edb-5

I went to this movie with great anticipation. As a classical music devotee, I was also anxious to see how it figured into the narrative. Yes, Cate Blanchett is fantastic in an Oscar-worthy performance, and other actors are fine as well. But good acting in a bad film isn't enough. The film is a tedious, pretentious mess, and worse, for the first two hours, it's boring. (For someone who knows or cares little about classical music, it must be painful.) Short scenes interspersed within the narrative are neither meaningful nor symbolic-- they just go nowhere and feel like self-indulgent artsiness. We learn much about Tár's ascendency to the top tier of her profession (as if someone is reading her Wikipedia page to us) but learn nothing about why Tár is the miserable human being she is. If it's simply meant to be a portrait of an unlikeable, imperious, narcissistic, and cruel personality, it generally succeeds. If it's a commentary of "me-too" and cancel culture, it's superficial at best. If we're supposed to care about her or her life, it fails. James Levine--been there, done that.

What was a charming stage musical has been turned into a boring and inept movie. All the charm has been removed and replaced with mostly mediocre and pretentious performances. Changes to the storyline have all been mistakes. What a disappointment!