Oscar Nominations 2024: 8 Ups & 9 Downs

3. SHOCK: Maestro Underperforms

Silly though it might sound to say that a film which scored seven Oscar nominations ended up underperforming, Bradley Cooper's Maestro was so loudly buzzed about in the early months of Oscar season that its ultimate haul can't help but seem a little muted.

While the Leonard Bernstein biopic showed up in a number of above-the-line fields, namely Picture, Actor (Cooper), Actress (Carey Mulligan), and Original Screenplay, it also missed on numerous categories it was a serious contender for, including Director, Film Editing, Costume Design, and Production Design.

And honestly, given that the general public reception to the film has been considerably more lukewarm than critics, it's tough to feel bad about it.

Cooper made a technically proficient, well-acted film that provides curiously little insight into who Bernstein really is as an artist, husband, or even a man.

That Maestro, by far the most conventionally "Oscar baiting" film in contention, will likely have to settle for a single win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling feels right, honestly.