OVP: Best Original Screenplay (2009)
The Nominees Were...
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Allesandro Camon and Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, and Tom McCarthy, Up
My Thoughts: Once
we’ve finished 2009 and moved through 2013 (provided we aren’t already moving
to 2014, which at my current rate is not a joke I would consider particularly
unfair), we’ll have a lot more diversity in the Best Screenplay
categories. The reality of the
ten-wide field has been pretty darn negative, in my opinion, not least of which
is because it’s brought about an odd amount of group think to the screenplay
categories. Has this category
always been so mainstream and we just never realized it? Something to ponder until that day when
the Oscars release vote totals.
In the meantime, though, let’s move once again to the only
film not nominated for Best Picture, The
Messenger. The film, like a
lot of under-the-radar prestige movies that land screenplay nominations and not
much else, is not memorable. The
movie has its moments, and occasionally has something rather intense to say
about how we as a country treat our fighting men-and-women, and in particular
the lower-middle class backgrounds of a lot of our nation’s soldiers. If that were where it was going, I’d
applaud quite loudly-mainstream cinema needs a bit more biting political
commentary.
Unfortunately, though, the film goes into too many clichés
in the latter half of the film. The
actual plot of the film seems too inundated with clichés, and not even solid
work by Samantha Morton and Woody Harrelson can save it from a fairly wooden
central romance (Ben Foster is a good actor, but he's not as "on" as his costars). The movie is at its best in
the voyeuristic, impossible-to-watch title scenes-when it strays, it cannot
carry that sort of height with it.
Since we’re on the subject of movies I wasn’t enthralled
with, let’s head over to the Coen Brothers’ A
Serious Man, one of the oddest Best Picture nominees of all-time. I generally embrace the Coen Brothers,
and there are moments of this film that totally work-I love the entire
cougar-next-door story, and I think that Michael Stuhlberg sells it. However, I think that the Coen Brothers
were just on the precipice of making a truly weird film, but don’t seem to have
the heart for it. The language, as
always, is wry, but the plot is not, and there’s too much sticking to standard
tropes to completely give it a pass on the actual subject. It’s the sort of film you wouldn’t
remember you saw unless it was an Oscar nominee.
Up is a film that
I liked considerably better than the previous two, but I don’t quite think the
script is up-to-snuff. I know that
it’s an animated film, but if you’re going to ground it in reality, the age of
Charles Muntz really bugged me (as did an old man lifting a house, but physics
was already taking a solid beating in this film). He is too old to still be alive if Carl looked up to him as
a child-make him younger or at least explain how he's still alive. I also think that the
film, like The Messenger, suffers
from being too strong in some avenues which makes the rest of the script look
weak. The opening wordless scenes
are so hauntingly beautiful, and I love the idea of a film about finding
meaning in life after you assumed life could no longer have meaning. However, the script never recovers from
this high and the last half hour is hackneyed and full of clichéd moments you
see coming a mile away. It’s a
cute film, and not remotely a bad one, but the script is its weakest element.
In 2012, I surprised myself in my write-up by convincing
myself that Mark Boal deserved the Oscar for Zero Dark Thirty.
While I don’t see that happening with 2009, I will say that the script
of this movie is not bad. I think
war is arguably the most overused and underutilized aspect of cinema. Every year there’s a handful of war
films, but the many nuances that come with war, with that most basic of human
instincts, is still vastly uncovered (it’s why there will always be a place for
a love story at the movies). The
film suffers in my estimation in its treatment of the main characters
(conflicting personalities in the battlefield (yawn); testosterone battles are so overdone
in cinema they almost need the Brokeback treatment
to make us reevaluate them), but the film’s escalating suspense, coupled with
the disjointed nature of the scenes where Jeremy Renner is away from the
battlefield are dynamic. It’s odd
to say this about a war film, where the action is usually the centerpiece, but
this is one of the better nominated screenplays in either adapted or original
in 2009.
Finally there’s the showiest of the writers in 2009, Inglourious Basterds. Quentin Tarantino was also a 2012
nominee (and actually won this category that year), but unlike 2012 I don’t see
me downgrading my initial impression of his work. Quentin could always use a bit of restraint, but there’s not
a false moment in this script (…except maybe the parts with Mike Myers). I loved the wit and quick-thinking of
the card game, and the way that Diane Kruger, Michael Fassbender, and
especially Christoph Waltz get a heavenly amount of dialogue to spew. Yes, the ending is silly and a bit
gross, but everything headed up to that (…except maybe the parts with Mike Myers)
are a worthwhile venture.
Other Precursor
Contenders: The WGA Awards should never be assumed to be a snub (you never
can tell what was actually eligible), but they did find room for Avatar, The Hangover, and 500 Days of
Summer excluding Up, Inglourious
Basterds, and The Messenger (The Hurt Locker won). The Globes don’t separate their
screenplays (so the adapted Up in the Air
won there), but they did find room for The
Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds. And finally there’s the BAFTA Awards
which excluded The Messenger (a very
American picture) for The Hangover (again,
a very American picture, but one that was seen by more people). I’m truly torn between The Hangover (the precursor favorite) or
Avatar (the major Best Picture
contender) for the sixth place, but I’m going to go for the latter-Avatar was huge in 2009 and even though
the writing branch cannot stand James Cameron, I think there was enough acclaim
for him to make it close but no cigar.
Films I Would Have
Nominated: I should admit that I wasn’t wild about the screenplays of 2009
(to be honest, this is probably one of my least favorite cinematic years we’ve
profiled, ranking alongside 2012).
That said, I would have found room for the charming 500 Days of Summer at least, as the movie’s twee but never annoying
look at young love was a breath of fresh air. And I also would have included the spooky brilliance that Michael Haneke brought to the classic The White Ribbon.
Oscar’s Choice: Like
many other categories, The Hurt Locker was
too tough to ignore, though I suspect Quentin at least made a run for it.
My Choice: Unlike
Adapted, I’m far more confident here.
Tarantino takes the gold, with Boal at the silver. I’d probably choose Up for the bronze, followed by The Messenger and finally A Serious Man.
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