Annie Mcewan

I liked the film but felt it lacked story and character development. The story loss for arts sake was too much. Although everyone should already know Bernstein's history, some may not. To the viewer it was "Google him", for the fill in the blanks desire throughout the movie. A plus was the most incredible 'old age' movie makeup artistry I have seen to date. I searched Bradley Cooper's face for clues and misstep in makeup, but found none. Incredible! Sadly the dialogue was lost in muttering and nasal audio. " What did he say?" "What did she just say?" I truly wanted to know. IMO - the black and white part of the film was too long with the color transition making it late to the show. The music is brilliant, as Leonard was known for. I was left, however, longing for more about his musical genius and creative life. Cigarettes, cigarettes. Too much smoking. The time period and characters were known for smoking a great deal but, it was overplayed in the movie. Watch the film. It is a music and arts lovers dream but not for everyone.

A balancing act where connection becomes the continuous theme throughout this enlightening film. It's a movie, not so much about black vs white or visa versa but about status vs main street. The contrast is real no matter your color. Geographic realities of divided racism in the 60's is genuinely revealed as these two seeming unlikely partners, make their round-trip journey. Well done and quite enjoyable! Thumbs up!