Oscar Contender Movie Review: TAR

For me, Cate Blanchett is the finest Actress working today and her latest film, TAR, is (perhaps) her finest work and will (undoubtedly) lead her to her 8th Oscar nomination and (most probably) her 3rd win.

So why did this film leave me so cold? Was it by design?

Playing the fictional Lydia Tar - the finest female conductor in the world - Blanchette’s performance (as Directed by Todd Field, who also wrote the Screenplay) is fierce, strong, pointed, controlling, dominating and assertive - much like the character she portrays. It is a tour de force performance that commands your attention on the screen and overshadows all else that is around her.

Consequently, I could not enter this world, emotionally. Blanchett’s character, her performance and Field’s writing and direction kept me (emotionally) at arms length from the film (and the character) so I felt like I endured this film, much like the other characters in this film endure Tar.

I’m still trying to figure out if that is what the filmmakers intended.

Field is known for his character study films, such as the Oscar Nominated IN THE BEDROOM, and this movie is no different. It attempts to show the human under Lydia Tar’s hard armor, but it is a hard shell to crack and it, ultimately, wasn’t successful for me. I never connected with this character and could hardly care what happens to Tar throughout the course of the film, I just wanted to be done with her.

Again, this might have been on purpose.

The film is set in the world of Western International Orchestral Music, so the soundtrack of TAR is nothing short of sensational, it is worth the price of admission - and the endurance of the intolerable TAR - to listen to what this film has to offer.

Mark Strong, Noemie Merlant and Nina Hoss all bring their “A” game in sharing the screen with Blanchett, but her character and her performance dwarfs them all, leaving them in the dust behind her - like her character does.

A well crafted character study with a firm, commanding performance at the center that will leave you cold, TAR is fascinating to watch, just be wary about connecting, emotionally, to this.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) - and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)