Submitted by cinemascope on Sat, 2007-02-03 19:00. :: Cinemascope 5
Movie title:
Notes On A Scandal
Starring:
Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Andrew Simpson, Phil Davis
Directed by:
Richard Eyre
Written by:
Patrick Marber, from the novel by Zoe Heller
Genre:
Drama/Thriller
Year:
2007
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Runtime:
1 hour 32 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
Artist Sheba Hart (Blanchett) takes up a post as a teacher at a North London comprehensive, striking up a friendship with school battleaxe and history teacher Barbara Covett (Dench). When Barbara discovers that Sheba is having an affair with one of her students, Sheba's previously idyllic family life begins to unravel.
Artist Sheba Hart (Blanchett) takes up a post as a teacher at a North London comprehensive, striking up a friendship with school battleaxe and history teacher Barbara Covett (Dench). When Barbara discovers that Sheba is having an affair with one of her students, Sheba's previously idyllic family life begins to unravel.
Review
Adapting from Zoe Heller's Booker-nominated novel, Patrick Marber does a good job of negotiating the story's difficult passage through platonic and sexual obsession, and the cast of the movie are uniformly excellent: it's great to see Dame Judi playing a difficult, angry character for a change, and Cate Blanchett is as superb as ever. The direction from former National Theatre artistic director Richard Eyre is less convincing, with the tone of the movie shifting uneasily between literary adaptation and Hollywood potboiler in the vein of Fatal Attraction. When the movie hits its stride, it's very enjoyable and beautifully played, but there are uncertain moments that threaten to undermine the overall success.
Adapting from Zoe Heller's Booker-nominated novel, Patrick Marber does a good job of negotiating the story's difficult passage through platonic and sexual obsession, and the cast of the movie are uniformly excellent: it's great to see Dame Judi playing a difficult, angry character for a change, and Cate Blanchett is as superb as ever. The direction from former National Theatre artistic director Richard Eyre is less convincing, with the tone of the movie shifting uneasily between literary adaptation and Hollywood potboiler in the vein of Fatal Attraction. When the movie hits its stride, it's very enjoyable and beautifully played, but there are uncertain moments that threaten to undermine the overall success.
