Maestro

Bradley Cooper's second feature solidifies his position as one of the greatest directors working in Hollywood today. Cooper depicts a relationship between a creative couple - composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and his actress wife, Felicia Montealegre - and observes how the passion of one - Bernstein for his sincere love for music, life, and men - gradually wrenches the forces from his wife's career and love. This is not a musical biography – though Bernstein's melody is present throughout – but rather a portrait of a lifelong, strong, and painful relationship. Cooper directs with tremendous talent, avoiding redundant dramatic scenes, and produces the focal emotional effect from moments of observation and reaction, which he builds as with a brilliant combination of acting, camera, and intention. In short, Maestro is an eloquent and clever cinematic work that activates the mind and the heart.