This is another movie based on a book that I have not read, so I cannot compare film to book. I have a feeling that in this case I would have benefitted from reading the book, because the movie bothered me. It is being advertised as a kooky comedy, almost a lark, but it is anything but. Before she disappears Bernadette is one troubled woman.

Richard Linklater’s film introduces us to snippy, snarky Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) before revealing her background, why she is the neurotic that she has become. Things get very dark for Bernadette, a formerly famous architect who hasn’t done anything creative for years. When she does escape, it frees her soul and reignites her will to live, and to create. In that regard, the story is inspiring and motivating. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers of covering, or snuffing out, the creative light that burns within.

On the other hand, the film expects us to naturally support Bernadette no matter what. But Bernadette is not a nice person. She loves her daughter Bee (Emma Watson) but is increasingly distant from husband Elgie (Billy Crudup), and dislikes and insults her alleged friends. She is an absolutely terrible neighbor. For a while I couldn’t stand her, and my sympathies were with all the people who had to put up with her. Later that changes, but for an hour this story was more unpleasant than enlightening.

Besides the obvious need for a question mark at the end of its title, I think this movie does too good a job making its heroine flawed and troubled. An intervention seems necessary for this character, and there’s nothing very funny about her life at all. The film’s advertising does it a disservice, presenting it as something it is not. When expectations of a certain kind of story are created and then betrayed, it’s hard to like it, no matter how good it is. This is a decent movie but I still don’t care for it. ☆ ☆ 1/2. 18 August 2019.