The Last of the Oscar Hopefuls

With the ceremony almost upon us I'd better throw out my thoughts on the remaining Oscar-nominated films I've checked out recently.

Despite the money THE CONSTANT GARDENER lost me (see my blog entry about the BAFTAs), I cast my bitterness aside and shelled out some more cash, this time to actually go and see the film. It's actually an entertaining thriller with a distinctive visual look, using a lot of saturated and bleached colours during the African-shot scenes and getting noticably darker as Ralph Fiennes descends deeper into grief and anger following the murder of his wife (Rachel Weisz - and no, I've not spoiled it for you, she's killed in the opening few minutes then appears through flashbacks for the rest of the film).

This look is not surprising since the director, Fernando Meirelles, already employed it on his breakthrough South American hit CITY OF GOD. Unfortunately the handheld camera and hyperactive editing that worked so well on that street gang drama gets quite annoying in places on THE CONSTANT GARDENER, whose slow-burning script required a more restrained visual approach.

As well as being a murder thriller, the film is also an indictment of the dodgy practices of big business. In that respect however, it can't hold a candle to SYRIANA.

Although most of the publicity for SYRIANA stems from George Clooney's Supporting Actor nomination, I personally thought this film merited an appearance on the shortlist for Best Film - of the five nominees in this category I'd say SYRIANA is better than at least two of them.

The script is a sharp and insightful look at everything from the oil crisis to the Middle East situation, from corruption and corporations to dodgy US foreign policy. It might not make for comfortable viewing in some of the upper echelons of US society but it's a gripping and intelligent thriller of the kind that is all too rare these days.

Clooney's nomination might seem odd in that he gets a nod in a support category despite being the main name in the movie but this is a reflection of the film's ensemble approach. Several different stories are being told using several different actors (all of whom do a fine job), with no one character taking the spotlight. It is not until about halfway through that the various plots begin to thread together and weave into some kind of payoff.

CAPOTE, for me, is the weakest of the five Best Picture nominees. That's not to say it isn't a good film (it is) but I don't think it's as special as the hype would have us believe and I had a great deal of difficulty in feeling sympathy for anyone in the film. Truman Capote appears to be a man willing to lie to and manipulate an emotionally vulnerable person (a death row inmate) in order to write a good book and indeed seems almost desperate for the man to be executed so that his book will have an ending. Catherine Keener received an Oscar nomination for her role as Harper Lee in the movie but she has very little material to work with and the nomination comes as a surprise to me. Philip Seymour Hoffman on the other hand does put in a performance every bit as strong as has been reported and is favourite to lift the award.

Finally, the Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE. This is similar in many ways to last year's RAY - they are similar in tone, both concern a musical legend, both feature fine performances from their leading men and even some of the story elements are similar (musical breakthrough, brushes with the law, drug addiction, marital strife, "the devil's music", etc.). This is the superior film of the two, but ironically the lead, Joaquin Phoenix, is a lot less likely to receive the Best Actor award than last year's dead cert Jamie Foxx. Nevertheless he and Reece Witherspoon both put in star turns that include remarkable musical performances as well as the emotional baggage.

The recognition for the cast of CAPOTE and WALK THE LINE among others does continue the trend in recent years of the Academy blurring the line between a good performance and a good impersonation. I'm not suggesting that Phoenix, Witherspoon, Hoffman or any previous recipients are not worthy of awards - but it does make me think that if the UK industry is determined to achieve big success at the Oscars then they should stop supporting films like THE CONSTANT GARDENER and instead pour their money into financing big screen outings for people like Alistair McGowan and Rory Bremner. Sure, the films would be crap, but just watch them clean up in the acting categories.