UK (2006): Drama
Judi Dench plays spinster schoolteacher Barbara Covett, a self-described "battle-ax" who befriends pretty new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett). Sheba is a fluttery bohemian with a devoted, considerably older husband (Bill Nighy) and two children -- one a petulant teenage girl, the other a sweet boy with Down's syndrome. Working at the rough-and-tumble London high school is instantly overwhelming for the sensitive Sheba, but the no-nonsense Barbara swoops in to her rescue on more than one occasion. An unusual (and not entirely believable) friendship is forged between these two very different women, with Sheba (short for Bathsheba) soon baring her soul to the manipulative, deeply closeted Barbara. Little does Sheba know that the dowdy Barbara is secretly pining away for her and honestly believes the two are destined to become permanent "companions." When Barbara eerily writes of Sheba in her daily journal, "She's the one I have waited for," it's clear the train's gonna fly off the rails one way or another.
The "conductor" of that particular train comes in the form of 15-year-old Steven Connelly (Andrew Simpson), a wiry, freckle-faced student who plays Sheba like a fiddle and, before you can say Mary Kay LeTourneau, they're having crazy sex in tunnels and behind the high school auditorium. When the nosy Barbara catches them in flagrante delicto, she realizes she can use this explosive knowledge to her Sapphic benefit and promises a terrified Sheba that she won't tell school authorities -- as long as Sheba stops seeing the boy. Barbara then starts wielding her absolute power over Sheba, resulting in a downward spiral packed with taut, squirm-inducing moments. -- Gary Goldstein, Reel.com
Adapted by Patrick Marber from Zoe Heller's novel; directed by Richard Eyre. (Fox Searchlight - Web site)
4 nominations
·Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 2006: Judi Dench
·Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role 2006: Cate Blanchett
·Achievement in Writing (Adapted Screenplay) 2006: Patrick Marber
·Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) 2006: Philip Glass