I really had high hopes for Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Cate Blanchett, one of the best actors of her era: great! Richard Linklater, one of the great American filmmakers today? Even better. A beloved bestselling novel as source material? Sounds like a can’t miss! There are moments in Where’d You Go, Bernadette? that hint at something interesting, but the movie never builds on the foundation it’s shakily put together, like the foundation of Bernadette’s current life situation.
Bernadette (Blanchett) used to be the “it” architect out of school, creating freely and happily. Eventually she marries Elgie (Billy Crudup), a gaming creator working for Microsoft, and has a daughter, Bee (Emma Nelson). The 3 appear to live comfortably and happily in Seattle. Underneath it all, Bernadette appears to be struggling. She’s consistently feuding with other local mothers at Bee’s school (Kristen Wiig and Zoe Chao), her home is in a perpetual state of disrepair, and her only friend appears to be Manjula, who’s she regularly emails in India but never met. One day, out of the blue, Bernadette disappears, leaving it up to Elgie and Bee to figure out where she went, and what she’s doing.
I think you can trace the problems of the movie adaptation of the Maria Semple novel to the perspective change. The novel’s point of reference is Bee, who has to learn about her mother’s disappearance, and piece together what exactly happened. Linklater, probably because Cate Blanchett was cast, elects to build the story more straightfowardly, and around Bernadette. I think Linklater wants to help set up the relationship between Bee and Bernadette, which would pay off in the third act. However, this choice sucks the mystery of its power, making the story rely on us enjoying time with these characters. There’s a wealth of information about Bernadette, Elgie, and Bee that could make Where’d You Go Bernadette? work. Too much information in fact, as Linklater resorts to information dumps, and excising material that remove crucial character motivation. Also, the perspective change forces Bee to instantly connect with her mother, and not earn her respect over the course of her mystery. In addition, some of the choices Bernadette makes in the movie’s third act clang wildly with the story Linklater is telling in the first 2/3 of the film. These differences also result in wild tonal shifts that will raise eyebrows.
The cast does their best to save the material. Cate Blanchett is capital A acting here, being more motormouthed than I’ve ever seen from here before. She mostly acquits herself well, dropping some mics and emoting as best she can while she’s info dumping. Billy Crudup is fine, doing the best he can with a screenplay that neuters his character a bit. Kristen Wiig and Zoe Chao have a lot of fun playing those uppity rich parents who take their school board responsibilities too seriously; Wiig especially is good at pulling laughs out of Semple’s material. Linklater is always best with unproven talents, which is the case here with Emma Nelson. She doesn’t have a lot to do except be a good daughter, but she has 2 big emotional scenes, and she nails both of them without coming off prissy or overacting. Linklater said that he responded to the mother daughter relationship most, and Nelson and Blanchett are at their best when Where’d You Go Bernadette focuses on them.
Sometimes you just need to reset. Richard Linklater, after a 5 year run that saw him make 3 films worthy of making my personal Top 10 list for that year, finally made a bad movie decision. That’s fine. Usually when Linklater does this, he goes back to the drawing board, and makes something great, while people are kinda down on him. My advice: use Ethan Hawke, and a bunch of no name actors to tell your story. Those are your best films usually. Not that Linklater needs it, obviously.