OVP: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Film: Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Abbie Cornish, Samantha Morton, Jordi Molla, Rhys Ifans, Eddie Redmayne
Director: Shekhar Kapur
Oscar History: 2 nominations/1 win (Best Actress-Cate Blanchett, Best Costume Design*)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

Movies are not supposed to provide a history lesson.  I have frequently longed for, quite frankly, a world where history isn't quite as followed on film as it needs to be, as contrary to popular opinion truth is almost never stranger than fiction.  In fiction, you can create convenient plot devices, and utilize everything from mummies to aliens to flying men in spandex to help shelter your little universe.  As a result of this I liked the idea of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, a film that threw out multiple aspects of English and Spanish history to create a rather crowning story about a queen, someone who would eventually be considered one of England's great rulers who made several tactical mistakes during her lifetime, throwing caution to the wind and giving us a film that grossly exaggerates, bends, and occasionally just breaks history into smithereens.  What I didn't like about the film is that it occasionally features hackneyed romantic triangles, ridiculous overacting and far too much bombast from its lead.

(Spoilers Ahead) Yes, this is the review that I take one of the truly great actors of her generation, Cate Blanchett, to task a bit as this is hardly what you'd consider a fine performance.  It's not unfun, I want to point out-Blanchett overacting is still better than someone like, say, Tara Reid overacting because Blanchett's technical training and stage roots bring a theatricality to the world of Elizabeth that lesser actors wouldn't have been able to find.  However, her queen here is nowhere near the sharp, polished achievement she pulled off nine years earlier in her star-making role in the original.  Here she gives too little care to some of the subplots (such as her relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh) and is only really fun during the film's few comic bits.

Perhaps she should have gotten a lesson from Samantha Morton, who finds room to play the quiet parts of her role as Mary, Queen of Scots a bit more levelly while also finding a deliciousness in her portrayal (both women find the over-the-top privilege afforded to them as queen's, something that most movies lack because they want to make them relatable, but this is silly-these people were gods amongst men in their time, it's hard to fathom that that didn't go to their head).  The rest of the cast isn't nearly as strong as Morton or as admittedly fun as Blanchett.  Eddie Redmayne and Rhys Ifans border onto the bad as would-be assassins, while Clive Owen relies mostly on his dark eyes and enamoring accent rather than any semblance of direction for his character (Abbie Cornish, like everything she does that isn't Bright Star, is Novocaine).

If there's a cattiness to this review it's because this is a gigantic David O. Selznick style tragedy that succeeds when it's more Dynasty than Upstairs, Downstairs, but it doesn't have the good sense to stick to the trashy aspects of the film, instead deciding that the very flawed Elizabeth needs to be a hero instead of just deeply flawed.  The film's position as an Oscar-nominee puts a harsher light on the film than what it could have been (Blanchett's Mommie Dearest), and as a result I find myself critiquing it more harshly than I normally would have.  Perhaps the only person on the set who 100% got the camp of the entire thing would be costume designer Alexandra Byrne, who creates decadent, marvelous costumes for the film, particularly those worn by Elizabeth.  She has little shame while creating increasingly outlandish and gaudy (but always stunning) gowns, which normally I'd find a bit much but here it matches the mood of the film.  Byrne, a long-time Oscar bridesmaid, knew this was her moment and went to the hilt, gaining her little gold man in the process.

We'll end there, as I need to breathe from the whirlwind of feelings I had about this movie, but I'd love your thoughts.  What'd you think of Elizabeth: The Golden Age?  Do you agree that this is Blanchett's least Oscar-nominated work, or are you going to defend the scenery-chewing?  And considering the showy competition she had from Atonement and Sweeney Todd, are you on-board with Alexandra Byrne finally winning her Oscar?