Cate Blanchett won an Oscar playing a Mrs. Bernie Madoff type in this Woody Allen dramady, more weighted towards the drama. It's not necessarily a fun film to watch, Blanchett's character is not a pleasant person, but you grow to better understand her, and in a few ways admire her as the film goes on. Which is not to say she's not a wreak, she is, and a largely thoughtless, selfish, unemphatic person, who almost beyond her control repeatedly engineers her own downfall.
But almost is a key word, one feels she may actually have it within her to transcend her old self, she demonstrates a drive and commitment midway through the film that you wouldn't have expected at the beginning. But then she succumbs to old habits, and makes obvious mistakes in trying to take the easy way out.
A large, strong supporting cast as one would expect from Mr. Allen. This is the first of Mr. Allen's films that I have seen for the first time since the old troubling allegations about him started to re-emerge around 2015. It's perhaps best to try not to think too much about him when watching his work, and it helps here that he is never on screen. ***
No comments:
Post a Comment