OVP: Best Adapted Screenplay (2013)
The Nominees Were...
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke, Before Midnight
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter, The Wolf of Wall Street
My Thoughts: We are now headed into the home-stretch of the 2013 OVP Awards. For those of you who may be new to the site (I feel occasionally like I need to include a guide to a few of the recurring features here), click up top where there's a link explaining OVP for an explanation of why we're discussing a now roughly seven-month old ceremony, and not instead the upcoming slate of potential nominees (and click below for loads of links to past contest or even the "Official OVP Ballot" tag further down and you'll see loads more-you have so many options on Many Rantings of John!). For those of you already familiar and wanting to see how I'm going to be comparing writer-actors Ethan Hawke and Steve Coogan, wait no longer-the "Big 8" begins now!
I frequently complain about how the Sound and Editing categories are the hardest categories for me to compare because it's the areas that I'm the least aware of "what might have been" onscreen, but I never talk about which ones I find the easiest to judge, though that is pretty much the writing categories. This is principally because plots and writing are the first thing I'm looking for in a movie-does everything make sense, does it unfold well, is it realistic within the film's universe (this is critical for me) and is the writing/dialogue strong? Visual cues are oftentimes just gravy (unless you're smart enough to hire Roger Deakins or something), but the writing is the meat on my cinematic plate.
That's why I'm so enamored with the Jesse-and-Celine series from Richard Linklater, the third installment of which was Before Midnight. These films are all talk-it's the key to their success, and you find that the actors onscreen are so richly aware of their characters that the entire thing feels ad-libbed (maybe it is-they might be the listed screenwriters for that reason). This film isn't quite as romantic as the first two, particularly Sunset where the desperation in their lives resonates so well (admittedly, this may be because the "turning 30" period of my life is right now, whereas the "turning 40" is many years down the road). Still, though, this has so much truth in the way that we unfold before one person for our entire lives-the way that you spend decades together with a single person, who sees every bad thing that you ever wished to hide, and how there is love and resentment all wrapped into one neat package in that regard. Few films have taken on that strong, steady love in the way that Before Midnight does throughout the final hour of the film, and almost none have taken it on with such biting, complete honesty from its two central characters. Another miracle in a film series that is, well, just that.
12 Years a Slave is by far the film we've most discussed in this bunch (we'll be getting to all but Before Midnight again though in what was one of the most insular Oscar-lineups I have seen in a while). The script of the film occasionally takes a back seat to the acting and to the sets-this is the reality of an epic film, that because the narrative is tried-and-true, the script doesn't get quite as adventurous. Still, though, there are some great moments to admire in this film. I love any of the writing in the scenes with Sarah Paulson's Mistress Epps-there's something so biting and nasty in her lines in particular, with all of their subtleties of knowing what is happening between her husband and Patsey. 12 Years is at its best when it is showing things that we won't quite understand by the film's end-things like Mistress Epps, or Alfre Woodard's Mistress Shaw, or some of the happenings at other farms-things that are not in the scope of the story, but clearly impart on the audience that there was so much more evil lurking throughout the South at this time, and atrocities like those of this novel were just a drop in the bucket. I still think that the writer's treatment of Solomon doesn't allow him to grow past being a reflection of some of the other characters, but by-and-large, 12 Years remains a truly compelling screenplay as a whole.
Philomena is not a film, however, that can survive the weaker aspects of its script. The movie has a solid lead performance by Judi Dench, and there are moments where it feels quite real (I love the moments when Dench's Philomena is quiet and alone, trying to suppress feelings that she has harbored for decades). And yet, the script itself is a jumbled mess. The film can never decide if it's supposed to be a comedy or a drama, and unlike other films, it doesn't succeed while maintaining this balance-it frequently feels like it should have been a straight-up drama (the comedic bits don't work as well), but that would have been a harder sell in an era where Judi, Maggie, and Helen sell boffo tickets at the Box Office for being funny old ladies. The worst handling was the gay/AIDS story with Dench's son's lover, which seems so bizarrely underwritten that you feel like there was some sort of waiver that the writer's couldn't get signed in real life (this is one of many problems with biopics), and so they had to gloss over a pivotal aspect of the film. Either way, this film may have its charms, but its script is not one of them.
Captain Phillips also suffers from similar refrains, and though I've complained about it several times before (and probably will once again when we get to the final Best Picture lineup), the film can never quite succeed in balancing the haunting thrill ride of the second third of the film with the botched introduction of Hanks and Abdi's characters in the first third (which is tepid and dull and yet another reason why Catherine Keener needs to start reading her parts specifically and not just signing up for prestige pictures, only to learn that she's got the least interesting part yet again). The film's final third, as well, cannot seem to balance whether Captain Phillips is sympathizing with the men who are his captors or whether he is simply struggling to survive, and it feels like Billy Ray's script cannot make this distinction as well. The middle third is where this film thrives, but that's admittedly the least "written" aspect of the film, so it's really the editors and director who get the bulk of the credit there.
We'll end with Terence Winter's The Wolf of Wall Street, certainly the most controversial film nominated for Best Picture in 2013, mostly because of the way that the film celebrated the life of sin of a corrupt man named Jordan Belfort. I discussed this more in-depth in the review (links to all reviews are up-top: again, so darn accommodating), but for me the point is not whether he celebrated the man's life (he did-there's really no way around it), but whether it aided the movie. To a certain extent, it did, but I do feel that from a writer's perspective, some editing would have been warranted. On occasion films truly need to stretch three-hours (Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, and Titanic all come to mind), but Wolf isn't one of them-there are entire stories that have little value other than to add another lauded actor to the Scorsese mix (I'm looking at you Jean DuJardin), and if we were going to go three hours, perhaps it would have made sense to give a little context to characters that aren't played by the film's three leads; one of the fatal flaws of the script was that it underwrote what turned out to be key players in the film's pack. Still, though, this was a ballsy movie and some of the better parts with Leo and Jonah clearly deserve a gold star in Winter's column as well.
I frequently complain about how the Sound and Editing categories are the hardest categories for me to compare because it's the areas that I'm the least aware of "what might have been" onscreen, but I never talk about which ones I find the easiest to judge, though that is pretty much the writing categories. This is principally because plots and writing are the first thing I'm looking for in a movie-does everything make sense, does it unfold well, is it realistic within the film's universe (this is critical for me) and is the writing/dialogue strong? Visual cues are oftentimes just gravy (unless you're smart enough to hire Roger Deakins or something), but the writing is the meat on my cinematic plate.
That's why I'm so enamored with the Jesse-and-Celine series from Richard Linklater, the third installment of which was Before Midnight. These films are all talk-it's the key to their success, and you find that the actors onscreen are so richly aware of their characters that the entire thing feels ad-libbed (maybe it is-they might be the listed screenwriters for that reason). This film isn't quite as romantic as the first two, particularly Sunset where the desperation in their lives resonates so well (admittedly, this may be because the "turning 30" period of my life is right now, whereas the "turning 40" is many years down the road). Still, though, this has so much truth in the way that we unfold before one person for our entire lives-the way that you spend decades together with a single person, who sees every bad thing that you ever wished to hide, and how there is love and resentment all wrapped into one neat package in that regard. Few films have taken on that strong, steady love in the way that Before Midnight does throughout the final hour of the film, and almost none have taken it on with such biting, complete honesty from its two central characters. Another miracle in a film series that is, well, just that.
12 Years a Slave is by far the film we've most discussed in this bunch (we'll be getting to all but Before Midnight again though in what was one of the most insular Oscar-lineups I have seen in a while). The script of the film occasionally takes a back seat to the acting and to the sets-this is the reality of an epic film, that because the narrative is tried-and-true, the script doesn't get quite as adventurous. Still, though, there are some great moments to admire in this film. I love any of the writing in the scenes with Sarah Paulson's Mistress Epps-there's something so biting and nasty in her lines in particular, with all of their subtleties of knowing what is happening between her husband and Patsey. 12 Years is at its best when it is showing things that we won't quite understand by the film's end-things like Mistress Epps, or Alfre Woodard's Mistress Shaw, or some of the happenings at other farms-things that are not in the scope of the story, but clearly impart on the audience that there was so much more evil lurking throughout the South at this time, and atrocities like those of this novel were just a drop in the bucket. I still think that the writer's treatment of Solomon doesn't allow him to grow past being a reflection of some of the other characters, but by-and-large, 12 Years remains a truly compelling screenplay as a whole.
Philomena is not a film, however, that can survive the weaker aspects of its script. The movie has a solid lead performance by Judi Dench, and there are moments where it feels quite real (I love the moments when Dench's Philomena is quiet and alone, trying to suppress feelings that she has harbored for decades). And yet, the script itself is a jumbled mess. The film can never decide if it's supposed to be a comedy or a drama, and unlike other films, it doesn't succeed while maintaining this balance-it frequently feels like it should have been a straight-up drama (the comedic bits don't work as well), but that would have been a harder sell in an era where Judi, Maggie, and Helen sell boffo tickets at the Box Office for being funny old ladies. The worst handling was the gay/AIDS story with Dench's son's lover, which seems so bizarrely underwritten that you feel like there was some sort of waiver that the writer's couldn't get signed in real life (this is one of many problems with biopics), and so they had to gloss over a pivotal aspect of the film. Either way, this film may have its charms, but its script is not one of them.
Captain Phillips also suffers from similar refrains, and though I've complained about it several times before (and probably will once again when we get to the final Best Picture lineup), the film can never quite succeed in balancing the haunting thrill ride of the second third of the film with the botched introduction of Hanks and Abdi's characters in the first third (which is tepid and dull and yet another reason why Catherine Keener needs to start reading her parts specifically and not just signing up for prestige pictures, only to learn that she's got the least interesting part yet again). The film's final third, as well, cannot seem to balance whether Captain Phillips is sympathizing with the men who are his captors or whether he is simply struggling to survive, and it feels like Billy Ray's script cannot make this distinction as well. The middle third is where this film thrives, but that's admittedly the least "written" aspect of the film, so it's really the editors and director who get the bulk of the credit there.
We'll end with Terence Winter's The Wolf of Wall Street, certainly the most controversial film nominated for Best Picture in 2013, mostly because of the way that the film celebrated the life of sin of a corrupt man named Jordan Belfort. I discussed this more in-depth in the review (links to all reviews are up-top: again, so darn accommodating), but for me the point is not whether he celebrated the man's life (he did-there's really no way around it), but whether it aided the movie. To a certain extent, it did, but I do feel that from a writer's perspective, some editing would have been warranted. On occasion films truly need to stretch three-hours (Lawrence of Arabia, Gone with the Wind, and Titanic all come to mind), but Wolf isn't one of them-there are entire stories that have little value other than to add another lauded actor to the Scorsese mix (I'm looking at you Jean DuJardin), and if we were going to go three hours, perhaps it would have made sense to give a little context to characters that aren't played by the film's three leads; one of the fatal flaws of the script was that it underwrote what turned out to be key players in the film's pack. Still, though, this was a ballsy movie and some of the better parts with Leo and Jonah clearly deserve a gold star in Winter's column as well.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes combine their writing categories so there is no adapted or original distinction, so while the original Her won the night, adapted films like Philomena and 12 Years a Slave did enjoy nominations. The BAFTA Awards were almost a carbon copy of the Oscars, skipping Before Midnight in favor of Behind the Candelabra (which was ineligible due its HBO release here, but clearly HBO could have made a shot for more than just the Emmys if they had been planning a bit more); Philomena picked up the award from her fellow countrymen. Finally we have the WGA Awards, where eligibility is always a question mark so take snubs with a block of salt, but we saw 12 Yeas a Slave and Philomena skipped in favor of August: Osage County (my pretty solid hunch for sixth place) and Lone Survivor; Captain Phillips won the trophy with its two principle competitors out of the race.
Films I Would Have Nominated: For sure The Bling Ring, which is Sofia Coppola's latest in a series of exceptional examinations of the upper-class and the shenanigans that come with that group, as well as Short-Term 12, which was based on a short film and had wonderful insight into its lead characters (and side characters as well-it's just a terrific picture in general). I'd also find room for Blue is the Warmest Color, a film that, unlike Wolf of Wall Street, properly used its three hour running time.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar kept with its Best Picture in what was a relatively competitive race-it wouldn't have been shocking to see Captain Phillips or even Philomena score here.
My Choice: Though I question what is precisely "adapted" about the film, there's no denying that Before Midnight was my favorite script by a mile and it gains the win. Following Julie, Richard, and Ethan would be 12 Years, Wolf, Captain Phillips, and Philomena.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Are you with the Academy and picking yet another trophy for 12 Years or are you more in my camp with Before Midnight (or are you a lone wolf picking one of the remaining three films)? Are you in the same boat as me in thinking adapted was the better of the two writing categories last year (I usually head the other direction), or were you all about the originals? And what was your favorite adapted screenplay of 2013? Share in the comments!
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