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 enlarge | Director: Richard Eyre
Actors: Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Tom Georgeson, Michael Maloney, Joanna Scanlan
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.96
You Save: $18.02 (90%)
New (51) Used (79) from $1.96
Rating:  161 reviews
Sales Rank: 981
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 92
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 2243891
UPC: 024543438915
EAN: 0024543438915
ASIN: B000NIVJFY
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: April 17, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Earth-shaking drama April 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm sure most people already knew the outcome of the story before buying or watching this DVD. That being said, the actings are superb in almost every way. The most steamy part of this whole affair is the kissing and fondling, and they are tastefully done. For those that wished to see more skin, you can join one of the many adult sites that offer video clips of hot female teachers having explicit sexual relationships with her male students.
 Wonderful performances, but it ends much differently than the book April 22, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I loved watching both these powerhouse actresses in a story so troubled that you're not supposed to 'like' either one of them. They're both deeply flawed, which makes them fascinating.
It didn't bother me, but it's worth noting that the movie ends much differently than the book. Those who are curious should definitely pick up the book too. You'll see both characters in a different light.
Even so, a great movie.
the best of judi dench April 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Judi Dench just gets better and better over the years. It's nice to see her doing something else, from time to time, other than playing "M" in the James Bond series.
Dench plays Barbara Covett, a lonely history teacher of a prestigious London school, who is in search of a companionship. Her previous companion has just been recently terminated from the school. She has no one but her faithful cat.
Then enters Sheba Hart (Blanchett), a rookie teacher who struggles to maintain discipline and order upon her students. However, during an incident, the two teachers soon warm up to each other.
Soon, Barbara believes that Sheba could be "the one". Here you'll think, "ooo, a lesbian romance." However, that soon shatters Barbara's hopes when she accepts an invitation from Sheba for dinner, only to discover that there is a family.
Although deflated, Barbara still holds an attraction to Sheba. That is until she spies Sheba in an uncompromising situation with a student, Steven Connolly. From there, things really get messy as Barbara plays "a game of chess" with Sheba's life. As terrible as Sheba's crimes, Barbara doesn't really want to report her but rather, she desires Sheba's companionship, including her loyalty. The problem is that Sheba desires other things.
Despite the sensitive subject, I thought the film was well worth watching with Dench and Blanchett playing their roles beautifully.
Great escape April 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read the book first, so I knew what to expect. They skipped all the boring parts and it was an entertaining film. Not a bad performance in the bunch and a decent script as well.
Pretty cool film, if you like that kind of stuff April 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel badly for Judi Dench. Not because of her performance, because there wasn't anything bad about it--at all. I feel badly because Notes on a Scandal came out the same year as The Queen. Neither are up for best Picture, but both have best Actress heavyweights. (To see my review on The Queen, scroll down.) This one is all about Dench. She's such an elegant, talented woman that she can mesh herself into any role from Proulx's ancient matriarch to the Queen of the free world to a lesbian psycho-spinster who lives vicariously through younger, beautiful, successful women. Barbara Covett (Dench) is the history department chair at a British school whose former art teacher has left for reasons unknown when the movie begins. Cate Blanchett dances into the role of the new art teacher with aplomb and blonde hair that glistens like a beacon in a dreary school yard where she becomes the focus of a 15-year-old paramour. A paramour who Blanchett permits to seduce her, since she's in a drole life as Bill Nighy's younger wife whose children are a young boy with Down Syndrome and a teenage girl the same age as her lover.
Notes on a Scandal is just that. A refreshingly original plot narrated in voice over by Dench who interprets the actions of the film in her off-kiltered, soul-searching way. She inhibits every scene seamlessly weaving intrigue, lust, envy, and blackmail into a tail that comes down to lost love, obsession, and pure loneliness. Blanchett shines as Sheba who struggles against herself, but she fails to convince me of how bad her life really is. She has inherited a lovely old row house outside of London, her writer husband adores her, her daughter seems as dysfunctional as the rest of us, and her son is the love of her life. What more can she want? I suppose Dench just wants to replace her former obsession with a new one, and cares more about her cat than the people around her.
I will continue to see Blanchett movies, but Hudson needs to prove herself to me.
The cyclic ending to Notes on a Scandal is bittersweet, pleasing to the palette while still keeping true to the travesties of life. The movie is exactly what I thought it would be. A wonderfully delicious romp somewhere in the bowels of clandestine subterfuge between two talented, deserving Oscar nominated actresses.
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