I hesitated to watch this as I find biographies tiresome as a general rule and I have no particular affinity for the person of Leonard Bernstein. In the end, what made me come around was that it’s focused on his relationship with his wife, rather than his career as a musician, and I thought my wife might like it. Its specific focus actually made it better than I’d expected. On the one hand, it’s another case of the talented superstar who can’t help being involved in endless extramarital affairs. On the other, it establishes that his wife was still the love of his life the whole time, at least within the story that it wants to tell. I have too little emotional connection with any of these people to love this film but I do have to admit that it’s solid work.

An interview given at the age of 70 bookends the films in which Leonard Bernstein reveals how important his wife Felicia Montealegre was to him. It then moves on to cover the key moments of his life, beginning from when he is suddenly asked to conduct the New York Philharmonic when the guest conductor falls ill. His exceptional performance makes him an instant superstar and he becomes highly in demand. He first meets Felicia at a party at a point when her own career as an actress is just taking off. The two instantly click with each other and begin a long-term relationship even though Bernstein at the time is already involved with another man. When a mentor advises him to focus on conducting classical music and give up on the more low-brow entertainment projects, she encourages him not to give up on whatever makes him happy. They eventually marry and have three children together. Over time, as Bernstein’s career reaches new heights with operas, Broadway musicals, Felicia’s own acting takes a back seat. Though initially patient and supportive, she grows frustrated as Bernstein keeps up his dalliances with men much younger than himself and his abuse of alcohol and narcotics worsens.

This film famously caught a lot of flack early on due to Bradley Cooper using a large prosthetic nose to play Bernstein. I’m not sure why he thought this was necessary but I think it does help to distinguish the actor from the character. It handles other potentially controversial aspects in a similarly matter of fact way, Bernstein’s cheating and his relationships with the younger musicians in his orbit which would be seen as being predatory today, his constant smoking and so on. Someone who behaved like that today would be a prime candidate for being cancelled, no matter how prodigiously talented, but this isn’t at all what this film is about. It only ever wants to be about the relationship between the two and in that, I suppose it largely succeeds. The performances are excellent, the film looks amazing, and it makes you feel something for both of them even for someone like me who knows little about them. I’d say that it’s an effective romantic film, portraying intertwined lives of two people who have their ups and downs, but until the very end of their lives remain together.

The question however is whether this represents a fair biography of Bernstein. Their children seem happy with this version of their parents’ life story and no wonder as it makes for a picture that is both flattering and romantic. Everything I’ve read about Bernstein indicates that he is homosexual and it’s worth at least acknowledging the possibility that Bernstein married her to due to avoid being publicly outed as being gay during an era when this was still controversial. The film shows that she sacrifices her own acting career to support him and is as impressed as anyone else by his immense talent. But it also makes some interesting choices, such as having her insist that he keep up the pretense of being a faithfully married couple to their children. This all suggests to me that this film was written to be very kind towards the image that their children had of their parents but I doubt that other people would see them in the same way.

I have to acknowledge that the very specific focus makes this a better film. It knows what it is going for and doesn’t allow itself to get sidetracked. Based on what little I know of Bernstein however, it doesn’t seem like a very satisfying biography. It’s light on his musical achievements, it skips over the many other people in his life very quickly including his male lover who was surprised by his relationship with Felicia and I’m not sure it even gets into Felicia’s own headspace enough. Overall I’d say it’s okay as a film but I’m not convinced that this is a truthful account of his life or his marriage.