AOH: ... It's certainly a rich and enjoyable performance by an actor of unmatched skill and technique. But isn't playing a stuttering king a slam dunk? It's a slam dunk for Oscar consideration, definitely. It's also a slam dunk for any upper-level British actor. Firth was terrific in the role. But if you cast, I don't know, Ralph Fiennes or Kenneth Branagh or about a dozen other guys, is the movie really worse off?Related: EW slideshows the ten biggest make-up calls in Oscar history.
MZS: Here's the frustrating thing, though: As you point out, this sort of role is indeed a gimme for any skilled British actor. It's a performance in what I call the "Hooray for the good old missionary position" school of entertainment: Solid, likable performance in a solid, likable movie that's mostly devoid of sharp edges, so that a viewer who finds it all somewhat lacking can be accused of being a killjoy or a snooty, pretentious person who equates art with darkness and pain. It's an uplifting movie, to be sure, and Firth is superb in it; I especially love how he shows you the king keeping his own panic under wraps because a member of the royal family is supposed to seem in control, serenely confident. He projects that, but only through silence, and Firth never oversells it.
But ... if Firth wins for this, it'll be the Al Pacino "Scent of a Woman" award for career achievement. "Here you go. We love you, we always have loved you, we're sorry you didn't get one of these sooner." Yes, Firth was good in this; he's almost always good. But he showed us more unexpected shadings, and was flat-out livelier and more memorable, in so many other theatrical films, most of which weren't nominated for squat, starting back 20 years ago in "Apartment Zero" and "Valmont" and continuing on up through "Girl With the Pearl Earring" and "A Single Man."
Thursday, February 24, 2011
IT WAS HARD TO SAY WHERE THE MOUNTAIN DEW COMMERCIAL ENDED AND THE MOVIE BEGAN: Matt Zoller Seitz and Andrew O'Hehir discuss the performances nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress. Find out what nominated film was "like the best movie James L. Brooks never made" and which performance was described by O'Hehir as being like a "gargoyle." Below the fold, both men on Colin Firth:
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Kind of odd to see them predict Bening will win Best Actress and even discuss whether she's a shoo-in, after Portman pretty much swept all the lead-in awards. I know there have been stories mentioning Bening's momentum lately, but I had assumed - and still kinda do assume -that Portman's the favorite.
ReplyDeleteThe vibe in Hollywood seems to be leaning Bening's way - while everyone still says that, polling-wise, Portman's the front-runner, when you actually talk to people who've cast ballots, the numbers point toward Bening (as a "she deserves it for overall career awesomeness" vote). The EW piece where they ask an actor, producer, writer, etc how each of them voted also leans towards Bening.
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