This wouldn't be much of a movie without the performances of the principals, namely Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, because the story itself is a little like a soap opera. Dench is a lonely and bitter older woman, starved for love and sex. She teaches at the same school as Blanchett. Blanchett teaches art in the most general sense of the word. She has an older husband, who's fun, a snotty teen daughter and a son with Down's syndrome. She's not exactly starved for anything. Her life is not just busy but a little chaotic. At the same time she's flattered by the attentions of a horny, manipulative student of hers. The problem is that he's only fifteen, but it's a problem that both Blanchett and the boy manage to work through without any great problems.
Dench wants to seduce Blanchett too. Her intentions are far more inclusive and demanding than the kid's. She wants to break up Blanchett's family and have Blanchett move in with her. Dench confides all this to her diary, which, as any politician can tell you, is going to turn out to be a great big mistake. Because Dench learns about the kid and, rebuffed by Blanchett, squeals on her and has her fired. Blanchett is so dumb that she has no idea that Dench is doing all this sub rosa. So the two ladies DO in fact move in together, but Blanchett thinks it's just "friendship", not an "affair," until she finds and reads through Dench's journal in a scene reminiscent of Charlotte Haze's finally discovering Humbert Humbert's diary. This leads to a break up of the nascent "affair." Blanchett goes home to her forgiving husband. Dench continues trying to pick up attractive young women in Hampstead Heath.
This is a woman's fantasy, with Blanchett as the central figure. Everyone desires her and some love her. They fight over her. And she's perfectly INNOCENT -- well, almost. In the end, she is even victimized by the press, a scene in which the entire movie collapses in upon itself. Everything goes hysterical and berserk -- the direction, the actress, the story, the score. Blanchett comes out ahead in the end. She's gotten what she wanted -- love from her family, sex with a young stallion, and she's crushed the Machiavellian Dench.
Blanchett really is a knockout too. Not just because she's conventionally attractive but because she informs her character with such warmth and generosity. She's a Jungian sensation type, hungry for stimulus. And in seeking it she seems almost to be doing those around her a favor, or trying to. She manages, for instance, to convince herself that that guileful teen, the one who calls her up and says filthy things to her, the one who lies about his family's tragedies, just needs some physical reassurance. She's doing him a favor by sleeping with him. It has nothing to do with her or with the fact that, like all fifteen-year-old boys, this kid is a biological dynamo. What a coincidence.
I felt a lot sorrier for Dench, the putative villain of the piece, who also winds up fired for not spilling the beans immediately upon learning that there were beans to be spilled. She's old. And she's not attractive. She has only her cat for company. (And her diary.) No one at the school likes her. Her attempts at being friendly are rather like an iceberg breaking away from the polar cap. She's as selfish as they come, without knowing it. When a man is old and homely, it's tough enough. For an unpleasant woman living alone, with no family or friends, with no job, it can be a disaster because she is truly socially bankrupt. Let her jot down her history of bitchery in that journal. It's the only thing she has.
Well, I ought to mention that this is in no way a courtroom drama. When the affair is uncovered, Blanchett is fired and that's that. There's not much sex in it either. It's all about intrigue.
Dench wants to seduce Blanchett too. Her intentions are far more inclusive and demanding than the kid's. She wants to break up Blanchett's family and have Blanchett move in with her. Dench confides all this to her diary, which, as any politician can tell you, is going to turn out to be a great big mistake. Because Dench learns about the kid and, rebuffed by Blanchett, squeals on her and has her fired. Blanchett is so dumb that she has no idea that Dench is doing all this sub rosa. So the two ladies DO in fact move in together, but Blanchett thinks it's just "friendship", not an "affair," until she finds and reads through Dench's journal in a scene reminiscent of Charlotte Haze's finally discovering Humbert Humbert's diary. This leads to a break up of the nascent "affair." Blanchett goes home to her forgiving husband. Dench continues trying to pick up attractive young women in Hampstead Heath.
This is a woman's fantasy, with Blanchett as the central figure. Everyone desires her and some love her. They fight over her. And she's perfectly INNOCENT -- well, almost. In the end, she is even victimized by the press, a scene in which the entire movie collapses in upon itself. Everything goes hysterical and berserk -- the direction, the actress, the story, the score. Blanchett comes out ahead in the end. She's gotten what she wanted -- love from her family, sex with a young stallion, and she's crushed the Machiavellian Dench.
Blanchett really is a knockout too. Not just because she's conventionally attractive but because she informs her character with such warmth and generosity. She's a Jungian sensation type, hungry for stimulus. And in seeking it she seems almost to be doing those around her a favor, or trying to. She manages, for instance, to convince herself that that guileful teen, the one who calls her up and says filthy things to her, the one who lies about his family's tragedies, just needs some physical reassurance. She's doing him a favor by sleeping with him. It has nothing to do with her or with the fact that, like all fifteen-year-old boys, this kid is a biological dynamo. What a coincidence.
I felt a lot sorrier for Dench, the putative villain of the piece, who also winds up fired for not spilling the beans immediately upon learning that there were beans to be spilled. She's old. And she's not attractive. She has only her cat for company. (And her diary.) No one at the school likes her. Her attempts at being friendly are rather like an iceberg breaking away from the polar cap. She's as selfish as they come, without knowing it. When a man is old and homely, it's tough enough. For an unpleasant woman living alone, with no family or friends, with no job, it can be a disaster because she is truly socially bankrupt. Let her jot down her history of bitchery in that journal. It's the only thing she has.
Well, I ought to mention that this is in no way a courtroom drama. When the affair is uncovered, Blanchett is fired and that's that. There's not much sex in it either. It's all about intrigue.