Where'd You Go, Bernadette

These themes have preoccupied Linklater through his whole career -- and while Where'd You Go, Bernadette may not be one of his peaks, it shows he's still bent on approaching them in new ways.

[I]n a cinematic landscape where stories of women finding themselves are too few and far between, Where'd You Go, Bernadette is a welcome gift, even if it's an imperfect one.

Basically a miscalculation from end to end, full of bizarre narrative turns and inexplicable craft decisions. Yet there's never any question that Linklater is fully committed, and it's hard to consider a movie "bad" that's made with this much care.

Bernadette is a vibrant creative spirit, and Blanchett blithely gives the character her all.

As Bernadette, Cate Blanchett is forced to do the work that Linklater doesn't devote to developing the story or characters.

Linklater understands that it's not where you ended up but what brought you there - and what you do when you get there - that really matters.

Where’d you Go Bernadette is not just the title of the film: it’s also the question it leaves the audience with. Where did the plot go? Where did all of those promising elements run away to?

Linklater’s film is a loose adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name. Fans of the novel might take exception to how loose. Chief among the changes: Bernadette is around an awful lot for a story about someone who disappears.

I even liked its messiness. That may be a weird compliment, but this is a weird movie, and I guess I like that about it too.

Cate Blanchett transforms what read on the page as “kooky-neurotic-but-loving-mom” into an abrasively self-pitying, invective-spewing depressive...