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Every film should aspire to be as satisfying as this one is - on every level, and there are so many layers to it all. Nothing is as it appears and the film unwinds in the form of comments and voice-overs from the many journals of the protagonist. Judi Dench, yet again, sinks her teeth into the part of Barbara Covett, a cynical and acerbic history teacher putting in time in an inner city school. Enter Cate Blanchett, playing Sheba Hart, the new art teacher, fragile, naive, innocent and hopeful. Or is she? Barbara quickly ensconces herself into Sheba's life, becoming confidante and friend. And then the plot thickens and assumes the intensity of a thriller as Sheba's life starts to fall apart, secretly abetted by Barbara. The tension does not let up until the very last frame and the viewer is never quite sure where this ride is going. Sheba and Barbara are very alike at their cores, there is a fragile 'fatal attraction' theme running through their relationship, shadowed by Sheba's impossible affair with a fifteen year old boy which is in turn shadowed by her Down's Syndrome son who is of an age with her student, and again this is shadowed by her daughter's coming of age love troubles and overall the shadow of her own marriage to a much older man, who left his wife and children for her teenage self. I found all of these themes winding again and again throughout the film. The characters are fully rounded and indeed are also shown happy in the bosoms of their individual families but with a distance portrayed as if they are never quite sure of their places within them - always a distraction and secrets. Barbara has her shadows too and they start to trickle through and become more vocalized and by others, as the stories unfold. Enough said without spoilers. Bill Nighy, as Sheba's husband ably enhances the two astonishing performances of the female leads. Movie making at its finest. This is being shown in two theatres in the same complex where I saw it and both were packed. It is very heartening to see a character driven and challenging movie being so popularRead full review
... are what this movie is about. An older woman's obsession with a younger woman, and that younger woman's obsession with an underage boy. With so many newstories about teachers with underage students, the theme isn't so new, but this movie keeps you in suspense. The lies, the deceit, the conspiracy, and the rest of the storyline keeps you watching the film. We could see why both Judi Dench (who was great as 'M' in the James Bond movies) and Cate Blanchett both were Oscar nominated for their roles in this movie. Probably not a film for anyone's Film Library collection, but is at least worth viewing once!~
Nothing can quite prepare you for how you will experience this film. It has subjects that include adultery, an aging lesbian, a teacher having an affair with a teenage student, a family with a retarded child, just to name a few of the subjects that might make you think the movie will not be of interest. Nothing could be farther from the truth. How Richard Eyre, the director, takes these characters and intertwines their stories to keep you on the edge of your seat, like the best of thrillers, is what sets this movie apart from most others. Once into the story, you become spellbound in the tangled web of lies, deceits and danger. It has a little of the "Talented Mr. Ripley" in it, because of all the deception and intrigue. In my experience, it's so unique, it's not really comparable to other films. Above all, the outstanding acting by Dench, Blanchett and Nighy, make this a cinema tour de force. They make a formidable acting ensemble and the great adapted script and novel is at the heart of it all.Read full review
Interesting movie holds your interest I just found it a little shallow. A friend recommended it. You don't necessarily want to turn it off but you can take a pause in it without being to upset. Good acting would like to have seen more back ground on the lead character. It appeared to be a movie that might have been a long book but they broke it down to make the movie. I had several friends that raved about it so I was a little dissappointed. If I had paid full price I would have been upset.
The tag line of this movie is "Be careful of the secrets that you share." Barbara Covett (Dame Judi Dench)is an old-school type teacher at an English high school that at first resents its new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), as being weak and not ready to teach. However, Sheba likes Barbara and invites her to dinner to meet her older husband, Richard (Bill Nighy) and her two children Ben and Polly. The two become good friends after that until one day Barbara catches Sheba having sex with one of the 15 year old male students, Stephen Connolly. You would think that Barbara would immediately turn Sheba in to the authorities, but she doesn't. She asks for an explanation from Sheba and gets one. Sheba was lonely, the boy was aggressive and persistent, and Sheba just caved in. Barbara warns Sheba to break it off, and they remain friends. Barbara has now become an accessory to the crime. While this movie spins on until the ending, we are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting for the next shoe to fall. But director Richard Eyre is letting us remain in suspense, and the script is blunt with the two lead actresses playing their parts to the ultimate limit. What started with Barbara in control gets turned around, and we find that other people are lonely, obsessed, and desperate too. This movie brings to mind other movies like "The Talented Mr. Ripley," where we thought that the bad, wasteful person Dickie, played by Jude Law, could be tamed by the good person, Tom Ripley, played by Matt Damon. But it turned out quite the opposite. Another similar movie is "The Children's Hour," starring Shirley Mac Laine and Audrey Hepburn, which dealt with suspected lesbianism in a girl's school. This movie was nominated for 4 major Oscars including Best Actress (Judi Dench), Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Music Scoring, and Best Writing of An Adapted Screenplay from a Book. The movie won none. The music was great and added tremendously to the suspense. The script too was great! However, I do not understand the separation of the two actresses. It seems to me that both were lead actresses and spent an equal amount of time on the screen. Maybe, the film makers felt that they had a better chance of winning two major awards instead of competing for one. This movie appears to be uninteresting on the shelf; but once you turn it on, it is one great ride. See it to believe me!Read full review
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