Yesterday I riffed on a possibility that we might be seeing a Cate Blanchett-vs.-Cate Blanchett Best Actress competition this fall. The notion was that Cate’s Oscar-touted performance in Todd Haynes‘ Carol might be matched by her portrayal of former CBS producer Mary Mapes in Truth. Well, right away HE commenter RealBadHatHarry claimed he’d seen Truth and cast doubt on the afore-mentioned scenario, in part because the film, he said, is too reflexively liberal. Then a friend called and asked who had told me that Blanchett’s Truth performance was extra special. “A non-vested marketing guy who attended a buyer’s screening two or three months ago,” I answered.  Then my friend told me “there’s no way this film will be in the award-season conversation.” Not even for Blanchett’s performance? “Her competitive pony is Carol,” he said. I asked if he’s seen Carol and he said no. Then he said the makers of Truth were “still working on it,” a phrase which sometimes means that the value of a film might be in question. Then he asked if I could think of a single critically praised film that was set in the U.S. but shot overseas. (Truth was mainly filmed in Sydney.) I was moved by the call because he was basically trying to save me from embarassment down the road. And then another friendo passed along the same buzz. So without casting any aspersions let’s modify the tone of yesterday’s article and pledge to see Truth whenever it screens (it’s conceivable that it might not go to Telluride) and see how everything shakes down on a step-by-step basis.