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  • Warning: Spoilers
    Reading about the 19-year old cellist who played at Harry & Meghan's royal wedding then you realize there's another great storyline we can never see on The untimely cancellation of Mozart in the Jungle.

    Relationships like Rodrigo and Hailey typically aren't one-time arounds either. Hello! I'm sure the writers could've figured that out over a season. So many other amazing and strong characters to carry the show. It went to Venice and Japan for parts of seasons, I saw no issue with Rodrigo leading another orchestra in another city with a split story line. I'm so mad I'm ready to start a letter writing campaign to the powers that be. Anyone else in?
  • When I first saw this pop up on Amazon Instant Video I was skeptical as I had never watched an Amazon exclusive television series before. And I was well aware of the popularity of rival-Netflix's exclusives and found it hard to believe it would be a worthy competitor.

    I stand corrected.

    It took me a single day of blissful binge-watching to finish the entire first season and I must say I am impressed. The characters are strong and able to draw you in, the atmosphere and setting are captivating, and the music is simply top-notch. When all are tied neatly together it makes for a wondrously entertaining season.

    And how could one forget: the comedy! Whilst of course it is entirely subjective, I found every episode to be wholesomely amusing. Every character is entertaining in their own right and not a single line seems unfit for purpose. The humour was exactly to my liking and did not fall into the trap so many comedies today do in which they attempt to be hilarious and unfortunately end up just being silly.

    As expected, however, it is not perfect. One particular instance in which I found myself to eventually drift-off was the Rodrigo-Anna Maria sub-plot. I did not find this to be interesting, rather I thought it tiresome. Despite both characters being excellently written and the acting being spot-on, this didn't quite engross me like the rest of the show did.

    In addition, a criticism I have (perhaps a minor one) pertains to the memorability of the characters. Specifically: their names! Maybe it was just me but halfway through the season I still only knew a couple of the characters' names. This could be in part to blame on my binge-watching manner, or, more worryingly, the writing. Regardless, I consider these to be minor blemishes upon the finished product.

    Let us end on a high note: the music. The music is what makes this so fresh. If it weren't for the music, I do believe this would just be another average comedy. The music adds something more, a passion, as Rodrigo may say. It truly does draw you in and you really can feel the energy and enthusiasm. It's what makes this show stand out from the rest and what kept me enthralled, among other things.

    I am absolutely delighted with the first season of Mozart in the Jungle and will be returning for season two.
  • rmatuse25 December 2014
    I blew through this show in two days, and no just because of the quick, witty writing and 30-minute episodes. Seriously, though, a show that can be captivating and under an hour scores it at least 8/10 points.

    You don't need to love classical music to enjoy this show (although it certainly doesn't hurt). There are many interesting themes of art and its patronage and the every-day people who have committed themselves to a purpose not often understood.

    The acting is superb all around. I personally loved Lola Kirke, and thought she was a fresh take on an often boring trope as far as female leads go in comedy shows. While slightly naive, her character still possessed a great amount of self-awareness, perseverance, and depth to set her apart from so many other female characters. Gael Garcia Bernal was fantastic throughout. I have to disagree with others who thought him to be over the top. I felt that his character was very genuine, and a great contrast to his wife, who showed a slice of his previous self. The supporting cast are also fantastic, without a weak leak in the bunch. Even the "quirky roommate" (which is an exhausted character) is played with new layers and a refreshing depth by actress Hannah Dunne.

    I will admit some of the writing comes across as clichéd. Some story arcs I could see coming from miles away, and a few I couldn't help but cringe slightly when they happened. But those few times were absolutely eclipsed by the incredible moments. Jason Schwartzman shines as a creator here. It definitely has his touch, and I look forward to seeing much more of his work. The dialogue was always quick, relatable, and always witty.

    I really cannot say enough good things about this show. The one last thing I'll point out is that this show leaves you wanting more. Perhaps because of the intriguing characters and plot twists, the tantalizing dialogues, the incredible compositions, the chemistry between so many characters (platonic and non), and the on-point comedic commentary...or perhaps because each episode is a perfunctory 30 minutes and the season is 10 episodes long. Either way, so much gets accomplished, but so much is yet to be done.

    GREATLY looking forward to season 2.
  • Hurry. I need season 5. This wonderful show makes me smile and laugh out loud. It's smart, artistic. Cast is absolutely perfect.
  • Let me say first of all that I enjoy classical music, and I enjoy the bohemian lifestyle associated with musicians and artists. This show is fresh, sarcastic, real and completely lacks the common areas that of sex and violence so over used on TV and movies. It is beautiful because the acting, the music and the geniality of "Rodrigo", the Maestro who is played by Gael Garcia Bernal.

    It is with great pride to say that the witty sense of humor of the modern Mexican culture is captivated, without loosing the connection to its eccentric American counterpart.

    There is an element of "Magic Realism" that will bring spice to the show, making it more unpredictable and appealing, specially who those who are so tired of super elaborated and complicated dramas.

    Thanks Amazon for bringing this master piece to life.

    Bravo!!!
  • jlmpeace3 December 2018
    This show has sparked my love of classical music again. I hated to see it end and I really want to see more of these characters journeys. Please Amazon, give us another season!
  • apaz00527 December 2014
    Like many of us, I had recently finished a series on Netflix/Prime a couple of days before and couldn't find another series to start. After losing hope, and about to re-watch an older series just to have something to watch, i stumbled across "Mozart in the Jungle" on Prime. Not the typical type of series i look for, but bored and out of options, I gave it a shot. After the first few minutes I was sold. A show i had never heard of, and had zero expectations of, surprised me. The episodes are only twenty some minutes so I ended up binge watching the entire season that night. I now want to grab the book the show is based off. And I am highly anticipating the next season.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    The first season of this blew me away. Nine star rating.

    The second season of this was a significant step down. It had its moments, but it wasn't very coherent. It's an ongoing story, so you can't say that it doesn't have an arc. It does. But it still felt fragmented. 7.5 stars.

    The third season switches to a new setting and a new kind of music, and the various story lines are even less integrated. Story lines appear … And then they peter out. While the soap opera central plot comes to its logical conclusion, the 20 episodes before that downplayed that plot line so much that I no longer cared. My investment had evaporated. Indeed, I had no investment in anything. The prison ep was a total fail for me. 5 stars would be generous.
  • I started watching Mozart in the Jungle with a little trepidation. I love Mozart's music, and was a bit worried that his name has been used in the title in vain. My expectations were very low, the kind a true classical musician has when listening to someone non-musician analyzing their performance. My thoughts were: oh , here we go, someone again is going to humiliate the classical music and it's followers, and mix it up with shallow observations and cheap talk. I expected pop, rap, rock, house, bebop, and even disco, glorifications and total dismissal of all classical. How luckily wrong I was!! These series are probably one of the best and closest presentations of classical musicians' struggles to make it, to get known, to survive, to bare their soul for food, to do anything and everything and to forgo any pain and any doubt for the privilege to play music, to agree to any music job so they can live, and to serve and worship at the alter of music without any commercialism. It is a true presentation of the big egos of those who have made it, and the incredible beauty of the great big musicians' art. It is a true presentation of the little minds and the little talents whose only care is the union rules. It is a true presentation of how anything and everything in life can become music, how one can hear music even in the noise of a tire crossing bridge rims. And it is a very enjoyable, very funny, very well observed and cry well acted piece of TV! Congratulations to all the thinkers behind the scenes, all the makers of the series, all who acted brilliantly, all who performed the music brilliantly, and produced and brought this marvellous, surprising, unique series's to the general public! Can't wait for series 2!!
  • Warning: Spoilers
    *** This review may contain spoilers *** I loved the first season. It was funny, full of music and heart-warming. I started watching it without high expectations, but really enjoyed it. I'd even go as far to say I had loved it. After seeing the first season I couldn't wait to watch the next one.

    But… What happened with the second season? I found nothing interesting there. It's no longer funny, no longer interesting. The focus no longer seems to be on music. Instead, the focus seems to be on nothing in particular. It's all so random, that it's hard to watch. Did the writers run out of ideas? Was it meant to be just a one season series? After watching the first season, I awarded it with for me a very unusually high score of 10. However, now I had to change it to a much lower result. Really disappointing. There's still hope for the third season. I'd be happy if it was about music again, and if there was also an actual plot.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I came late to this series and have just finished binge-watching 4 seasons. The cast is one of the attractions here, but New York is the other. A lot of the grit behind the scenes of the world of classical music has been scrubbed. Show me an oboist that resides in an apartment like the superb Debra Monk's. A lot of the eccentricity of classical musicians is also tamed, but there's Malcolm McDowell delightfully representing that contingency as well as Gael Garcia Bernal who both make the madness of musicians more attractive than it actually is. The camaraderie is also put forward, and the jealousies and back-biting shoved in the wings. What's left is a series full of Romanticism, mysticism and the thrill that classical music can bring. A brief segment showing the children's orchestra sawing out Beethoven's 5th is the more familiar experience we have in concert halls. This is a show that puts classic music on the altar it deserves, omitting the sacrifice and hard work that produces it. It makes us believe that all of us could raise a baton transport ourselves and an audience to Nirvana, and that's okay with me.

    As well, the production itself is superb. When we leave New York for Venice, Mexico and Japan, nothing is lost. But there's nothing better than watching Bernadette Peters strutting through the Guggenheim like she owns the place (she owns just about any space she inhabits). And spending time in Venice with Ana Maria Martinez is all too brief but the farewell episode with her floating on a barge down the canals of Venice to collide with Placido Domingo was epic.

    I was smitten by Lola Kirke's awkward portrayal of Hailey Rutledge. But compared to Bernal's extravagant performance, as well as the rest of the cast (peppered with New York's glitterati), she gets a little lost in the swirling magic that producers Coppola, Schwartzman, et al., have bravely assembled. They deserve our thanks. This was a long shot that has a grand pay off for viewers..
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Starts with a 10, perfectly balanced humour and eccentricity, characters with their own story, and some behind the scenes in NY art community. however, in every season, lead female becomes more unlikeable, supporting characters disappear with no explanation, remaining ones just become filling material with no story. and an oboist who practices days and nights to perfect one part of music for audition, immediately becomes world class conductor within a year?! really?! still watched till the end because gael garcia bernal perfects the rodrigo character. but what a wasted project.
  • deeana-784246 March 2018
    4/10
    Hah!
    Warning: Spoilers
    I binge-watched the entire four seasons over a period of three days, and at the end of season four I wanted to express myself to someone, anyone, about how unsatisfying the ending of season four was! I was sucked in at the beginning of season one with the characters: the naive ingenue oboe player, her cool offbeat best friend, the charismatic and unpredictable Mexican Maestro, and it was clear from the beginning that the inexperienced young musician and the brilliant Maestro belonged together, and that through the seasons they became closer and closer until they became an item. Then, in the last season everything goes to pieces. The talented oboe player decides to become a conductor, which is a more ridiculous ambition than being a member of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and when she fails due to her own psychological problems she ends her relationship with the charismatic conductor and he goes completely insane. A spiteful ballet choreographer convinces him that he is participating in a conceptual art performance with no audience, no music, and no other dancers, so the Maestro dances around Central Park all by himself in the throes of total madness. Meanwhile somehow his former girlfriend gets to contuct the New York Philharmonic in a new piece by a famous composer which ends with a long standing ovation. It is as if the entire series was written by a deranged feminist whereby what is happy about the ending is that the underdog character grows throughout the seasons as her hair gets shorter, and her genius partner sinks deeper into madness as he becomes more dependent on her presence in his life. The series had me at hello, and then led me deeper down the rabbit hole to a horrible ridiculous ending almost as if the writer had had her heart broken by a Mexican maestro and this was her revenge!
  • Warning: Spoilers
    No season ever failed me before but season 4 is my favorite. they bring a great reminder that the essence of art is a pure joy from doing something just for the sake of it, not for money or anyone else.i love many details especially the beautiful pond with Hans Andersen statue where Rodrigo finally found back "Mozart" in himself. Highly appreciated Hai Lai for her efforts to make break through and the courage to break up to find her own way. i think they'll find the way back to each other somehow in next season :"> a million thanks sent to everyone involved in production.i'm deeply grateful for your work!
  • tsion-benjudah15 November 2014
    This was a fantastically insightful show with brilliant performances and witty writing. It was hilarious and showed a positive use of classical music in modern social settings. The characters were very realistic and showed both the camaraderie and competitive dualities within close working musicians.

    The show has so much potential to be something set apart from the vast majority of cookie-cutter shows that are on the air today. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy many of the new series that are popular today, but few of them engage me intellectually and comedically and that is a rare combination to blend well. I truly hope this show does not get dropped and continues on. I feel that once it is established and has enough episodes to dive into, it would gain a large following; not just classical musicians.

    To be completely fair, there is a lot of sex/drugs in places there could be more art. However, it was the pilot and without giving spoilers sufficive to say the ending gave much opportunity in the future to discuss art on a deeper level while maintaining the reality of the type of NYC lifestyle they wanted to establish. Also, the sex/drugs were not done in a shove-down-the-throat way like many shows out today and were often accompanied by clever comedy.

    It would be a tragedy if this show does not survive past this pilot. I rarely get hooked on the first episode, but I cannot say enough good things about this show.
  • I have enjoyed each season of Mozart in the Jungle; but Season 4 touched me in an unexpectedly deep way. I think it's because this season captures what it's like to completely surrender to the Spirit of Creativity ("the blood"). To create real art, the kind of art that makes your heart feel as if it's standing at attention, one must not care at all about what others think. One must be willing to sacrifice one's ego--allowing others to laugh at you, to label you as a failure, or as crazy or stupid, or even to socially ostracize you--knowing that, in the end, it's totally worth it because something beautiful and new has come into being though you. To create something totally unique is the closest we come, I believe, to knowing the Source of our Being ("God"). Season 4 of Mozart in the Jungle has helped me to remember this. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the producers, writers, and actors of this program for the beautifully unique work of art you have created. You have given me the courage to keep forging ahead in surrendering myself to the Spirit of Creativity.
  • I was looking for something new to watch since my favorite shows are all on a break and I had heard this show won awards. I was skeptical because classical music sounded like a snooze. I was so wrong about that!!! This is such a wonderful fun show. I love the characters especially Rodrigo. The music is wonderful and the story keeps you hooked. I highly recommend this new show. Give it a try, you won't be sorry. I am a huge fan of the show Nashville. I love shows that incorporate music into the story.It really adds so much to the all around experience, but you don't have to be a fan of the music to like the show.I dislike shows that take too long to get going and drag along. This show gets going fast and gets you interested right away. The acting is superb! Love it!!!
  • sarahjoy-3053710 June 2018
    I enjoyed this for the most part. Mr Bernal was very good and Ms. Peters brings life to everything scene. Ms Kirke is hard to watch through the entire series. I nearly stopped watching season 3 because she just sucked the energy out of every scene.
  • Bev-712 February 2015
    What an enjoyable series! I'm looking forward to more. I happened to encounter an image for it as I was researching a project. Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters, and the premise captured my attention. I'm so particular about what I watch that I often leave the TV off because of the degraded quality of programming on broadcast. Even cable has saturated itself with unscripted fare that clones other unscripted fare. Where's the creativity? Where's that something different? I found it on Amazon. The characters are important here, and I'm truly liking them because they are allowed to have shortcomings as much as they are allowed to soar with their strengths. They are not predictable; they are multidimensional.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    This does contain SPOILERS!!

    . . . .

    Well, I watched the whole thing, and enjoyed some of it... but my biggest problem is that it was like 'Cliché Writing 101' ... it seems they wanted to throw in as many clichés as they could:

    A naïve female lead who can only manage one gormless expression throughout - check

    A mean rival - check

    An injured, drug addicted, sex addicted beauty - check

    A crazy conductor - check

    Wait.. let's make that two crazy conductors - check

    A quirky roommate - check

    An artsy boyfriend - check

    I could go on.... suffice to say I was disappointed. There was so much potential for this to be great.

    I love Gael Garcia Bernal .. but he is much more suited to dramatic roles in my opinion. He seemed like a caricature in this.

    And the final, biggest disappointed came right at the end when they tried to create something between Hayley and Rodrigo. There was absolutely no sexual chemistry between them the whole time, and to do that right at the end seem like extremely lazy writing, lacking in any originality! (Plus they just look completely wrong together!). Trying desperately to line something up for another season to hold some interest.. but that dead horse has been beaten so many times before, they should have come up with something better.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Phew. I've been waiting to finish watching before writing my review, and now I (finally) have. It was a long slog. Season one: fantastic, season 2: fantastic, season 3: starting to get worried, by the end of season 3: stating to second guess myself for loving this show so much, season 4: yikes. Took me aaages to get through.

    I'll start with the good: very creative, beautiful music, refreshing and different, interesting characters, fun setting, cinematography is fabulous; chock full of gems - these captivating moments, like the Japanese tea ceremony, all the scenes in Venice with the opera singer, the orchestra with the motorcycles. If you love art, classical music, opera, beauty, and fully appreciate creative genius, then this show is for you. It is truly gorgeous. But.

    Now for the bad: In season 3 the writing starts suffering as they focus more and more on Hailey and her phantasmagorical relationship with Rodrigo. All the fascinating supporting characters take a bewildering back seat to the almighty Halley and Rodrigo. Their relationship is utterly unfathomable. I just didn't buy it. I inwardly cringed every time I saw them on screen together. Hailey became more and more annoying as time went on, and so did Rodrigo. But at least HE has personality; she, sadly, does not. She suffers from a severe lack of it. Some of the side story lines were questionable- the bloody robot, the stuuuuupid dancing... wth was that about, anyway? And the way it ended? Aaaaarrrghhh. The only good part about it was the choreographer dude telling Rodrigo about himself (that he's a narcissist, etc). They really didn't show enough of the supporting characters, especially Cynthia (rawr). More Cynthia, please. She should have been the star of the show.

    Seasons 1 & 2: 9 stars each. Season 3: 7 stars. Season 4: 6 stars.
  • Following Rodrigo, a young Mexican maestro, that starts working at the New York Symphony as well as its musicians and managers, this is a new "comedy-drama" focused on music, ambition and finding your way through life.

    There is nothing like this on TV but that necessarily doesn't mean its brilliant. First of all I would hardly consider this a comedy, for me it's more like a (sometimes slightly funny) drama. Besides, I don't feel a strong connection to the characters, I don't care much about what happens to them, maybe it's the light atmosphere and themes or maybe it's the fact that it's only an half-hour long, I'm not sure. The script and dialogues are average, a bit cliché sometimes, which makes it just enjoyable. I wish it would approach more diverse and real subjects in more depth and have more intense and rich conversations.

    What I appreciate more in Mozart in the Jungle is its music because personally I don't listen much to classical music and this is a nice way to do it. The soundtrack is really wonderful.

    With a great cast and excellent performances, it had potential to become memorable but now it is just entertaining enough to not turn off the TV.
  • Felix7024 January 2017
    Entertaining show in the beginning, but losing grip every season.

    The two main characters are, thanks to Bernal and Kirke, still able to care for and sympathetic, they give a great performance.

    But the plot is kind of going nowhere, and dragged out much too long. Still enjoyable to pass the time, and if you don't get in touch witch classical music that much.

    Season 3s absolute low point are the first couple of episodes with Monica Bellucci though I have to say. Such sub par acting from her part, it's really a shame, it gives her character a kind of (not funny) ridiculousness usually only to be seen in b-movies, and that's where she obviously would belong if she started her acting career today in my opinion, Lola Kirke outperforms her by a milestone.
  • This refreshing, intelligent and innovative series was cancelled.... I wonder how it is that.? I read somewhere that "The move is also in line with the NBC veteran's directive to shift away from niche indie projects and deliver broader, big-budget swings in an attempt to land the next Game of Thrones." Really? Well I signed Amazon just because it produce really good indie projects. So, if they are gone to change from really original productions to the same stuff that the market is loaded, then I'll certainly would cancel my signature.
  • johnklem16 January 2015
    This review is based on the first six episodes of the first season. I like this series so much that it's hard to see it objectively. I like it so much that I'm not bingeing but rather rationing myself to a meagre 25 or so minutes each day. So, what makes it quite so enjoyable? Firstly, it's genuinely good - a perfect cast delivering tonally perfect performances with a script that delivers reality plus a few extra percentage points. Occasionally, it's laugh out loud funny but mostly it's genuinely affecting. This is no guilty pleasure in which you know you're being manipulated but you're going along for the (very fun) ride. This always feels real, grounded. There are a few stereotypes amongst the smaller roles but the big ones, the roles that anchor this series, are well written and perfectly cast. Lola Kirke is a wonderful lightning rod, if gaining weight by the episode; Saffron Burrows is fine, if somewhat less interesting than in her pre plastic surgery roles; Bernadette Peters is terrific; Malcolm McDowell is the perfect exiting Maestro. And then there's Gael Garcia Bernal. As an outsider, I have no idea how much of his character was on the page and how much was his own invention but the results are spectacular. He makes this series. His portrayal of Rodrigo, the infant terrible of the conducting world, is nothing short of brilliant and creates, most appropriately, the bright star around which everything revolves. Mozart in the Jungle is not highbrow entertainment. It doesn't challenge or confront. It works its magic more subtly, and sometimes more effectively. It's a feel good show in the best possible way. Real, not fake. It likes its characters, for all their flaws. You could do worse.

    ADDENDUM I've now watched the final four episodes, during which I mentally knocked off a point (episode 8) and put it back on for episode 10. Episode 8 is by far the weakest. It's not that it's bad, it's just that its sensibilities suddenly resembled humdrum American TV and thus became deeply unnerving. It's as though the writers had forgotten, or worse had never understood what made this series so wonderful. Episode 8 was an attempt to broaden the humor at the expense of the humanity. As though someone had pointed out that this was meant to be a comedy. For the record, episode 7 had been a delight and 9, if not special in its own right, at least an improvement on 8. And then there were, or rather was, 10. The finale. The performance towards which everything had led. It's a masterpiece. The perfect summation of and climax to everything that's come before. It's heartstoppingly brave, rolling the emotional dice again and again. It left me breathless, quite literally. Compromises? Not really but we must prepare for a second series and so are denied absolute closure. That final episode was so close to perfection that I hesitate to anticipate a second series. But of course I will. I do. With trepidation.
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