Oscar material?

Rating: 10/10 (23 August 2003)

Oscar material?
Play the Oscar game? Why not? This is as good a way to assess the merits of a film as any.
Best supporting actor? If it is written (but who wrote that?) that a performer cannot win an Oscar in the same category two years in a row, and if history itself could be rewritten, Chris Cooper should receive that award this year, instead of having received it last year, for his role in ADAPTATION, an intriguing, but lesser film. His performance as Tom Smith is unique : he invented a special way to talk, a special way to be for his character. That is what acting is all about at the highest level, the level of a Laughton or an Olivier, which is precisely what we are talking about here. But he will certainly be nominated. The Academy has but little choice in that regard.
Best supporting actress... Although she is unlikely to be nominated, Elizabeth Banks fully deserves to be recognized for her achievement in insuring a strong and attractive feminine presence in a film set in an almost exclusively male world.
Best actor? Jeff Bridges would deserve a nomination, but is unlikely to get the prize, unless the Academy wants to make a gesture, and reward him both for his performance in this film and for the rest of his worthy career, as happens sometimes.
Tobey Maguire could also be nominated, but I would be surprised if he got anything, if only because HollywoodÕs mind is not yet made up about his unusual approach to his craft. This film, in which the young actor breaks new ground for himself like in none of his previous work (which is to say a great deal), constitutes one more testimony to his extraordinary potential. But this is ensemble work, and, fine as his performance may be, the script, as is, does not allow him to stand out in the way that he did in both THE CIDER HOUSE RULES and WONDER BOYS.
If Gary Ross were to receive an award, it should be as director, rather than for his screenplay. At the same time, as a foreigner who has always admired American ideals, I cannot but be charmed by the refreshing simplicity of his patriotism, apparently innocent of the tacky and at times aggressive nationalism that is all too common in Hollywood. No flag-waving here, because no flag-waving is needed : this is love and country pure and simple.
It would be a shame if SEABISCUIT, which is so magnificent to look at, were not nominated for best cinematography, and there would need to be a very strong contender emerging over the next six months to beat it in that category.
Finally... Best picture? SEABISCUIT is likely to be nominated for that award, but just as likely not to get it, regardless of its intrinsic qualities and those of the competition, as there will be pressures on the Academy to recognize the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. That will be its last chance to do so, by design, as it were, inasmuch it seems to have waited until the third year to make that almost inevitable move. Unless THE RETURN OF THE KING is markedly weaker than the previous two instalments (which is improbable), it is almost a shoe-in for best film.