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Irish ayes for ‘In America’

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

“Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” predictably led the field with 11 nominations. “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” wasn’t far behind with 10, despite being excluded from two major categories by having an all-male cast. “Seabiscuit,” and old-school Hollywood epic bursting with can-do America spirit, clocked in at seven. But then came the surprises.
Brazilian director Fernando Mireilles’s “City of God,” a dazzling, ultraviolent gangland drama shot in Portuguese in the slums of Rio, got four nominations, including Best Cinematography and Best Director, and Sofia Coppola’s “Lost in Translation,” a study of tourist loneliness and dislocation in downtown Tokyo, earned nominations in four of the top categories — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor.
Among the little-known actors nominated at the expense of Hollywood’s top stars were a 13-year-old girl from New Zealand, Keisha Castle-Hughes, for “Whale Rider,” and an Iranian actress, Shohreh Aghdashloo, for “House of Sand and Fog.” The Irish film industry got an unexpected boost with three nominations for Jim Sheridan’s autobiographical immigration tale, “In America,” all the more welcome given the no-show for Sheridan’s cast on the Golden Globes list in December. Two of his actors got the Academy thumbs-up, Samantha Morton for best Actress and Djimon Hounsou for Best Supporting Actor, and writer/director Sheridan was also nominated himself, along with his daughters Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan, for Best Original Screenplay.
The biggest surprises on the nominee roll call were the exclusions. Conspicuous by omission were the A-list celebs and previous Oscar winners who had featured prominently in the Golden Globe nominations a month earlier. The swashbuckling efforts of Russell Crowe, nominated for Best Actor three of the last four years and a winner for “Gladiator,” came up short in “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” as did Tom Cruise’s swordplay in “The Last Samurai.” Nicole Kidman, winner of the Best Actress award last year and the year before, missed the cut this time around with “Cold Mountain,” though her costars, Jude Law and Renee Zellweger, were both nominated. Dwarfed by the stupendous scale of Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth epic, the cast of “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” scored a blank in the Best Actor and Best Supporting categories, despite the film’s most-nominated status.
Jim Sheridan’s reputation for getting career-best performances out of his actors was underlined by the nominations for Morton and Hounsou. Previously nominated for her role as a deaf mute in Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown” four years ago, Morton had taken time out from her career since then to have a baby. She impressed in her comeback two years ago in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” as the high strung clairvoyant Precog, and went one better with Sheridan’s “In America” to rack up a second nomination. Also included in the same category are the New Zealand teenager and star of “Whale Rider,” Keisha Castle-Hughes, Charlize Theron for “Monster,” Naomi Watts for “21 Grams,” and Diane Keaton for “Something’s Gotta Give.” Morton stands an outside chance at best in this company, and the race is likely to be a close contest between Charlize Theron, for her extraordinary immersion into the mind and body of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and Diane Keaton, for her autumn-years dating role opposite Jack Nicholson in Nancy Meyers’s romantic comedy. On the night, expect the veteran Keaton, already a Golden Globe winner for the role and a previous Oscar winner for “Annie Hall,” to have the edge over the up-and-coming Theron.
Djimon Hounsou, overlooked by the Academy when he made his breakthrough performance as a rebellious slave in Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad,” got the nod this time for his moving performance as the AIDS-afflicted artist who lives downstairs from the immigrant Sullivan family in “In America.” The West African actor faces tough opposition in the Best Supporting Actor slot from Tim Robbins, costar of “Mystic River.” Robbins is favored to win for his aching portrayal of a blue-collar worker haunted by tragic events from his past in Clint Eastwood’s moody ensemble piece. The Academy rarely rewards villainy, so Benicio Del Toro, a raging ex-con in “21 Grams,” and Alec Balwin, a brutal casino boss in “The Cooler,” will have to content themselves with their nominations. Ken Watanabe, Tom Cruise’s Japanese costar in “The Last Samurai,” was a surprise nominee and remains a long shot, so we can expect Robbins, previously nominated as director for his death-row drama “Dead Man Walking,” to take home the statuette.
When the presenters reach for the envelope for Best Original Screenplay, the Sheridan family will be up against the Coppola family in the tussle for the Oscar. At a time when Hollywood’s reliance on material adapted from other sources has escalated beyond reason, high-quality original screenplays are becoming an endangered species in the industry. The huge box-office successes in recent times for movies based on old TV shows, comics, bestseller novels and, lately, Lord help us, on theme park rides, have discouraged producers from backing new stories — four of five of this year’s nominees for Best Picture are adaptations. In a mediocre year for new material, the Sheridan and Coppola scripts stood out for their freshness and believability. The other contenders on the list are Steven Knight’s “Dirty Pretty Things” (an unlikely candidate to win, as the film received no other nominations), Denys Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions,” and Andrew Stanton’s “Finding Nemo.” The bookie’s favorite will be the Coppola script, as part of a formidable Best Picture/Director/Screenplay/Actor package, and the Sheridans will probably go home disappointed.
When the votes are cast for Best Actor, the perceived wisdom is that the Academy prefers its winners to be tortured souls. An actor whose character struggles with disability, illness and tragedy traditionally trumps nominees in the lighter roles — comedians may play big at the box office, but they rarely get their hands on the Oscar. Bill Murray should prove the exception this year for his performance as jaded sad-sack Bob Harris in “Lost in Translation.” The Best Actor category pitches Murray’s Hollywood has-been against Sean Penn’s gruff and grieving working-class dad in “Mystic River,” and Murray would be the popular choice to win. The seasoned comedian wasn’t happy about being overlooked for “Rushmore” five years ago, and this year the Academy made amends by nominating him for playing virtually the same guy. The other suitors for the statuette are Ben Kingsley as a retired Iranian general, locked in a battle for ownership of California beachfront real estate in “House of Sand and Fog,” Jude Law’s lovelorn army deserter in “Cold Mountain,” and Johnny Depp’s outrageously camp turn as Captain Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” Fabulous though he was in the pirate part, Depp’s performance is too silly to win, and we can expect Murray to nudge past Penn to the victor’s podium.
Having created a tryptich of “Lord of The Rings” epics that yielded 30 nominations but only six Oscars, New Zealander Peter Jackson might well feel shortchanged by the Academy. Sheer numbers of nominations will guarantee “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” some wins for visual and technical effects, but after three years, “Ring” fatigue on the part of the Academy might give “Lost in Translation” a shot at leapfrogging over the Tolkien trilogy closer this Feb. 29 to win Best Picture and Best Director.
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The 2004 Academy Awards broadcast starts at 8 p.m. this on ABC, so get the popcorn ready and find a comfortable spot on the sofa, it’s going to be a long night.

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