For starters, the second time truly is the charm as my second screening of TÁR was (fortunately) not interrupted and called off due to issues with the projector. Imagine how confused I — and all of the Philly critics — were when the sound came on sans picture. In fairness, because TÁR is a film about a musical artist, I thought that the blank screen serving as the backdrop for a beautiful song was an artistic choice. I must not have been the only one, however, because it took about five minutes before it became clear that this was not the case.

Unfortunately, TÁR feels like a film that I should love because it’s one of these artistic “Oscar-worthy” films rather than a film that I fell in love with on my own merit. I can see it being a lot like last year’s The Power of the Dog, which I quite like to be clear. The film will resonate with many, and I’m truly happy for that, but it just did very little for me outside of its technical aspects and Cate Blanchett, who dazzles in her performance. Blanchett plays the fictional Lydia Tár and we examine the rise and fall of this world-renowned composer. But one performance can’t save a film that drowns itself out — much like the audacious musical performances in the film — by its crescendo. 

Blanchett is stellar as Lydia Tár and I think that we’ve finally found a common ground that everyone can agree on I’m sure that we’ve all played the role of a conductor in our heads as children — using pencils or our fingers instead of a baton — but Blanchett lives it in this performance. The sheer intensity that she displays whenever she is shown conducting in this film just pops off of the screen and it’s in these moments that I would find myself forgetting that Blanchett is playing a role and not actually a conductor. And it’s incredible that Blanchett can easily go from a more calm demeanor to completely unhinged while singing a song about her neighbor’s apartment going up for sale with an accordion (this is by far the highlight of the film). 

Florian Hoffmeister’s cinematography, when allowed to have some fun, really stands out. I’ve spoken with Hoffmeister, and that gave me a greater appreciation for the restraint that he shows in his cinematography. One of the instances of this is when Lydia stumbles out of a massage spa and the camera goes from being still to a jarring handheld camera style once she exits the building and the camera follows her. Hoffmeister also does an electric job whenever Lydia takes the stage. It only happens once or twice, but it’s the equivalent of following an NFL quarterback run out of the tunnel for musical artists. The film also ends with a wonderful tracking shot in a theater full of cosplayers.

Clocking in at nearly 2 hours and 40 minutes, TÁR tells the full story of its titular character. Not to be the guy who complains about the runtimes of films, but the film seems to be going for the Drive My Car effect of long-lasting scenes mostly made up of dialogue and only succeeds in the first half of the film. And it’s an admirable effort, sure. Writer-director Todd Field finds a nice balance in the beginning with plenty of scenes that likely last around 10 minutes, but they’re so intrinsically interesting — whether this is due to the performances or the writing is up to you — that the film flies by early on. Once the second half of the film begins, the film finds a much more methodical pace to settle on that teeters between intriguing and dull.

I had heard TÁR described as a “MeToo” story on a podcast or somewhere online, but while there’s no issue with a film handling that — The Assistant and Bombshell are both fine examples of this — TÁR film feels slightly out of touch. In short, Lydia gets wrapped up in a web of trouble that results in a very modern take of canceling. Videos taken from a class are snipped together and conveniently make it seem as if Lydia was vulgarly speaking about masturbation and touching one of her students inappropriately during the class (she was stopping his anxious foot-tapping). This type of editing would get you hired by Wes Anderson, that’s all I’ll say. And I know that this is a small nitpick in the grand scheme of things, but it took me out of the film. The video, paired with the suicide of a woman who reached out to Lydia on a number of occasions, gets her stuck in a web of legal trouble.

Perhaps TÁR is a warning about how you should treat others, or seeing how karma can indeed be a bitch much like Lydia is occasionally shown to be. Whatever the case, TÁR doesn’t exactly hit a home run with its point. For starters, it’s all just thrown in during the final half-hour or so of the film. Yes, the breadcrumbs are laid including a situation involving her assistant (and aspiring conductor) Francesca (Noémie Merlant), but it’s almost as if Field had heard a large number of stories where someone was canceled and chose to infuse all of them into the story. 

And all of this is a means to an end which in this case, is the fall of Lydia. By the end of the film, Lydia has gone from conducting some of the most acclaimed orchestras in the world to traveling in other countries and playing in some sort of event with Donnie Darko cosplayers in the crowd. It’s a tragic ending for a character who was on top of the world in the beginning, and I think it’s quite fitting. The final line spoken is a beautiful note to end on, “Sisters and brothers of the Fifth Fleet, it’s time I keep my farewell brief. Never was much with words, once you board this ship, there’s no turning back. The next ground your feet touch will be that of the new world. If any of you have lost your nerve, then step away now and let no one judge.” I just think how we get there is a different story. 

The film’s just plodding; there, I said it. You can be an exciting film that moves at a snail’s pace (again, look no further than Drive My Car). TÁR does indeed move at a snail’s pace — especially in the second half — but lacks any urgency until the scenes with the orchestra playing kick in (which will wake you up if you’re at a 10:00 am screening). The first hour and a half are quite good — I had to take a bathroom break and clocked the time and was shocked by how much ground we had covered — and I was in for the ride during this time of the film. What happens between this and when the whole “cancel” subplot kicks in? I could probably struggle to put together a few ideas. And this comes just a couple of hours after the film ended! 

Perhaps due to the fact that TÁR is a film centered around a composer, there’s very little of Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score. Even early on in the dialogue-heavy scenes, very little, if any, music fills the background. This wouldn’t even be a complaint if not for it coming at the expense of Guðnadóttir, but the Oscar winner deserves better and perhaps the concept album that is set to release next year will change my opinion on things. I’d imagine that her talents were in turn used to arrange the actual music that Lydia conducts, I just wish she had even more of a presence.

TÁR is a case of a well-made film that’s perfectly on track to be a big Oscar player. Blanchett really elevates the film past its flaws for the most part, but the elongated runtime really hampers the film. If not for Blanchett, I think that the flaws would be far more glaring; I guess that’s just the benefit of having a generational talent at the forefront. And the attempt at working in a “MeToo” subplot feels too contrived and merely a passage to get the film on a crash course to its final crescendo. 

TÁR held its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 1 and will be released in limited theaters on October 7 before expanding on October 28.