by Cooper is imperishable. Bradley Cooper succeeds in his examination, deciphering of a man of magnitude, awe, artistry; a man who loved mankind in tandem with music, therein lies ascendancy.

FOUR & ½ STARS!!!!

Peneflix