During the lead up to this year’s Oscar’s on March 2nd I will be covering a lot of the nominees for the upcoming Academy Awards. This will not be your usual Oscar primer, but in fact more of a “catching up to speed” series. I will be dissecting a major film (a best picture nominee) and one or two smaller films in each installment. I will be going over what the nominees are, and what chances it stands to win. In the last installment HERE I covered “Captain Phillips”, “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Ernest et Celestine”. This time I will be talking about “American Hustle” and “Prisoners”
“American Hustle” was directed by David O. Russell, distributed by Columba Pictures and was released on December 20th. The film has ten nominations.
– Best Picture- Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Megan Ellison and Jonathan Gordon
– Best Actor- Christian Bale
– Best Actress- Amy Adams
– Best Supporting Actor- Bradley Cooper
– Best Supporting Actress- Jennifer Lawrence
– Best Director- David O. Russell
– Best Original Screenply- David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer
– Best Editing- Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
– Best Costume Design- Michal Wilkinson
– Best Production Design- Judy Becker (Production Designer) and Heather Loeffler (Set Decorator)
With so many nominations (tied for the most of any film with “Gravity”), they automatically are a threat to win in all categories as every nomination means a different branch of the Academy supports it. That said “American Hustle” could possibly “Gangs of New York” the ceremony (GoNY went 0-10 back in 2003) by leaving empty handed. The film faces a tough uphill battle of being behind both “Gravity” and “12 Years a Slave” for Best Picture, something that seems next to impossible, unless somehow they split their votes and Hustle hustles their way in between them. The film did win Best Comedy at the Golden Globes however (even though it barely qualifies as a comedy in my mind, it just has lots of comedic relief), but I don’t think that counts very much.
The main criticism of the film seems to be that it is a two-plus hour film of people giving angry monologues and their isn’t much to the plot. While I seemed to enjoy the film more than most, this is a very understandable criticism. That said, no one is denying that all four leads (plus Jeremy Renner in a fantastic supporting role) were not the overall best part. David O. Russell clearly knows how to direct actors, as his films have now garnered 11 nominations for them (all from his last three films). The most likely of the four actors to win is Jennifer Lawrence, as the Academy loves her and her stiffest competition is Lupita Nyong’o. Cooper playing the most layered character of the group and who gave the best performance has to battle Jared Leto and Michael Fassbender, which is too much to overcome. Christain Bale, while a fine actor and deserving of his win for “The Fighter”, also directed by Russell, should not have been nominated. He edged out Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Robert Redford (All Is Lost) and Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), all actors more deserving. He is at the bottom of the five nominees that made the cut. Amy Adams stands a chance of winning as the Academy may feel they “owe” it to her, after she has been nominated four other times, but still has to overcome Cate Blanchett and possibly Sandra Bullock.
How much credit for directing the film does Russell deserve, when his leads are so fantastic on their own? That is the question Academy members have to ask themselves. Since it is unlikely to win Best Picture, it makes it even less likely that it will win Best Director. There is too much criticism about the film and he didn’t change the medium like Alfonso Cuaron did with “Gravity”. He did co-write the film and voters will have to decide if they loved the dialogue so much, that it made up for the lack of a consistent plot. Best Original Screenplay is the single category that stands the most likely to win, that is if “her” is considered too weird of a film. To continue the thread of the film being too long with poor pacing and with not enough of a coherent structure, it makes you wonder if they will win Best Editing, something that can be a precursor to winning the big prize at the end of the night.
What the film did amazingly was the costumes and the set design. The gloriousness of late 70’s-early 80’s schmaltz and the ridiculous fashion is on full blown display. The crushed velvet suits on Renner and Bale, the gold chains on Cooper, the body suit on Lawrence and the fact that every dress Adams was in was held on her by a year’s supply of two way tape. Every cheesy outfit was matched by ugly wood paneling, gold wall paper and giant microwaves (that still shouldn’t have any metal in them). The look was what made this film feel so right. Both nominations are going to be close to the top but might be edged out ever so slightly. Now if the film ends up winning Best Picture, I can see these categories as accompanying it and padding its total.
The problem is this is a fun, good film disguised as a great film. Unfortunately I don’t think they can con the branches into fully voting on their side.
“Prisoners” was directed by Canadian Denis Villeneuve, distributed by Warner Bros. and released on September 20th. The film has one nomination.
– Best Cinematography- Roger Deakins
Deakins, who shockingly has been nominated for eleven previous films he shot (seriously 11!) and has yet to win. Find that shocking enough? How about I list them all? This includes some of the most gorgeously shot films in the last twenty years. “Shawskank Redemption”, “Fargo”, “Kundun”, “O Brother Where Art Thou?”, “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, “No Country For Old Men”, “The Assassination of Jesse James”, “The Reader”, “True Grit” and “Skyfall”. Angry yet? I am so angry I could kidnap the cinematography branch members until they can connect the dots to Deakins great work.
All that ranting aside, this film is hauntingly beautiful. The imagery and symbolism in every frame is because of director Villeneuve (who’s film, “Incendies”, was nominated for Best Foreign Film back in 2011), but capturing the cold snowy town is all Deakins. A shot that sticks out in my mind in particular, is right at the beginning, when the family’s first notice the kids are missing. They show the outside of the house with the camera right behind a tree. It looks like there should be someone hiding behind the tree staring into the window. The shot is utterly creepy and sets the tone of the thriller, even though nothing happens you expect someone to jump out or be revealed.
I would love for Deakins to win and to atone for not getting the award for “Skyfall” last year, arguably the most beautiful film I have ever seen and the most creative use of lights (particularly neon), but this is “Gravity’s” award to lose. “Inside Llewyn Davis” is also a very deserving film should “Gravity” falter. Really, all the nominated films deserve to win. The use of darkness and singular light sources in them is very stark in “Prisoners”. It is a shame that this film did not get more nominations, like a Best Supporting Actor one for Jake Gyllenhaal or for the script that Aaron Guzikowski wrote. “Prisoners” is the type of film that reassures me of why noir and thrillers are my favourite genre.
