Controversial Netflix True Story Lost Beloved Star Numerous Fans
If you were at all tapped into the Academy Awards earlier this year, you’re likely already aware of Bradley Cooper’s 2023 Oscar-bait film Maestro. The film, which saw waves of controversy since its release, received over a half-dozen Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, despite being widely hailed as one of the most obnoxious, self-congratulating, awkward, and tactless films of the last few years. If you’re wondering why Bradley Copper lost a number of fans in the last few months, you can stream Maestro on Netflix to find out.
Bradley Cooper Is Leonard Bernstein In Maestro
Maestro is a biopic about American composer Leonard Bernstein, who is largely considered to be one of the most important figures in the history of music, and one of the most talented individuals of his time. Bradley Cooper wrote, directed, and starred in the film, making it his second directorial effort after 2018’s A Star Is Born. While Maestro wasn’t made as a Netflix original, the film has landed on the streamer recently, offering audiences around the world a chance to see Cooper’s skills in action.
Addressing The “Ick” Factor
Long before Maestro landed on Netflix, the film was already steeped in controversy, especially regarding certain prosthetics used to bring the biopic to life. Before the movie premiered, behind-the-scenes images of Bradley Cooper with a massive Toucan Sam nose made the rounds on the internet, with many members of the Jewish faith taking issue. Critics accused Cooper and his team of being antisemitic, maligning the prosthetic nose as an over-the-top representation of the beloved Jewish composer.
Things were only made worse after the film premiered, when Bradley Cooper appeared in a promotional interview alongside Leonard Bernstein’s living children. While waxing poetic about the composer’s life and legacy, Cooper became overwhelmed with emotion, causing him to tear up and claim that he frequently misses Bernstein… despite having never met the man in his life.
If you pull up Maestro on Netflix, you can clearly see Cooper’s reverence for the conductor, but crying in front of his actual children gave fans far and wide the “ick” regarding all things Bradley Cooper.
Bradley Cooper’s Ego Called Into Question
Then there’s the movie itself, which comes across as needlessly self-indulgent, not to the legacy of Bernstein, but to the ego of Cooper. If you do pull up Maestro on your Netflix dashboard, you’ll quickly be treated to numerous scenes which display Cooper’s obnoxious performance, embarrassing accent work, and over-the-top shot composition with sloppy visual effects used to make certain shots look like they were done in a single take.
None of the work that went into this film seems to be in service of anything but appealing to the Academy Awards, which ultimately paid off with a number of nominations.
Polarizing Oscar Fodder
Luckily, Cooper and his gang didn’t take home any Oscar wins for Maestro, which seems destined to languish in the pits of Netflix’s library until it’s completely forgotten. The film has become highly polarizing between audiences and critics, with a discrepancy of over 20 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have rated the film at 78 percent on the review aggregate site, while general audiences have panned the project with a harsher 57 percent as of this writing.
Proceed With Caution
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If you’re interested in catching this train wreck for yourself, be sure to search for Maestro on Netflix today. Just be advised that the film is responsible for Bradley Cooper losing droves of fans. If you’d like to skip over this film to keep your opinion of the popular performer intact, you may be well advised to do so.
