Notes On a Scandal

This film moves very fast. The actors are totally at the mercy of the plot which moved from point to point so quickly that I felt like I was missing an opportunity to see the actors savor the emotional moments. Instead they got to chew through the moments. This of course may have been the purposeful creative choice of the director Richard Eyre and the adapter Patrick Marber and I can only respect the choice even if I was not enticed or entertained by it. But that said, the film is a tense thriller that did hold my attention. Maybe that is where part of the disconnect was. I expect a thriller pace in an action film or even a murder mystery but this is neither. It's a thriller that takes place in one woman's head and her perceptions badly affects another woman's life. Both characters make horrific choices which hurt the people around them but one is acting out of mental illness and one is acting out of recklessness. There is also the issue of the soundtrack by Philip Glass. I was not sure if the soundtrack was bad or simply intrusive at points. At the very least it took me out of the film at various moments and pointed only to itself and not the action or moment on the screen. Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett and Bill Nighy all craft solid performances. At times though they were delivering some lines in a powerful fashion even though it felt like their underlying motivations for their passions were left on the cutting room floor. I did enjoy Marber's previous films adaptions, Asylum and Closer. But I think Notes and Asylum are similarly flawed. They are still two films that are better than most of the dreck coming out of Hollywood. One of the delights of seeing this film is that I saw it at one of the country's best theatres... AMC 25 on 42nd Street. I miss seeing movies here and this was a great treat! Best seats, best sound, best screens and on a week night best movie loving crowds!
Favorite moment: Barbara and Richard yelling at Sheba to attend to each of their immediate needs while Sheba's kids look on.
Film # 95