Where'd You Go, Bernadette
WHERE’D YOU GO, BERNADETTE © 2019 Annapurna Pictures, LLC.
Richard Linklater, with every profound piece of cinema in Last Flag Flying and Boyhood, treats the audience to a stumble of sorts in the likes of Bernie and now Where'd You Go, Bernadette. A dumbfounded and hollow drama that fills itself with heart and tenderness that is tonally misjudged and excessively flat.
If Where'd You Go, Bernadette has a single element going for it — granted there is not much — it would undeniably be the central performance of Cate Blanchett as the titular character. A performance full of depth, energy and personality but one that feels like it is ripped out of a totally different film altogether than the one Linklater presents. Blanchett brings a particular contextual prowess and emotionally engulfing character into a film that does not feel at all profound or intelligent enough to discuss said characters torturous trials and tribulations.
Even when the film builds to an "intervention" of sorts, it either crumbles under the pressure of the conversation it is about to undertake or far worse, takes no interest in the gravity of its subject matter. Either direction is not particularly promising or fullfilling and is what ultimately destroys whatever meaning this film wants to take and, quite frankly, said direction is never clear in the first place.
Linklater's film is crowded with issues: problematic behaviour and poor filmmaking are the main culprits. The overall nonsensical and hollow discussion on mental health mentioned above is one. Poor direction and filmmaking prowess is another. Lacklustre cinematography from Shane F. Kelly throughout, with notable scenes over a green screen and dull framing, suck out any love or flavour the film wants to convey.
A tonal imbalance of never knowing if the film wants to evoke a sense of drama or comedy is a serious issue that plagues the film throughout. How it treats Blanchett's character’s mental fragility is one for concern, specific aspects of her behaviour are strangely convicted in how the film depicts such sentiments with comedic sensibility. The supporting cast of Billy Culdrip and Emma Nelson have nothing to do with very constricted and predictable one-note behaviour and actions for their respective characters to divulge.
It is clear that some form of Where'd You Go, Bernadette was intended to be the next feel-good dramatic comedy or maybe it was not, who knows? It is so thematically muddled and confused it evokes a profoundly misguided sense on every single element imaginable. What is left is perhaps one of the biggest disappointments and tone-deaf features brought to cinema screens this year
Where'd You Go, Bernadette is available on Amazon Prime
