I come down on the side of those who could have done without the necklace, because she doesn’t need it, but man, she doesn’t need much. We need her desperately, is the thing, to serve up equal amounts of cool chill, a sort of yes-glamour-but-let’s-not-get-too-excited-about-it, and a sort of benevolent warmth that we’re sure as hell not getting from Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Aniston.   

Having said that, I always wish Cate Blanchett had more in the sense of a surprise. Let me see a gag where she’s backstage and can’t get dressed, or put her next to Oprah so they can make faces at each other or something. I don’t even know how game she’d be, but I think since she reliably shows up and doesn’t hate these things, maybe she’d like to do something a little more interesting.