Mister Tee wrote:I don't in fact agree that In the Bedroom turns into a vigilante film. Yes, it depicts an act of vigilantism, but I don't see the film endorsing it; it evoked horror in me, and I thought that was the filmmakers' intention. But, whatever your feelings about that, I think it's hard to deny the power of Tom Wilkinson's performance. His character is not unlike Donald Sutherland's in Ordinary People: the not-normally-aggressive father who has to assert himself to keep what's left of his family together. I don't think Wilkinson has ever been more expressive, more touching than he is in this film. He's my easy choice for this year.
Totally agree... the "horror" in my place was even greater by the time he got home and reached his bed after "that"... Spacek's reaction gave me chills and it was easy to conclude Wilkinson was another victim of the situation, but specially a victim of what was "expected" from him. Everything you knew was good in him got broken. But then there is she and her feeling of fullfillment, of "justice done", really hit me. The vengeance as a deviated form of justice was explored in his character like a degrading aspect of the human nature through that long final act, but in hers it was in those few seconds and they were terrible to watch.
But Wilkinson winning an Oscar for this great role was not going to happen. It is like trendy here to recognize him as the best of the bunch, but his nod almost didn't happened (I'm sure he was the 5th one by the time the voting period to choose the nominees finished). I agree he is the best of the bunch, but his role is maybe too subtle for the Academy... that night I was expecting Crowe to win, the juicy character in the BP front-runner and the only Oscar deserving element of the otherwise expendable thing A Beautiful Mind is (not Connelly, not his average directing and specially not his screenplay for dummies. I don't have to mention Best Picture for this matter). If the film works, it is only because of Crowe. And I agree it is not that bad to deserve a hating attitude, but the Academy hurt its reputation by overloving it in the presence of so much better works. Despite his previous immediate victory, considering the competition, I thought Crowe was going to win.
Washington doesn't have anything to do with an Oscar for this specific performance, a generic one in a bad "action" flick that failed to be the summer hit it was supposed to be, praised for having an against type Denzel. How cheap was that campaign? They could have given it to him for The Bone Collector and the opinion about the quality of his "deserving film" would have been the same. Hawke is way superior...
I liked I am Sam, more than I thought I would... and Penn did a terrific job. Playing that kind and that severity of developmental disability, which exists, was incredibly risky and he succeeds by not doing it in a way that could have been offensive or clichè, creating instead a likeable/relatable character. In other hands that would have been a mess. I do believe he gave a performance deserving of the nod, even though the film is pure rubbish and one I do not want to see again.
I haven't seen Ali (actually I haven't seen any of the two Will Smith's nominated performances). I voted for Wilkinson...
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)