February 24 marks the official end of the 2012 movie season, bizarrely placed in what is traditionally the worst month for movies in any calendar year. The Eighty-Fifth Academy Awards are rapidly approaching, and the race is far from locked. Despite early enthusiasm for big-buzz films like Zero Dark Thirty, Les Misérables and Lincoln, a series of recent left turns, snubs and controversies has left the doors open for any number of surprises come Oscar night.
Argo, the last film from actor-turned-director Ben Affleck, looks posed to win the top prize, Best Picture, this year. Despite a snub in the Best Director category, Argo has been unstoppable this awards season, winning every major top directing and picture prize, from the Golden Globes to the SAG Awards. So what’s the argument for Argo? In an unnecessarily large field of nine Best Picture nominees, is Argo the best film of the year? Debatable. The nine nominees this year were remarkably strong and diverse. Argo is a well-made, well-paced film, designed to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the end credits. Surprising, given that the film is based on true events. Argo is equally as strong as other contending films including Silver Linings Playbook and Django Unchained, and manages to avoid much of the movie industry Oscar-bait, which spews forth from nominees like Lincoln and Les Misérables. The Affleck-directed film is a definite Oscar contender, and it will likely be an Oscar winner because of spite for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the governing body that presents the Academy Awards. Affleck’s directing snub has created a fire under the seats of Oscar voters. Their desire to prove the Academy wrong might be just the push Argo needs to win big.
The Best Actor category features five spectacular performances from seasoned acting veterans. The frontrunners here are Daniel Day-Lewis for his transformative role as Honest Abe in Lincoln and Hugh Jackman, for his vibrato-crazy performance as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Both received Golden Globes for their performances and delivered some of the best work of their respective careers. Who will win? It all depends on the taste of the voters. Will they prefer Jackman’s emotional, raw performance or Day-Lewis’ “method” performance? More than likely, the Oscar will go to Day-Lewis, an awards-season darling, who’s already won the Oscar twice for My Left Foot in 1989 and There Will Be Blood in 2007.
The Best Actress category also offers two clear frontrunners: Jessica Chastain, nominated for Zero Dark Thirty and Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook. Both have won multiple awards this season with neither actress holding a considerable edge. This one really comes down to personal preference. Jennifer Lawrence delivered a quirky, memorable performance as a recovering sex addict in Silver Linings Playbook. She’s an excellent, young performer who brings power to any film in which she appears. As a big fan of Jessica Chastain, I was underwhelmed and disappointed by Zero Dark Thirty. The film was made and executed well, but it was not a pulse-pounding thriller for the ages, proving that news headlines do not always make great cinema. Chastain carries Zero Dark Thirty, yes, but only because no other characters have extended screen time in the film. Chastain seems to be phoning in her performance, which is a far cry from her Oscar-nominated work in The Help.
This year’s Supporting Actor and Actress categories could not be more different. They might as well give Anne Hathaway her Best Supporting Actress Oscar now. She’s already won every major award for her performance as the single mother turned prostitute, Fantine, in Les Misérables, and for good reason. Hathaway owns every frame she occupies. From her incredible physical transformation for the part to her sob-inducing one-take performance of “I Dreamed A Dream,” she shows her complete devotion to and mastery of the part.
The Best Supporting Actor category, on the other hand, features five great performances from five actors who’ve already won Oscars. The critics say Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln while I prefer Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained, but my money is on Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s L. Ron Hubbard-like role in The Master. It’s a wild card performance, but that’s the kind of role that Oscar voters love and vote for.
Tune into the Academy Awards on February 24 to see how it all pans out. 2012 was one of the twenty-first century’s best years for movies with a healthy balance of popcorn flicks and awards fodder across the board. Let’s hope 2013 can match up.
