"Notes on a Scandal" - The New Odd Couple

One of the odder, creepier dramas to come along in recent years, "Notes on a Scandal" is also, surprisingly, a dryly funny satire of British class mores that features a virtual acting class by two Oscar-winners.

Dame Judi Dench plays Barbara Covett, a spinster-ish teacher at a tough London public school who uses an iron hand with her students, but has long-since given up on the idea that she can change them. Into her drab world enters Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), the new art teacher who is tall and pretty and still harbors the idealism of someone who hasn't yet been ground down by the system.

Barbara, who writes all her thoughts in diaries (one shot of her bookshelf shows notebook upon notebook filled, presumably, with her pithy comments), is immediately smitten with Sheba, though it takes her awhile to admit it to herself. (Her diary notes make up the film's sharp narration, as when she refers to Sheba and a fat colleague as "the blonde and the pig in knickers".) Slowly, she gets closer to Sheba, offering advice and counsel, until finally Sheba invites Barbara to her home, which she shares with husband Richard and kids Polly and Ben (who suffers from Down's Syndrome).

It turns out that Sheba was something of a wild child, embracing a punk lifestyle before settling down with the much-older Richard. Barbara, seizing on what she perceives as Sheba's unhappiness, insinuates herself further into Sheba's life -- meeting her for lunch, taking walks. Sheba responds to Barbara's friendship as just that...but Barabra is secretly dreaming of a time when they can be together. And when Barbara finds out that Sheba is having an affair with a 15 year old student, it gives the older woman all the leverage she needs to try and pull Sheba fully into her web...

The two stars of "Notes on a Scandal" both received Oscar nominations last year, and it's easy to see why. Though Barbara is a sourpuss virtually from beginning to end, Dench brilliantly uses body language and sly smiles to subtly show the character's growing (if delusional) belief that she and Sheba are meant for one another. Her dry line readings are also pitch perfect (Example: Barbara accepts an invite to Sheba's house for dinner but tells her diary, "Lasagna disagrees with my bowels." It may not read funny, but try not to snicker at Dench's inflection.) As Sheba, Blanchett actually has the tougher role; she has to play a series of personalities: naive, trusting, playful, lusty, confused and, unltimately, half-crazed with rage. But Blanchett is such a complete actress, she never strikes a false note; her Sheba is less a collection of tics than someone dealing uneasily with competing emotions that make the character feel utterly real and, finally, heartbreaking.

Patrick Marber's literate script gives both actresses meaty lines that let them both shine. The film runs a lean 92 minutes, but builds up such a head of steam and power that it shames similar films twice as long. The combination of stellar script and acting turns "Notes on a Scandal" from just another potboiler into a powerful examination of delusion, lost dreams, and the danger of trusting too much.