Notes On a Scandal
Grade: B
The lesbian as psychopath stereotype is alive and well in this wickedly voyeuristic tale of a stalker teacher’s obsession with a younger educator. Think “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” and you’re getting warm.
One half expects Dame Judi Dench to tell everyone to “fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” or even mayhap to break out the wire hangers. It’s a grand dame performance – cool, bitchy, calculating, quirky, and great great fun to watch. The story lacks any genuine intrigue, Richard Eyre’s direction is dully straightforward, co-star Cate Blanchett is rarely more than serviceable, and the score by Philip Glass is downright obnoxious (violins frantically screeching) but Dench is Dench is Dench, and when she’s on screen (which is virtually the entire breezy 91 minutes) little else matters.
The joke about lesbians and second dates is applicable here, as in an instant Dench sets her sights on a married woman with children in tow. Friendship begets infatuation begets Glenn Close and bunny rabbits and, while it’s never particularly menacing, Dench makes it thoroughly riveting. Gestures of peripheral kindness are misinterpreted as sweeping declarations of dedication, inappropriate affairs are manipulated into indebtedness, even the death of a beloved kitty becomes a calculated ace in the hole when all else seems to fail. It’s all more than a little homophobic, but Dench is so deliciously kooky it’s hard to take much offense. Her nastily pointed voiceovers alone are worth the price of admission – dry, scathing and venomously judgmental in their commentary.
The lesbian as psychopath stereotype is alive and well in this wickedly voyeuristic tale of a stalker teacher’s obsession with a younger educator. Think “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” and you’re getting warm.
One half expects Dame Judi Dench to tell everyone to “fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” or even mayhap to break out the wire hangers. It’s a grand dame performance – cool, bitchy, calculating, quirky, and great great fun to watch. The story lacks any genuine intrigue, Richard Eyre’s direction is dully straightforward, co-star Cate Blanchett is rarely more than serviceable, and the score by Philip Glass is downright obnoxious (violins frantically screeching) but Dench is Dench is Dench, and when she’s on screen (which is virtually the entire breezy 91 minutes) little else matters.
The joke about lesbians and second dates is applicable here, as in an instant Dench sets her sights on a married woman with children in tow. Friendship begets infatuation begets Glenn Close and bunny rabbits and, while it’s never particularly menacing, Dench makes it thoroughly riveting. Gestures of peripheral kindness are misinterpreted as sweeping declarations of dedication, inappropriate affairs are manipulated into indebtedness, even the death of a beloved kitty becomes a calculated ace in the hole when all else seems to fail. It’s all more than a little homophobic, but Dench is so deliciously kooky it’s hard to take much offense. Her nastily pointed voiceovers alone are worth the price of admission – dry, scathing and venomously judgmental in their commentary.
When – no small thanks to Dench’s machinations – everyone else’s lives start to crumble, there is little doubt who will end up on top of all the carnage.
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More Movie Info: http://imdb.com/title/tt0465551/
posted by SternReviews @ 9:11 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I walked out halfway through... I just didn't care about any of the characters. I snuck into 'Perfume' though, which was stunning. I am interested to hear your thoughts.
Love,
Cousin Rachel
Hi Andy--it's cousin Rachel's mother, Debbie. If you've never seen a will Ferrel movie,I don't blame you, but... you should go to "Stranger than fiction." It's very clever. Trust me on this. Remember, you once said I was witty.
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