Cate Blanchett gives another command performance in 'Age'

It's hard to resist the urge to curtsy upon greeting Cate Blanchett. Australia's fashionably wrapped gift to superior acting is once more upon England's throne, in all her regally bedecked and bewigged glory, in Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Her reprise of the Virgin Queen, a continuation of her Oscar-nominated breakthrough in 1998's Elizabeth, begins its reign in theaters today.

Next to Blanchett is her loyal subject, Clive Owen, the bedroom-eyed and broody Brit whose performance as derring-doer Sir Walter Raleigh could cause flutters in female royals and commoners alike. There they are, dressed to impress and cozy on a hotel's settee, chattering among themselves after perfunctory hellos, with nary a glance at their visitor.

Actually, it's not unlike the relationship between the love-starved Elizabeth and the raffish Raleigh as they share intimate talks in stolen moments away from the prying eyes of the court. And, much like her manipulative monarch, the radiant Blanchett has the kind of presence that can command if not monopolize a situation if she so wishes.

Via usatoday