Tar Review
I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the 2022 movies that I missed. One of them being Tar, a new drama from Cate Blanchett. Another reason why I decided to watch it was because it was getting a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding the film and Blanchett. So I wanted to check out because a bunch of people are predicting this film will get a Best Picture and Best Actress nomination. Do I agree with that? Let’s find out!
The Good:
With this movie you have to talk about Cate Blanchett in the lead and wow…she just dominates the screen with her performance. Blanchett has been an actress that I’m familiar with. I've seen her in multiple roles over the years. And I’ve enjoyed her in everything I’ve seen her in, and this is the best she’s been. She’s just so captivating and does a great job of playing this person that is so focused and determined to be a great composer that it just allows a world class actress like Blanchett to come in and eat it all up. She has this great opportunity arise from her skills but along the way, obstacles keep on popping up in front of her. So as you get into the back half of the film that’s really where Blanchett’s best acting comes into play. So I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets a nomination, and I wouldn’t be disappointed if she won the Oscars.
Another thing with this movie is that the direction by Todd Fields is great and very interesting. The way he conducts (no pun intended) certain scenes and frames the shots are so interesting and artfully done. When the orchestra is playing music, he’ll know where to place the camera to make it look dynamic. And just have these shots that are very unique, you wouldn’t think to have a shot from some angels but he does and they work so well in this movie. If two people are having a conversation sometimes he’ll shoot as if he’s sitting behind them. And use a lot of wide angle shots so you can see everything happening in a scene. Between Blanchett and the directing, these are the two best aspects of the movie. And between them, I can see why this movie is getting a lot of awards love. They are handled very well.
Also I liked how this movie had a message, it had something to say about power and control but it didn’t beat you over the head with it. It was a bit more subtle in the way it explored all of it. It explores ideas of abusive power in the work industry; it touches on some LGBTQ parts here and there in the movie. And it’s all interesting, and it doesn’t tie back to a story of conducting. Meaning that you can tell this same type of story if the main character had a different profession and she wasn’t a conductor. Once again as you move into the back half of the movie, mainly the last 15-20 minutes it really showcases those different emotions and ideas to the screen.
Finally, this is a movie that is a character study on this woman who gets this great opportunity to conduct this orchestra and as you go through-out the movie obstacles keep on popping up in front of her. So it really explores this character who has a lot of downfalls in the movie, things that stop her from moving forward. We spend so much time with this character that it’s interesting to follow her on this journey. And since it is such a long movie, we get a lot of time with her and exploring her.
The Bad:
While I do think the runtime did help us explore this character, it also felt very long…and too long for that matter. This is a movie that is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and it’s a lot of talking. Basically the first 25-30 minutes of the movie consist of the two scenes of people talking. Now both of them are important to the story and it does progress the story forward. But when the first 25ish minutes of the movie are just people talking for like 5-10 minutes it just feels so long. Condense that scene to make it shorter or package it in a different way. And then the whole movie just feels so stretched out like it didn’t need to be this long. If this movie was 20-25 minutes shorter, I probably would have liked it more because it moves quicker.
Another thing with this movie is that I found it very hard to root for the main character. She’s so determined to be the best, she’s proud of her work and because of that she has this big ego. And in some ways this movie reminded me a lot of 2021’s Tick, Tick…Boom! with a musician striving to be the best and being kind of a jerk because of that. I found Tick, Tick…Boom! to be a much better movie and I thought it handled that concept better than this movie. Because what Blanchett’s character does in the finale is really bad and seems like there should be more implications of that. And I was rooting for her a lot of times in this movie.
Finally, this isn’t something that movie did wrong per say but it does hold it back. This is a movie that I can respect, I can understand why some people might love this movie but it’s not a movie fully designed for me. Even while I was writing this review, I felt a bit out of place with how I was talking about this movie.
Final Thoughts: Tar is a very well made movie with some truly great things about. Notable, Cate Blanchett’s performance and the direction by Todd Fields. But this very much feels like a movie designed for a specific audience, that audience not being me. So I can understand why people will love this movie, I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets nominated for Best Picture. But as for me, I don’t think it fully deserves that kind of love and recognition.
The Score: 8.2/10 (B-)
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