Another movie about an artist and his long-suffering wife needs to be more different than this.
There's a lot to admire about Bernstein's work, and Cooper enjoys sharing his brilliance with us, but the movie is decidedly about his marriage first. The best thing about the story of their marriage is their performances. Mulligan plays a wife devoted to her husband's genius better than anyone. That doesn't bring anything novel to the story. It just makes all the unspoken moments Mulligan shares with us so special.
Why is it overrated? Just because it's a movie about a famous genius, and it's half in black and white for some reason, and everyone in it is upper class high society, that doesn't automatically make it Important.
Maestro reminded me of the Fosse/Verdon miniseries, and not just because Mulligan and Michelle Williams look alike. That show also dealt with the power dynamics in a creative power couple, and did it better.
The wandering camera and oblique shot composition felt arty for its own sake. Why is that guy's head half out of frame? Why is that lady behind a drapery while delivering her lines? Where is the camera going now? Nobody knows. The camera seems to reluctantly follow the action, like Cooper is desperate not to make a cookie-cutter mainstream biopic, and every muddy, overlapping conversation is like a parody of an Altman film. Then the script occasionally reverts to plainspoken revelations, like when Felicia finally snaps at Lenny on Thanksgiving in their Dakota apartment, yelling at Lenny exactly who he is and why, while the Macy's balloons float by outside. Then later, after a movie full of deeply expressive and subtle reactions, Felicia has lunch with Lenny's sister (Sarah Silverman) and just explains prosaically how she feels and why.
Also baffling is the one scene of magical realism, early in the film, where Lenny takes Felicia into his musical On The Town and they become integrated into the sailors' ballet. As a metaphor about their courtship and budding romance, it's nice, and it's a showcase for his music and the choreography, but it doesn't happen again. All the other examples of his music onscreen are diegetic live musical performances. Nothing is actually staged. And many people expecting acknowledgement of his most famous work will be disappointed. It feels intentional that West Side Story is not really in the movie. It's only mentioned tangentially, and its (instrumental) music only appears on the soundtrack briefly, as the score to a minor bit of action.
Is the music amazing? Yes. Is the epic seven-minute shot of Lenny conducting impressive? Yes, if I knew why the camera moves where it does. A seven minute shot with no cuts should not leave me wondering "why is it circling around him counter-clockwise, then circling back the other way?" - I should just be thinking about the drama. My Stub Hubby grade: C-plus (on Netflix, at home alone with the cat)