A Book A Week

If it feels like it has been a long time since I last did a Friday Flicks review, that's because it has been. I've always been a fan of going to see a movie in the theater, but movie theaters have become another on the long list of casualties of COVID-19. Streaming services provide a plethora of content, but something about curling up on the couch with a bowl of microwave popcorn just isn't the same. Still, I'd be lying if I said I haven't enjoyed all the extra time catching up on movies that I missed in the theater. One recent offering is Where'd You Go, Bernadette, an adaptation of Maria Semple's popular novel of the same name. With an all-star cast and helmed by acclaimed director Richard Linklater, I knew the movie had the potential to be a worthy version of the bestselling book.

Cate Blanchett stars as the titular Bernadette, a quirky and creative former architect who traded the art world for the suburban life as a mother. Her husband Elgin, played by Billy Crudup, is a genius in his own right, heading up an innovative arm of a large technology company. While Elgin works, Bernadette is responsible for the majority of the activities that come with raising their fifteen-year-old daughter Bee. Bernadette is far from a conventional mother. She largely stays in the family's dilapidated estate and relies upon a personal assistant in India to take care of any shopping or planning needs. Her use of assistant Manjula takes on new heights as Bernadette prepares for a trip to Antarctica that was promised to Bee. She is extremely apprehensive about this trip, but her love for her daughter outweighs her anxiety.

The nuclear family of Elgin, Bernadette, and Bee seems to function just fine. The threesome is perfectly content with their unconventional way of life, but their neighbors have other ideas about the peculiar family. Kristen Wig gives a scene-stealing performance as Bernadette's neighbor and arch-nemesis Audrey Griffin. Audrey is essentially the antithesis to everything Bernadette is. Audrey and the other neighbors begin to pressure Elgin to react to Bernadettes idiosyncrasies. Elgin has to admit that things are starting to get out of hand. Things come to a head when Elgin attempts to stage an intervention with both a doctor and an FBI agent. Bernadette flees the scene, leaving Elgin and Bee to try to piece together the pieces of Bernadette's life, find her, and bring her back home.

I had every intention of seeing this film in theaters late last summer. Negative reviews and a poor showing at the box office meant that it only played in most cinemas for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, I was able to find it on Hulu. After watching it for myself, I really don't understand the negative reaction. I found Where'd You Go, Bernadette to be a pretty faithful adaptation of the novel. I even had a stronger emotional connection to the characters in the film than I did in the book. Blanchett relishes in all of the quirks of her character while never taking her too far away from Bernadette's emotional core. The film provides a more nuanced approach to the novel's themes of balancing personal and professional obligations while navigating the delicate complexities of family relationships. This is something that I was really missing when I read the novel, so I was happy to see Linklater explore it more in the film. There's nothing flashy or showy about this movie, which is why I think it was overshadowed at the summer box office. Instead, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is an intimate character study grounded by stellar performances, the kind of film that will leave you dazzled by the emotional connection you feel through the entire time you watch it.