Thursday, March 13, 1997
With Miramax’s Little Big Movie ‘The English Patient’ poised to
sweep, is it a case of Hollywood going Indie or an Indie gone
Hollywood?The glitz-fest that is the Academy Awards has fallen into
one of two types in the ’90s: first, there are the years where one
juggernaut emerges and takes every award (think of Spielberg’s
Schindler Sweep) or a year where everything is so bland that no
front runner makes itself known early on (like last year’s
lackluster collection of films).
The race this year may look like another run of the latter, but
my hunch is we’ll see a mini-sweep by the Little Big Movie of 1996,
Miramax’s $33 million "The English Patient." Like no other film
this year, "The English Patient," a yarn of love and war, captures
the spirit of a Best Picture film … without necessarily being the
best picture of the year. It’s as if the film’s similarity to the
films of David Lean and other Oscar bait have hypnotized the public
into thinking the film is better than it actually is.
"The English Patient" will take a slew of statues, including
Best Picture, Best Director (for DGA Award winner Anthony
Minghella), Best Adapted Screenplay (for Minghella from the novel
by Michael Ondaatje), Best Editing (for edit-guru Walter Murch),
Best Cinematography (for John Seale ASC/ACS) and Best Original
Dramatic Score (for Gabriel Yared).
That leaves more than a few prestige awards for other films to
get at, namely the performance awards. The category for Best Actor
boils down to a showdown between Aussie stage veteran Geoffrey Rush
(for his turn as tormented prodigy David Helfgott in "Shine") and
America’s Favorite Son Tom Cruise (for his performance as a
soul-searching sports agent in "Jerry Maguire"). Rush has garned
kudos internationally for his "Shine" performance (including a
Golden Globe), but the home-court advantage and the massive
popularity of Tom Cruise is nothing to sneeze at. Rush has a shot
at the gold, but come Oscar night, you can expect the trademark
million-watt smile of Cruise to be reflected off the smooth surface
of an Oscar.
In the Best Actress race, Brit Brenda Blethyn stands in the lead
for her exceptional performance as a beleaguered working-class mum
in "Secrets & Lies" (she’s already been recognized at Cannes
for her work). Her only competition comes from Frances McDormand,
nominated for her role as intrepid Brainerd police chief Marge
Gunderson in "Fargo." Though consistently strong, McDormand and her
quirky performance in the eccentric Coen Brothers film may be over
the heads and sensibilities of the rather conservative voting body.
On the other hand, Blethyn’s turn as Cynthia Purley is the stuff
Oscar winning-performances are made of, right down to the
gallons-upon-gallons of tears her character sheds. Even Academy
nativism won’t be enough to deny Blethyn her Oscar (and while on
the subject, let me take this moment to personally commend the
Academy for having the wisdom to nominate newcomer Emily Watson for
her stellar performance in the little-seen "Breaking the Waves,"
even if she’s got as much chance of winning as I do).
The race for Best Supporting Actor is too close to call with
crowd-pleaser Cuba Gooding Jr. ("Jerry Maguire") vying against old
pros James Woods ("Ghosts of Mississippi") and Armin Mueller-Stahl
(as the despotic daddy of "Shine"). Throw in Mamet veteran William
H. Macy ("Fargo") and the much-lauded performance by freshman
Edward Norton ("Primal Fear") and it’s anybody’s statue.
The Best Supporting Actress race couldn’t be more certain; for
even though the competition is fierce (Joan Allen, Juliette
Binoche, Barbara Hershey and Marianne Jean-Baptiste), the statue
belongs to the legendary Lauren Bacall, nominated for her turn as
the Mother of Babs in "The Mirror Has Two Faces." The Oscar goes to
her not just for her performance (which was a treat) but for a
lifetime of being Bacall without being recognized for it. Her
fellow nominees all turned in strong work, but none so strong as to
defeat a filmography that includes "To Have and Have Not" and "The
Big Sleep."
The Best Original Screenplay category has long served as the
consolation prize for films too hip, too edgy, or just too much to
woo the majority of voters to Best Picture. I expect the voting
body of screenwriters to give the award to the Coens for their work
on the script of "Fargo" in what promises to be the evening’s most
unusual acceptance speech. Cameron Crowe’s script for "Jerry
Maguire" could give the Coens a run for their money, and if it were
left to popular vote, the more audience-friendly Crowe script would
surely take home a statue.
Golden-Globe winner "Kolya," an export from the Czech Republic
is my pick for Best Foreign Film because for some reason foreign
films with kids featured prominently always seem to win Oscars.
Other winners shall be: Brian Morris ("Evita") for Best Art
Direction, Ruth Myers ("Emma") or Janet Patterson ("The Portrait of
a Lady") for Best Costume Design, and monster-maker extraordinaire
Rick Baker ("The Nutty Professor") for Best Makeup.
Expect loud and irritating junkpics to win for Sound, Sound
Editing, and Visual Effects.
The cantankerous and ornery folks over in the documentary
committee have this way of snubbing whatever documentary pulls off
the near-miracle of getting a mass audience, so Leon Gast’s "When
We Were Kings" probably won’t snag a statue. Far be it from me to
know what their fickle taste will see fit to honor.
And as for Best Original Song, well, the musical taste of the
Academy has long since baffled me and I again abstain from
selecting.
What I really wish I could predict is that something
controversial would shakeup the proceedings; whatever happened to
principled young actors who vociferously objected to competition
amongst artists (sadly, the answer is they grew up and won Oscars)?
Is it too much to ask for another streaker running behind David
Niven or the return of Sasheen Littlefeather 25 years after her
first trip to the podium?
Unfortunately, the only suspense will be how long before Billy
Crystal does his impression of Billy Bob in "Sling Blade."
Just wake me up when it’s time for Best Picture.
Wilson is a graduate film student.