If you didn't know in advance that Blanchett was playing both roles, you might be fooled. She is so wonderful. On one side of a coffee table in a hotel lounge, Blanchett, playing her gorgeous blonde, elegant self, holds forth. Opposite, is Blanchett as a brunette as a somewhat sloppy and very jealous cousin Shelly. Cate is attempting to be friendly and shed her superstar glamour to seem like a regular gal. Shelly, who is a singer, is attempting to conceal her deep resentment of Cate's star status and all that goes with it, but although pretending she realizes what a bore all the public attention Cate endures must be, really wishing she could have all that for herself.

These two performances, bolstered by the astute dialogue Jarmusch has written, are superb and much fun to watch, for the way the spectrum of celebrity is addressed as well as for this double vision of Blanchett's talent. The hocus pocus of filming has enabled the gimmick to be pulled off smoothly so that it seems as if we are really watching two people talking together.

The other coup involves actor Alfred Molina informing actor-comedian Steve Coogan that he has learned they are distantly related. Molina is enthusiastic, but Coogan couldn't care less and is trying to distance himself, until he hears Molina talking on the phone with someone Coogan would like to impress. At that point, he changes his attitude, but Molina turns totally cool. They are excellent together and the sequence crackles with sophistication.