The FiFi Report 159

Notes on a Scandal …..Directed by Richard Eyre of the Northern Theatre of LondonBased on: The novel by Zoe Heller with a screenplay by Patrick Marber and a score by Philip Glass
Genre: thriller
Who: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy.
The Plot: London 2006. Bored, bourgeois, married school teacher seduces young school boy. Befriends bitter and twisted spinster teacher. She becomes obsessed. Scandal is revealed of love affair between teacher and pupil. There is shouting. A lot of Screaming. Bitter and twister creepy spinster relishes taking notes on the scandal. Bitter and twisted becomes more bitter and twisted. If that’s possible. Bribery and corruption. More screaming. More obsessions. A silly ending.The end.
Acting: fabulous.
Design: Cate Blanchett’s house in London especially her studio is all rather arty and chic.
Wardrobe: Cate Blachett wears groovy trench coats and chic trousers, groovy sweaters. Very Miu Miu and Marni. Judi Dench as the B&T spinster is just a frump. She should be on What Not to Wear.
Salon de Beaute: Cate Blanchett’s hair and makeup is a bit too glamourous and she always looks a bit too perfect. Even with mascara running down her face. Judi Dench wears a wig so she has shocking, frumpy hair. Her makeup and wrinkly face is an inspiration for plastic surgery and moisturizer. See her and rush home to immediately apply Erase those Fine Lines.
Botox: Has Cate had it? I think so. Has Judi had it? Doubt it. Do you need it? Yes, absolutely in the creepy bits.
Waterproof Mascara: Not funny Jan.
Blood ’n’ Guts: No blood although you would like to kill Judi Dench.
Mind drifted to shopping: When thinking about Judi Dench’s makeover.
Smokin’ smooches: Ooh la la. In awkward places.
Car chases: Not one.
Rename It: Fatal Attraction (It’s a pussy boiler).
Movie Mistake #1There’s a scene where Barbara Covett is writing in her journal and the voice-over refers to it as "A Gold Star Day," and we see a close-up shot of Barbara’s index finger pasting a gold star on the page of her journal; her fingernail is unpolished and just a bit grimy. In the next shot, we see Barbara still writing in her journal but now her nails are polished pink. (You can see this in the clip "Gold Star Day," which is on the film’s website).
Best Review; “A wonderfully salacious and psychologically controlling character piece, which brilliantly showcases two of the industry’s more gifted actresses.” Hollywood.com
Best Worst Review: A mental slasher movie with strong lead performances, but too many literary pretenses to mask that it’s little more than an 80-minute buildup to a throwdown between Oscar-winning actresses with no real sense of the story’s leverage and lust” State Journal-Register.
See it or donate to the Prada Bag fund? It’s a fabulous thriller but watching such a B&T frump will make rush, and I mean rush, to Prada to recover.
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/NOAS/