OVP: Best Adapted Screenplay (2004)
The Nominees Were...
Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, & Ethan Hawke, Before Sunset
David Magee, Finding Neverland
Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby
Jose Rivera, The Motorcycle Diaries
Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, Sideways
My Thoughts: I'm writing this in advance of last night's Oscars (we'll have a ceremony recap later today), so I don't know which film joined our winner of this category (I'll reveal it in a second if your memory isn't solid), but I'm excited to remind everyone today that while the Oscar season is now over for 2020-21, it's pretty much always an Oscar season on TMROJ, and it's been 2004 for a number of weeks now (if you're just joining us, click below for links to past 2004 Oscar contests, we do new ones every Monday & Wednesday). We are hitting the writing categories this week, and we're going to start with the one film that hasn't been discussed at all, Before Sunset, the "sole screenplay" nominee of 2004.
I always think it's a little weird that sequels are automatically adapted. Like, it's not being adapted from anything-the story is totally created from scratch. That is, however, my only complaint about this nomination. Before Sunset is one of my favorite movies, not just of 2004, but in general. While every film in the Celine & Jesse trilogy is a masterwork, this one is the best, knowingly reexamining our concept of what a cinematic romance is, and giving us a love story with a genuine ticking clock approach. The writing is so sophisticated, distinguishing well between the vibrant "it's all going to be like this" optimism of your twenties with the knowing (but not yet weathered) approach of your thirties to love. I love this movie so much (the Nina Simone ending!), and I cry every time I see it. It's heart-wrenching, uplifting, & totally brilliant.
Before Sunset is not the only one of these films totally in love with dialogue (and love at a certain age), though. Sideways is magnificent in that regard as well. A simple concept (two unlikely friends, only one an actual bachelor) go on an expedition through wine country where they meet two women, one of whom changes their life forever. But Sideways is a total winner of a screenplay in the way it embraces dialogue. Think of the snobbery-fueled tirades that Paul Giamatti goes on (still the only performance of his that I liked, though not as much as the collective world did), or Virginia Madsen's "The Life of Wine" monologue. These might not work-this is pretty sophisticated conversation...it's not necessarily meant to be relatable to most of the audience. But it works because it's high-quality & because film is sometimes about learning about a world you don't know, encountering lives you haven't seen before but understand better for watching them.
This is part of what happens in The Motorcycle Diaries. Certainly few of us can relate to the world of a young Che Guevera. But while The Motorcycle Diaries is beautiful, its script doesn't really work for me. The character development around Che isn't strong enough, and it's a bit tedious & plodding throughout the middle of the story. There's not enough there, particularly when it comes to the central relationship (no growth...are they meant to be tacit lovers, soulmates...what's the deal?). Few films have I wanted to love more (and didn't) than this movie as this is exactly up my alley, but Motorcycle Diaries came up lacking for me in terms of story.
This is also true of Finding Neverland. The movie is less up-my-alley than the moving, Malick-adjacent Motorcycle Diaries, but it is about a writer (always my favorite biopic subject). However, it doesn't really have enough perspective on its main character (JM Barrie), and it doesn't have enough hints to the magic of Peter Pan. This lack of perspective hurts the movie as it moves on, as we don't have a strong enough understanding of what makes this a profound moment for Barrie...obviously the happenings are sad, but where does this land for him, why can he create a timeless classic from this story. The screenplay is too lifeless for us to make the connection between the two.
Paul Haggis would become something of a pariah in my world the year after Million Dollar Baby (fun fact I'm sure I've stated throughout this & might say again-my first date with a guy was to Million Dollar Baby), and while I didn't like the movie, this is not Crash. The central story in Million Dollar Baby isn't a bad one-a woman trying to find the father figure she never had, someone who could celebrate her talents...it's a good story, and the acting is solid (if not exceptional) enough to ground it. The film's treatment of Maggie's family is awful (Margo Martindale, a great actress otherwise, is genuinely bad in this role), though, and it's not breaking any new ground plot-wise. Still this is not a bad screenplay. It's not just an Oscar-worthy one.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes combine their writing categories so there is no adapted or original distinction, and thus we have three adapted nominees in their five choices: Sideways (which won), Finding Neverland, and Closer, a movie they liked much better than Oscar. The BAFTA's split, and true-to-form in 2004, went somewhat their own way, giving Sideways the trophy but making room for The Chorus and Closer over Before Sunset & Million Dollar Baby. WGA also gave their trophy to Sideways, here, though, the only skipped Oscar nominee was Finding Neverland, and they went with Mean Girls in its place. And while I know that a collective generation of gay men might protest, that WGA indication wasn't proof that Mean Girls nearly made it to the Oscars-I would assume Closer was the sixth place finisher.
Films I Would Have Nominated: I, however, would've found room for both. Honestly-the Adapted Screenplay field was so good in 2004 it's a shock that Oscar came up with such a tepid list of contenders, and it's particularly maddening that they did so with Closer and Mean Girls both sitting there, ready to be plucked.
Oscar's Choice: There was no stopping Sideways-this might have been the surest bet of the night in 2004.
My Choice: I can't pick anything other than Before Sunset. Sideways is excellent and a very respectable winner (a deserving silver it gets from me), but Before Sunset is part of my DNA at this point, and I cannot deny it. Coming behind are Million Dollar Baby, The Motorcycle Diaries, and Finding Neverland, in that order.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? I know I'm in the minority here considering the hosannas it got at the time, but is anyone with me for Before Sunset over Sideways? How much better would this lineup be if you bumped two of the also-rans in favor of the gemlike Mean Girls and the controlled Closer? And what do you think about sequels automatically being adapted? Share your thoughts below!
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