 What positive critique does the film reviewer offer Blanchett? pulling off the transition from hapless young woman to coolly ruthless monarch with uncommon subtlety
Only a strategic marriage to a Spaniard or a Frenchman will mollify all factions, her advisers insist, but the pickings prove dismal. Probably, although the evidence suggests that Elizabeth had developed a head for stratagems earlier in life (her position had been precarious since the beheading of her mother) and came to the throne with few girlish illusions about How Things Work in a barbarous state. But Blanchett comes in a close second, pulling off the transition from hapless young woman to coolly ruthless monarch with uncommon subtlety. Every other line of dialogue is a cue for one of its dazzling numbers, largely covers of songs by Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, and T. Rex.
 She gives a naturally convincing performance of Elizabeth I's transition from a naive girl to a powerful ruler
 She gives a naturally convincing performance of Elizabeth I's transition from a naive girl to a powerful ruler  She most closely resembles Elizabeth I's cold demeanor, as compared to her actress predecessors  She brings a fresh element of humor and bluntness to Elizabeth I's dialogue  She captures Elizabeth I's bloodthirsty, almost masculine personality with stunning accuracy