Oscar Watch: Best Actor
Melissa and I have a little competition each year at Oscar time and I do up faux ballots for us. The first couple of years she demonstrated a keen shrewdness to the proceedings that belied the fact that she hadn't seen as many of the films as I which has led me to consider more what the Academy members might be thinking than who and what I think might actually win. You know, being the competitive monkey that I am.
The nominees for this year's awards have been announced. I've been giving them some thought and, before I get swept up in our little contest, I want to reflect on the awards from a personal standpoint: what movies and roles left an impression upon me? Nobody at AMPAS cares what I think, but as a guy voting with his movie-going dollar, I've got some thoughts about the nominees. I had thought that this would spin out quickly in a short entry, but it seems that the rumination is taking its own space and time, so I'm just going to touch on the category of "Actor in a Leading Role" this time around.
I love the fact that Johnny Depp was nominated for Pirates of the Caribbean. After the shit he got initially for being cast and for taking the role in the direction that he did, it is a wonderful vindication to have his work recognized for what it is: completely mesmerizing. He turned a fairly unremarkable film into high entertainment -- no mean feat -- and deserves the recognition. Of course, over the last year, I've come to realize that Depp brings this level of devotion and energy to most of his roles. No one is really talking about Once Upon a Time in Mexico, but he steals that film as well for the same reasons. Giving Depp the award wouldn't be a tragedy, but I think Depp has had all the validation he needs about his decisions on the role of Captain Jack Sparrow already. Besides, he's pretty close to a sure bet for my money right now anyway.
I have some biases about Mystic River. As a novel, Dennis Lehane's book didn't move me as much as his other work (and while his series featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro was starting to show its age, Darkness, Take My Hand is still one of my favorite PI novels of the last decade, and Shutter Island -- his latest book -- is a crackling good read), but the combination of the actors involved, Clint Eastwood as director and Brian Helgeland doing the adaptation (he won an Oscar for his adaptation of James Ellroy's L. A. Confidential -- which, frankly, was an amazing piece of work, distilling that massive tome down to a watchable film) meant that, short of some on-set catastrophe, Mystic River would be a solid out of the park hit. And with Eastwood's track record for delivering films, catastrophe wasn't a word on anyone's lips.
However, I just can't seem to muster any enthusiasm for the film. The book just left me in an "eh" frame of mind. Don't get me wrong, if I was Lehane, having Eastwood, Helgeland, Penn, Robbins, Bacon, Fishburne, Harden, Linney and the rest making a film out of my book would be a sheer delight, and I hope his feet still do a happy dance every time he thinks about it. But, yeah, no interest in the film.
The House of Sand and Fog -- for which Ben Kingsley was nominated -- should be retitled to "The House of Emotional Trauma and Misery." While I think there is a place for emotionally devastating dramas, they aren't necessarily the reason I watch film and it is the rare one which can break through my reservations about their construct. Same for Cold Mountain. The interminable hype surrounding this film doesn't help it transcend the cookie-cutter "EPIC LOVE STORY" construction which seems to be its major selling point.
Now, Bill Murray. I haven't seen Lost in Translation yet. It's out on video next week and I'll be there on Tuesday to rent a copy, so this is a bit of speculation here, and I'm basing this on the wonderful work that Murray has been doing as a dramatic actor over the last few years. Yeah, I know, Lost in Translation won a Golden Globe in the comedy category, but I'm guessing it isn't the same sort of comedy that Caddyshack was. Murray's got a wounded vulnerability that he seems to have discovered for The Razor's Edge and his dramatic roles since then have been haunted by a sense that he's a man who is just trying to do his best in a world which may have moved on past him. Murray's my front runner for Best Actor.
I still feel like I'm short-changing Depp though. Winning for Pirates of the Caribbean would clearly send the message to the suits that they should get the fuck out of the way when it comes to the creative direction of a film. I would like to see Depp win because it would tickle me to no end, but I'm leaning towards Murray.