December 15 - December 20, 22 & 23
The Art Center Cinema announces the upcoming film, “Maestro,” playing at the Cinema starting this Friday, December 13 through Wednesday, December 20; with the inclusion of Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23, 2023. Tickets for the film can be purchased online or at the box office.
Bradley Cooper surprised many with his assured, unabashedly emotional but just-this-side-of-melodramatic remake of a venerable tragic romance, A Star Is Born. His follow-up cements his enormous talent both helming the film and starring, but the ambitious scope and complexity of the material is amped up to 11 in this fascinating portrait of composer Leonard Bernstein.
Complexity is crucial because the story of Bernstein’s 27-year marriage to Felicia Montealegre is easy to reduce to glib analysis: “famous closeted gay man hides his sexuality in the mid-20th century by marrying a devoted woman willing to settle for a sham relationship.” That doesn’t tell the whole story, and it dehumanizes two very fascinating individuals. Cooper and co-scenarist Josh Singer take the relationship seriously, showing its real challenges, setbacks, and moments of honest romance. Yes, Leonard and Felicia loved each other—in a complicated way that’s exceptionally portrayed by Cooper and co-star Carey Mulligan. Just as A Star Is Born depended on the film’s balancing its focus on both partners, Maestro is not a biopic where the “great man” is occasionally seen through the eyes of his less significant spouse; here, Leonard and Felicia are equally important even though it’s Bernstein’s wondrous music that propels the film, whether it’s music from West Side Story or (in a great scene) Mahler’s “Resurrection” which Bernstein triumphantly conducts with the London Symphony Orchestra.
Leonard’s boundless creative energy is beguiling, but Felicia’s more grounded, pragmatic, and worldly-wise personality provide a great counterpoint, especially when Leonard’s philandering gets out of control. There’s no shortage of chemistry between Cooper and Mulligan, each holding their own and commanding the screen. The use of gorgeous black-and-white cinematography, transitioning to color in the later decades not only offers an evocative sense of history but reminds us of an era when movie actors were truly stars. That era is still with us, and the dynamic central performances illuminate every frame of this modern-day masterpiece.
Rated R for profanity and some drug use. | 2h 9m
Starring: Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan
Director: Bradley Cooper
Film descriptions are written by friend and cinema supporter, Dave Cooper.
Maestro
Now Playing December 15 - December 20, 22 & 23
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Friday | 6 PM
Saturday-Sunday | 2 PM & 6 PM
Monday-Wednesday | 6 PM
Tickets
$12 General Admission
$10 Students & Seniors
$8 SAC Members
Friday Late Night showing @ 8:30 PM: all tickets only $8