Cate Blanchett...busy in Notes on a Scandal.

Cate Blanchett seems be to everywhere this season, first in Notes On A Scandal, next The Good German, and don't forget Babel (Maverick's review); equally as enjoyable she is keeping good company in each film.

Notes On A Scandal is unusually suspenseful. Sheba Hart played, by Blanchett, deperate to escape her routine as mother & housewife, takes a art teaching job at a school. Her charisma and youthful looks have her turning heads from day one. Eager to make a difference, Sheba, decides to tutor a troubled 15 year-old boy after school. Still feeling unsettled, she is happy a seasoned teacher, Barbara, played by Judi Dench, has seemingly volunteered to mentor her as a new teacher. Foolishly, Sheba starts up an affair with her student; Barbara, a lesbian, learns of the affair and insists it stop immediately or she will go to the authorities. Sheba, is grateful for the discretion & the second chance, is now indebted to Barbara, as she wants dearly to hold onto her family and new career. Barbara, sensing an opportunity, begins spinning her web to lure Sheba closer to her. GO SEE Notes On A Scandal, Judi Dench as Barbara is masterful and simply magnificent as an evil lonely woman; and the chemistry with Blanchett is stellar & intense. (98 minutes, R)

****

The Good German is set in Berlin during WWII, at a time when corruption and survival appeared to be synonymous. Cate Blanchett plays a resourceful woman trying to escape the war. While working as a prostitute, she meets many men who want to possess her, in particular, George Clooney, a US military journalist, and Toby Maguire, a US Army soldier. Each has promised to assist her, but she comes with baggage, that she is hesitant to share. She is a wanted person on a move with little time to spare, and is connected to people with secrets about war tactic & powerful military weapons. Everyone wants the information, and will kill to make certain the information does not end up in the hands of the enemy. If they get to Blanchett, maybe they can get to the information source. NO GO, for The Good German, the cast is star studded, yet the story is dry, and flat, with only a few moments of excitement.

(105 minutes, R)