Based on Maria Semple’s 2012 novel of the same name, Richard Linklater’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette tells the story of a genius who goes off the rails. Cate Blanchett plays Bernadette Fox, a brilliant woman who achieves fame in the architectural field. But a series of reversals sends Bernadette into seclusion for 20 years in an a leaky old home in Seattle. Bernadette’s loving but preoccupied husband (played by Bill Crudup), Elgin, retreats into his work at Microsoft. The only person who truly reaches Bernadette is her smart and caring teenage daughter (played by Emma Nelson), Bee.
As a director, Richard Linklater seems willing to roll the dice to get to the heart of a story. He did it in his Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight series, in the astonishing Boyhood, and the sparkling Me and Orson Welles. In Where’d You Go, Bernadette Linklater trusts Cate Blanchett to fully project her character’s manic zaniness as everyone around her reacts with shock and disbelief to her antics. I liked Kristen Wiig as Bernadette’s neighbor, Lawrence Fishburne as Bernadette’s mentor, and Troian Bellisario as Bernadette’s enabler. If you’re in the mood for a moving movie experience, I highly recommend Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Are you a Cate Blanchett fan? GRADE: A
I thought Blanchett was terrific but its veering between comedy and tragedy was troubling. She was mentally ill and needed serious help long ago. Loved her relationship with her daughter though. How often do we see that in movies or books. I would give it a B-.
Patti, I thought Cate Blanchett was terrific, too. And the relationship with her daughter was very touching. Some reviews have called the ending “too neat.”
I read a couple of very mixed reviews. Maybe when it comes to HBO. I like Blanchett, yes, but she wouldn’t make my list of favorite actresses,
Jeff, there were about a dozen other viewers in the theater where saw WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE. Despite the good cast, I suspect the audience for this kind of film is small.
Meanwhile, To Have and Have Not is on TCM tonight.
Rick, I remember reading TO HAVE AND TO HAVE NOT in the early 1990s and thinking “The movie is better than this Hemingway novel.”