The Missing (2003)

Ron Howard directs this rather slow drama set in 19th-century New Mexico. 

Samuel Jones (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to reconcile with his estranged daughter Maggie (Cate Blanchett), who resists his efforts. But when Maggie’s daughter is abducted, she allows her father to help her rescue the girl.

The main two leads are excellent, with a degree of chemistry, and the scenery looks stunning. But it could’ve been better. It’s workmanlike where it should have sparkled. Long, too. It dabbles with a watered-down mysticism but doesn’t really deliver on that front. Also, the main villain is comical and silly rather than terrifying and the ending seems oddly abrupt. The alternative endings on the DVD make more sense, suggesting that something went a little askew in the edit.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

Brilliant adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel, starring Matt Damon as Tom Ripley, an inventive young man who infiltrates and ultimately ruins the lives of a couple played by Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow. 

It’s brilliantly plotted, with Ripley somehow staying on top of the absurd twists and turns of the various crises he creates. Matt Damon is superb in this part – charming enough to be credible as someone the couple instantly like and creepy enough to always present a sense of nervy threat. 

Cate Blanchett and Philip Seymour Hoffman are both excellent in supporting roles. 

The Italian scenery looks stunning too.

The Aviator (2004)

Biopic of billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. 

It’s a sad and engrossing story that expertly details Hughes’ decline into paranoia, social reclusiveness and the crippling discomfort of extreme OCD. 

Scorsese’s usual tricks are all displayed, but it’s refreshing to see them used in a non-crime story. At times it all seems a little too stylised, but then Scorsese handles this visual flamboyance so well that he makes it work. Plus, it’s a film about the veneer of Hollywood success so that lavish styling serves to further underscore the subject matter. 

DiCaprio is absolutely superb as the visibly crumbling Hughes. Cate Blanchett is also at her best, capturing the quick-witted energy of Katharine Hepburn. 

Also popping up are Kate Beckinsale (as Ava Gardner), Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani (as Jean Harlow), Willem Dafoe and Alan Alda (as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster).

The Monuments Men (2014)

A handful of military misfits go to Germany towards the end of World War II to locate and retrieve fine art stolen and hidden by the Nazis. (In reality, there were 300 such people working on this project, but the film doesn’t acknowledge that.)

George Clooney stars, writes and directs but unfortunately can’t decide if he’s making a comedy or a drama. It falls somewhere in the middle – neither very funny nor very exciting, with too much rather stilted sitting around. The all-star cast seems underused, with Matt Damon, Bill Murray and the dreaded John Goodman in underdeveloped roles and not really getting a chance to shine. Only Cate Blanchett (a sympathetic curator with an inconsistent French accent) comes out of it unscathed. 

The tone is all over the place. The film flits between trying to make serious points at certain times and seeming like Dad’s Army at others, with “jaunty” music that’s especially jarring. Even the central message – art is so important that it might be worth dying for – is watered down by the way it’s something we’re repeatedly told rather than meaningfully shown. 

The final scene – a modern-day glimpse of Clooney’s Lieutenant as an elderly man appreciating Michelangelo in a gallery with his grandson – is particularly awkward and naff.

I’m Not There (2007)

Impressionistic sort-of biopic of Bob Dylan starring six different actors, each representing different aspects of Bob’s personality. 

Fragments of Dylan lyrics and interviews are interwoven into the dialogue in a way that’s sometimes cryptic, sometimes obvious. 

It’s clearly meant to be as slippery and chameleonic as Dylan himself, but somehow it doesn’t come together. The Cate Blanchett sections are compelling enough that you wish director Todd Haynes had made an entire film with her as Dylan (he directed her again in Carol), but the passages with Richard Gere are baffling and rather dull. 

Christian Bale is the only other “Dylan” that works. I was less impressed by Marcus Carl Franklin, Heath Ledger and Ben Whishaw. One other highlight is Julianne Moore as Alice Fabian, a “folksinger and activist” presumably based on Joan Baez. 

It confirmed two things about Bob Dylan I already knew:

• He’s complex and difficult to pin down

• He wrote some great songs

But beyond that it told me very little.

An Ideal Husband (1999)

Charming and entertaining adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play starring Rupert Everett, Jeremy Northam, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Minnie Driver. With source material and actors that strong it would be difficult to go wrong, and sure enough director Oliver Parker makes the most of both. 

Moore is especially good as the scheming Laura Cheveley, intent on blackmailing a government minister. Driver is appealing as Mabel Chiltern, although for some reason she seems too “modern” to fit into the era that was being evoked. Everett gets it just about right, pitching his character somewhere between affable buffoon and trusty good sort.

It’s wittily and nimbly constructed. It works both as a piece of lighthearted froth and as a fairly engaging study of human nature in its various forms.

Blue Jasmine (2013)

The best Woody Allen film for a long time, although that may be damning it with faint praise, Blue Jasmine stars Cate Blanchett as a wealthy socialite whose life falls apart when her husband (Alec Baldwin) is imprisoned for fraud. Battling panic and depression, she goes to live with her sister in San Francisco (Sally Hawkins) in order to start a new life.

The premise sounds bleak, but there’s plenty of black comedy in this supremely well-observed study of class and downward mobility. Woody Allen’s pacing and construction are very solid, with expert handling of extended flashback sequences, and he really knows how to tell a story and reveal a character.

Blanchett gives one of her greatest ever performances. She’s twitchy and on the edge, but – as per the demands of her character – also elegant and hugely appealing. You can see the conflict and turmoil in every facial expression.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

The sequel to Elizabeth is both trashier and more entertaining than that first film. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush successfully reprise their roles as the queen and her spymaster. And again Shekhar Kapur directs, shooting several scenes from overhead for no apparent reason.

It’s very “loose” with the facts. Why make up events when the real story is so interesting? And if you do invent a new plot, make sure it works. You see an assassination attempt on the queen that was foiled because Anthony Babington (Eddie Redmayne) didn’t have bullets in his gun, but this failure is never explained. Had Walsingham removed the bullets? Was Babington just careless? In reality, he was just one of the plotters and he never pointed a gun at her. So they invented this plot strand only to leave it unresolved.

The other big flaw is Clive Owen as Sir Walter Rayleigh. His motivations are unclear. Is he there to impregnate the queen’s handmaiden (Bess Throckmorton, played by Abbie Cornish) or does he have some deep connection with the queen herself? Or, given his made-up importance in defeating the Spanish Armada, was it all “for England”? Again, bearing in mind that the truth has been embellished, the least they could have done is to make his character work. There’s a “Sunday night TV” quality about him, and I kept thinking of David Essex in some old programme or other.

These points aside, it’s an enjoyable romp. And Cate Blanchett is always worth watching.

Elizabeth (1998)

Biopic of Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) detailing her ascendance to the throne and the various challenges to it that she overcame. It also details the workings of her inner circle and her private life alongside the progression of her public face as she fends off an endless stream of potential suitors and ultimately becomes the “virgin queen” of legend.

Cate Blanchett has a commanding presence in the title role, while Geoffrey Rush has menacing charisma as her adviser and spymaster Francis Walsingham. The all-star cast also includes Lily Allen, Richard Attenborough, Kathy Burke, Eric Cantona, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes and John Gielgud. And Daniel Craig shows up as a murdering monk.

It’s enjoyable, even if it does sometimes lack context. You will get more out of it if you know your history.

Shekhar Kapur’s direction was sometimes conspicuous. He has a thing for overhead shots and these were used too often.

Carol (2015)

Compelling drama set in the 1950s and adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 novel The Price of Salt.

Carol is going through a divorce and becomes besotted with a young female shop assistant. The two become friends and then more than friends. After Carol is denied custody of her daughter over Christmas, the pair take off on a road trip. But Carol’s estranged husband has other ideas...

Cate Blanchett is mesmerising in the lead role, making every glance or smile or gesture count. Rooney Mara is perfectly cast as the slightly awkward object of her desires. It’s both romantic and uneasy.

Todd Haynes’ film is beautifully shot, with several moments filmed through glass or given a dreamy, luxurious quality. Despite that, it functions as a gritty drama.

Robin Hood (2010)

As with Gladiator, Ridley Scott directs and Russell Crowe is the main man. But the magic of that earlier film is not repeated.

It’s England in 1199 and there’s intrigue afoot, with a knight conspiring against King John of England (Oscar Isaac) with King Philip of France. Chaos and conflict ensue.

Rather than a simple tale of Robin Hood and his merry men, this is a fairly “serious” historical-drama treatment that deliberately veers away from the almost-pantomime silliness of the usual story – despite shoehorning in a lame, tokenistic Friar Tuck.

For a lengthy and sometimes complex film, there’s too little explanatory material and sometimes the narrative signposting is unclear. The motivations of Sir Godfrey (Mark Strong) and Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow) aren’t always evident.

Ridley Scott’s usual visual flair is on display (he’s particularly expert at large, intense battle scenes), but it lacks Gladiator’s “special” factor – perhaps because Scott takes on too much at the expense of a single, cohesive story. The film attempts to detail the Robin Hood legend, retell a slice of actual English history and develop a credible romance scenario. Cate Blanchett makes for a refreshingly tough Maid Marian and seems to have real chemistry with Crowe, so I would have preferred more of their relationship and less messy muddying of myth and reality.

Crowe is always highly watchable but his constantly changing accent – did he think he was from Scotland, Northern Ireland or Yorkshire? – was a distraction.

The plot seemed to be setting up a sequel (Robin Hood only becomes the outlaw figure of legend in the closing minutes), but – several years later – that’s looking less and less likely.

Cinderella (2015)

“Have courage and be kind” is the simple message behind this live-action Disney film. It’s incredibly faithful to the original fairytale. I found it immensely powerful to see a story I’ve known all my life suddenly unfolding before my eyes in a newly visualised manner. And the magical scenes were sublime. The highlight was when the coach and horses began breaking down into the pumpkin, mice and lizards that they had been magicked from. Lily James plays it straight in the title role, Helena Bonham Carter is pretty good as the quirky fairy godmother and Cate Blanchett has fun hamming it up as the wicked stepmother.