OVP: Best Picture (2000)
The Nominees Were...
David Brown, Kit Golden, & Leslie Holleran, Chocolat
Bill Kong, Hsu Li Kong, & Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, & Stacey Sher, Erin Brockovich
Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, & Branko Lustig, Gladiator
Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, & Laura Bickford, Traffic
My Thoughts: Our marathon speed (I'm headed out on vacation later this week & wanted this done before I left) finish has reached its penultimate conclusion (don't forget that we now end not with Best Picture, but with the My Ballot article, which will come out tomorrow). Today, we say goodbye to the Oscar nominees of 2000, and with it, the end of the line for the 21st Century Oscar Viewing Project. We'll continue to write about any new ceremonies after they're done (including the 2023 nominees, which I'm chipping away at quickly, and will even more so after aforementioned vacation), but given we started this almost 12 years ago, I figured I'd mention that this is something of a landmark day for me, writing almost 500 OVP ballot articles. We'll hopefully (if I can pull it off) have a more comprehensive retrospective article coming out in the approaching days as we now move into the 20th Century, where things will get a little crazy (we're not going to be as consecutive).
But first, we have five movies to talk through, and we'll start with Traffic. Traffic was the first R-rated movie I saw in theaters, and one of three films on this list I saw in theaters (Crouching Tiger & Chocolat being the others). So it does have a special place for me, but it's also just a solid picture. The way that Soderbergh brings together multiple storylines, frequently with shifting cinematography colors and sharp, observational writing & editing, is really something. The acting, particularly del Toro, Douglas, & Zeta-Jones, is uniformly good, and the concluding chapters for all of these characters feel authentic without veering into the schmaltzy. A home run (baseball pun intentional-I see you Benicio).
Gladiator is kind of indicative of a lot of Ridley Scott movies. The filmmaker has talent, and knows how to shove excess onto the screen in a way that feels like it's combining prestige & popcorn fare. But Scott doesn't know how to say no, and that is true in Gladiator, where there's just too much going on. They needed to trim the story as it gets repetitive, and the acting styles of all on-display run the gamut, particularly the more subtle work of Russell Crowe and the outlandish, to-the-rafters performance of Joaquin Phoenix. It's too much, and feels like a blockbuster that went over-budget more than a complete film...though I'll probably see the sequel later this year, because I can't turn down Paul Mescal in gladiator cosplay.
Crouching Tiger is the movie from this list I've seen the most (though weirdly I never got around to the sequel-will change that this spring given how much these articles have made me respect the original more). It's just so good. Ang Lee's visual style would inspire a number of increasingly gargantuan imitators (many of them good), but the central heart of this film (two concurrent love stories told in the most beautiful and frequently magical places imaginable) is what makes it stand apart. Those love stories, of course brought to life by Oscar-worthy performances by Michelle Yeoh & Zhang Ziyi (that sadly Oscar ignored while he nominated this picture everywhere else).
Chocolat is one of those movies that could never handle the weight of its Oscar nominations. There's a world where this film, frothy & sweet with some fun work from Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, & Leslie Caron, is an underrated gem. After all, romantic-comedies are hard to find today, and this one has the added benefit of lush production design and food porn in every corner. But it is not an Oscar-worthy picture, and has no business being on this list. People have a point when they say that it's not worthy...they just forget that it's also a decent movie separate from the pressures of awards season.
Our final nominee is Erin Brockovich, the movie that finally won Julia Roberts the Oscar. While Albert Finney is also quite good in it (and Aaron Eckhart plays the manic pixie dream guy with some defects sexily & well), it's correct to think of this as the Julia Show. She's in virtually every scene, she masterfully monologues, emotes, cries, & laughs, and she shows what a rare movie star she is. Whether or not this is her best performance (or movie) will depend on your personal tastes (I think I like Julia a little bit better in something like Notting Hill, as I love her as a girl in love), but this is the best encapsulation as to why she is an iconic movie star than any of her pictures.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes separate their categories into Drama and Musical/Comedy and a tie of sorts led to 11 nominees out of the body. Gladiator won Best Drama against Billy Elliot, Erin Brockovich, Sunshine, Traffic, & Wonder Boys while the Comedy/Musical category went to Almost Famous against Best in Show, Chicken Run, Chocolat, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (I don't believe Crouching Tiger would've been eligible in 2000 because they didn't allow subtitled films in Best Picture, but it did win Foreign Language Film with the HFPA). The PGA Awards (in the last year they were called the Golden Laurel Awards, something you youngsters might not have known was once a thing) went to Gladiator atop Almost Famous, Billy Elliot, Crouching Tiger, and Erin Brockovich, while the BAFTA's also selected Gladiator against the exact same lineup. Weirdly Cast Away didn't land at any major precursor, but was definitely in the hunt for a Best Picture nomination (Entertainment Weekly predicted it) so I'll just mention it for posterity. In sixth place, Almost Famous and Billy Elliot feel the likeliest given not just their precursor haul and their big showing at Oscar (Almost Famous winning a Screenplay statue, Billy Elliot landing in Best Director), but which one is it? I'm going to guess Almost Famous, given we were still in a haze from Jerry Maguire, and because it had such a big cast (which the large Actors Branch loves), but I could be persuaded to change my mind.
Films I Would Have Nominated: You'll find out tomorrow!
Oscar’s Choice: Given the precursor season it had, Gladiator went into the night the heavy favorite, and sealed the deal, but not after Traffic and Crouching Tiger proved that it was a battle that came with some scars.
My Choice: An easy choice for Crouching Tiger. In a relatively mild year (2000 is not my favorite cinematic annum), this stands apart as the one indisputable masterpiece. Behind it I'll go Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Chocolat, and then Gladiator.
And there you have it-another OVP in the books. Do you want to enter the ring with Oscar or would you prefer to jump on rooftops with me? Was it Almost Famous or Billy Elliot that just missed the lineup here (likely thanks to Harvey Weinstein's Chocolat push)? And overall-what is your favorite movie of 2000? Share your comments below!
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