This is so petty and a tad sacrilegious, I’m bothering, but I’m sick of Cate Blanchett. Yes, she was awesome when she first got on the scene, but now I feel like we’re always seeing a dialed-up or dialed-down Queen Elizabeth when she comes on the screen. We saw “Benjamin Button” this month, which she was fine in — but again it’s like the same, totally competent, professional, polished performance.
I could only be thinking this b/c I’m heavily influenced by peers. When my friend Marla saw Cate B. in “Hedda Gabler” at BAM, she thought “okay, nothing spectacular,” and for some reason, since hearing that assessment, the Cate B. spell has been broken for me.
Maybe this is just Philip Seymour Hoffman Syndrome, where yeah, he’s rad, but it’s like give someone else a chance already. Does he really need to get cast in every part for white guys in their 40s? Maybe movie stars are like pecorino cheese sandwiches. At first, it’s really delicious, but after a while, you need variety.
Whatevs. My all-time Cate Blanchett part is the fairy queen in “Lord of the Rings.”