In theaters

NOTES ON A SCANDAL Directed by Richard Eyre, written by Patrick Marber, 91 minutes, rated R.

The new Richard Eyre thriller, “Notes on a Scandal,” stars Judi Dench in one of the cruelest, most isolating roles of her career. So, for those who appreciate Dench and know that such a role only can lead to good things, here is your Christmas pudding. Enjoy.

In the film, Dench is Barbara Covett, a British schoolteacher of a certain age who wields a poisonous wit that’s so cutting it could come up against the likes of, say, an Evelyn Waugh or a Dorothy Parker, and draw its share of blood.

Over the course of her career, the actress has steamrolled her way through her share of movies, from Queen Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare in Love” and Laura Henderson in “Mrs. Henderson Presents” to Iris Murdoch in “Iris,” but never has she been this daring or this edgy. Her Barbara views the world as her foil, with those unfortunate enough to wander into her sights apparently there to be devastated and undermined, should she choose to do so.

Physically, the actress also has transformed herself, absent any trace of the blond, tan, glamorous-looking woman recently seen in the new James Bond movie, “Casino Royale.” She now looks as if she has been pickled with vinegar. Barbara is on the losing side of gravity’s pull. She’s all pinched lips, beady eyes and sneering demeanor, with a helmet of dyed brown hair that shows a telling flash of snow white near the root.

As written by Patrick Marber from Zoe Heller’s book, a good deal of the movie is spent inside Barbara’s barbed mind, which is fitting since so much of it is told from her vicious point of view. When into her life comes the pretty new art teacher, Sheba Hart (Cate Blanchett), a young bohemian who is married with children, Covett is drawn to her in ways that suggest a kind of sexual stirring.

While writing in her robust diary, she decides they will become friends, which Sheba innocently encourages. She invites Barbara to her home, where she introduces her to her family – her older husband, Richard (Bill Nighy), teenage daughter, Polly (Juno Temple), and son, Ben (Max Lewis), who has Down syndrome.

For a while, all is good until Sheba makes the unbelievably stupid decision to give in to one of her student’s sexual advances. He’s 15-year-old Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson) and the Monica Lewinsky Sheba pulls on him early in the movie is witnessed by Barbara, who is so hungry for companionship – and so calculating to see that she gets it – she realizes that by catching Sheba in this act, she could gain everything by doing nothing.

With their friendship sealed thanks to Barbara’s promise to Sheba that she will say nothing of the affair (“you must, however, end it immediately”), the stage is set for some rather spectacular unraveling, with the actresses happily hurling themselves onto a collision course that must end in scandal, as the film’s title notes. Once there, the ending recalls murmurs of “Fatal Attraction” and the histrionics that ensue are charged with the huffing and puffing of melodramatic cheapness – which, in the hands Dench and Blanchett, is something to savor, indeed.

Grade: B+

On DVD and Blu-ray

INVINCIBLE Directed by Ericson Core, written by Brad Gann, 108 minutes, rated PG

Ericson Core’s “Invincible” is based on the true events that led 30-year-old Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) to leave behind a life that leaned toward failure and disappointment for a life that underscored hope and promise – and not just for him.

The success achieved by Papale, a substitute teacher and bartender struggling to make it on the south side of Philadelphia after his wife leaves him, also was critical for his friends, all blue-collar men who came to live vicariously through Papale, as well as the city itself, which at that point needed to get behind somebody who embodied the best elements of themselves.

The movie is set in 1976, with the nation steeped in the throes of economic uncertainty and the memory of the Vietnam War still too close for most to have had time to heal, let alone fully comprehend.

Enter Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear), whose first year with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles was something of a test, particularly since the Eagles, at that point, were coming off an embarrassing previous season, in which they lost every game.

With Eagles fans more than happy to criticize the team, Vermeil’s idea was to toss at least part of the solution back to them. He held open tryouts, thus allowing anyone a shot at being part of a losing team – or perhaps a part of its solution.

Urged by his friends to try out, Vince decides to go for it. Self-doubt plagues him, but the reality is that he is a gifted natural athlete who is right for the game. His considerable charm is that he doesn’t know it, which is attractive to Janet (Elizabeth Banks), an unfailing Giants fan who timidly starts a romantic relationship with Papale just as he rises publicly through the ranks for a spot on the team.

Core’s challenge here is to create a movie that grips and moves us in spite of being hindered by a well-known outcome. He succeeds. Better yet, he also isn’t eager to give the movie over to inspirational melodrama. Instead, he respects the story and our memory of it, plucking our heartstrings only toward the end, when he has earned the right to do so.

Wahlberg and Kinnear also prove instrumental in keeping the schmaltz at bay. Wahlberg, in particular, is very good, his lined face a mask of inward turmoil that seems ready to collapse as the pressure to succeed mounts. If Vince Papale was the heart and soul of Philadelphia during the mid-1970s, Wahlberg brings those same qualities to “Invincible,” a movie served considerably by them.

Grade: B

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays in Discovering, Fridays in Happening, and weekends in Television as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.