It’s not director Richard Linklater’s finest hour, but “Where’d you go Bernadette” benefits from a great performance that makes the overall result worth checking out. Cate Blanchett is sensational as the title character, a manic wife and mother who also suffers from a severe case of social anxiety. I admit: it was hard to warm-up to the film’s premise at first, mainly because it’s hard to embrace a character like Bernadette right away. But over the course of the film, we learn more about her past, and what led her to become the way she is. This eventually made me sympathize with her and understand her decisions. I don’t think Linklater’s aim was to make a “message” movie, but his film does offer some food for thoughts as well as some beautiful locations and a story that goes in totally unexpected directions. It’s not perfect by any means, but with so many blockbusters currently playing, it’s not so bad to sit back and relax with a movie like this one.