Cate Blanchett never makes a misstep.
Sometimes the two time Oscar winner has made errors of judgement, but none like “Borderlands.”
There are 11 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes of Eli Roth’s adaptation of a game. The critics are unanimous: they hate it. AwardsWatch wrote: “Borderlands is the worst kind of bad movie; the type devoid of any offbeat quirks that could propel it to a second life as a cult classic, feeling insufferable and overlong at a brisk 102 minutes because of its sheer lack of originality.”
“Borderlands” has a unique zero so far. That’s 0. It’s by far the lowest rating Blanchett has received in her nearly 30 year career. The worst before this was for George Clooney’s convoluted “Monuments Men” which had 31%.
It’s been a little more than a decade since Blanchett won her 2nd Oscar, for Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine.” She’s made consistently odd choices since then of mostly B level material. “Borderlands,” however, is the worst by far. What’s gone wrong? First of all, there is not a lot of quality material for women. But also, obviously, there is some miscommunication. Blanchett should be doing only top quality material with A list directors and writers. She’s on the level of Meryl Streep and Viola Davis.
“Borderlands” reviews will no doubt rise slightly before it hits theaters tonight. But it’s time for Blanchett to do a reset. One movie might be to come to Broadway in a great play and pick up a Tony Award. That usually works!
