Archive for June 11th, 2008
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
A story about obsession. Two high school teachers played by Judi Dench (better known as M from the James Bond films, or Queen Elizabeth from Shakespeare in Love) and Cate Blanchett (who incidentally, also played Queen Elizabeth in the film Elizabeth, and from The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio) befriend each other. They’re relation turns from one of respect, confidence, and loyalty to one of betrayal and blackmail.
Bill Nighy (from Love Actually, Underworld: Evolution, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) plays Blanchett’s devoted husband. Nighy’s always got these great roles… Billy Mack, the obsolete rock singer in Love Actually. Viktor, the vampire lord from Underworld. And Davy Jones, the legendary pirate in Pirates.
Notes on a Scandal is actually pretty straight-forward. There appear to be twists and turns, but not really. A married teacher sleeps with one of her students. Her friend and fellow teacher keeps journals of everything going on. They clash. That’s all there is to it. The acting is pretty amazing. You have two of the arguably best English actors of our time. Can’t really go wrong with that.
The film’s kind of dark. The mood is melancholic, sometimes hasty. I think that’s to create an uncomfortable environment for the audience. The music and mood do a pretty good job of that. It was adapted from a novel by writer Patrick Marber, who also did Closer, which I realy liked. Director Richard Eyre is a former TV director in the UK. The only other work of his I’m familiar with is Atonement, with which he had a producer role.
Decent flick. Probably not worth renting… But if it plays on TV, I’d DVR it.
