OVP: Best Original Screenplay (2002)
The Nominees Were...
Todd Haynes, Far from Heaven
Jay Cocks, Steve Zaillian, & Kenneth Lonergan, Gangs of New York
Nia Vardalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Pedro Almodovar, Talk to Her
Carlos Cuaron & Alfonso Cuaron, Y Tu Mama Tambien
My Thoughts: We are moving into the Big 8 categories today, and a day after we talked about how none of 2002's Best Foreign Language film nominees got cited for any other categories, we somehow have two non-English films in contention. The 2002 Original Screenplay category is also indicative of what this category was for a brief time in the late 1990's and early 2000's-kind of a free-for-all when it comes to films that were cited. Only one of these movies is a Best Picture nominee, and headed into the 2002 ceremony (we are still in an era where I was actively following the Oscar race, so you're getting tidbits as much as possible from my memory until that's no longer the case!) this was something of a tossup race.
One of the films in Spanish in 2002 was Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her. I am a huge fan of Almodovar's in general, and while I haven't seen all of his movies, I kind of wonder if this might be my favorite of the ones I've caught (give or take Bad Education). Talk to Her is grand, shocking, and its screenplay really is the biggest star of the film. The twists are intense, and well-structured for maximum effort-it all makes sense, but you don't always see what's coming, and the character development works well within the movie, getting to know each of our main players at just the right juncture. A taut mystery told exceedingly well.
Equally strong is Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven. This is a movie I recently revisited, and it's fascinating how well the story is contained, particularly given that the visuals are definitely the headliner (it's emulating Douglas Sirk...it's gonna look good). I loved the way that we have multiple stories that are fairly similar (forbidden love, prejudice, betrayal) but they end up in different places because of what each character is willing to sacrifice. The monologues are great too. Think of the late-in-the-movie phone call between Dennis Quaid & Julianne Moore...the casual confessional, the cruelty of it, and the placidness with which Moore finally realizes her reality...it's devastating acting, but it's only possible because the scrip is so succinct.
Gangs of New York is the sole Best Picture nominee of the bunch, though you have to wonder if that was based on a lack of "acceptable to Oscar" options to fill up the nominees. The dialogue in this movie, particularly early scenes between Diaz & DiCaprio, feels clunky, almost as if we're stuck in a James Cameron love scene (sorry Jim, but we all know directing is your forte), but unlike with Cameron it's meant to be thought of as grounded. It also doesn't instill a lot of story. Scorsese's films usually unfold so well in terms of their script (think of how The Departed is almost perfectly put into three acts), but Gangs is cheesy and even more damning, somewhat forgettable.
Y Tu Mama Tambien is a film the first time I saw it, I didn't really get. Still in the closet the first time I saw it, I'll totally own that I was watching this less for its artistic merits and more because it was, well, hormonal. Rewatching it later, I was struck by how knowing Cuaron's film was. It's not as well-drawn as it should be (there should be at least one more queer scene...I feel like we should've taken this a bit further since it's crucial for the story), but I think the juxtaposition of these two young men who are struggling with their friendship (and whether it will survive into adulthood) and this older woman who knows far more than they realize is fascinating. It's not flawless, and it's not my favorite Cuaron movie, but it works quite well as a film that carries multiple perspectives.
It's hard to instill to people today what a big deal My Big Fat Greek Wedding was when it first came out. Everyone went to see it-EVERYONE. It was a movie that played for multiple weeks at our single-screen theater, and I remember watching it in a completely packed audience; 23 million people watched the TV spinoff when it aired (for comparison's sake, 19 million people watched the Game of Thrones finale, which was considered a cultural phenomenon). This plays oddly now because the movie feels so meh in retrospect. It's cute-Vardalos & Corbett have good chemistry-but it's hardly something you'd think of as Oscar-worthy, and yet it was definitely cited for a script that relied on jokes about Windex & dozens of other stereotypes. I'm not going to rag on it (kudos to Vardalos for pulling off something that basically has no precedent before-or-after: a blockbuster rom-com with no established stars), but, like, you really want this to compete with movies as good as Talk to Her and Far from Heaven? Come on now.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes combine adapted and original into one category, so we only have one nominee that was eligible for original screenplay (Far from Heaven), which lost to About Schmidt. The BAFTA's split theirs, so they went with Talk to Her atop Dirty Pretty Things (which was eligible the following year for Oscar & was nominated), Gangs of New York, The Magdalene Sisters, and Y Tu Mama Tambien. WGA gave their trophy to Bowling for Columbine (what?!?) against Antwone Fisher, Far From Heaven, Gangs of New York, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In terms of sixth place, I'm going to guess it was a film that didn't show up anywhere as none of these other films feel in Oscar's wheelhouse, so I'd wager Punch-Drunk Love given their general proclivity for Paul Thomas Anderson.
Films I Would Have Nominated: To be fair to Oscar, there's not a lot of great options here, or at least obvious ones. But given that they were already giving Spirited Away another trophy, they should've found more room for Hayao Miyazaki's epic in this lineup.
Oscar’s Choice: This was a close threeway race between Talk to Her, Far from Heaven, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding at the time, but Oscar wisely chose to give this to Pedro, a win that looks both surprising & prescient in retrospect.
My Choice: I will also go with Talk to Her, which is an easier film to cite specifically for writing, even though it's a close contest with Far from Heaven. Y Tu Mama Tambien is a respectable third followed by My Big Fat Greek Wedding and then Gangs of New York.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Do we all align to Pedro getting this, or does someone want to advocate for another movie getting the statue? Does anyone else remember what a big deal My Big Fat Greek Wedding was when it came out? And does anyone have a more logical option for sixth place than Punch-Drunk Love? Share your thoughts below!
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