OVP: Best Picture (1999)
The Nominees Were...
Bruce Cohen & Dan Jinks, American Beauty
Richard N. Goldstein, The Cider House Rules
David Valdes & Frank Darabont, The Green Mile
Michael Mann & Pieter Jan Brugge, The Insider
Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, & Barry Mendel, The Sixth Sense
My Thoughts: All right, and we are at the end of the road with our 1999 films. I always end this with a couple of housekeeping notes. My first is that I hope we are hitting our My Ballot this weekend (probably on Sunday)...I'm not promising anything as this was the first year in a while where I did most of my "extra" screenings alongside while I was writing, which is not something I typically do, but might become more standard practice going forward, and I had a lot of movies to catch up on for that piece (I'm done now though, so all that's left is the writing). The second is-I don't know when we will have the next series. I know what year we're doing (we'll be going WAY back in time to 1957 next), but I still have 11 screenings to do from that year, and while I will be hitting a lot of them this weekend (follow along on Letterboxd), it won't be all of them, so we might not see articles for the next week as I pile drive to get this done on top of a lot of other to do's, including several other important screenings. But that's enough behind-the-scenes...let's get to the main event, the Best Picture field.
American Beauty is a movie I saw for the first time when I was 17, and while that wasn't when it came out, it wasn't far away from it either. As a result, I was holding back to get a second opinion on a film I had initially really liked, but wasn't sure if it would age well (a lot of people I respect on social media were apathetic about it). I will say, though, that I stand by my initial assessment-this is a very good movie. There are moments that should be tweaked (particularly the ending needs some slight adjustments), but Mendes creates a rye, involved look at the nature of suburbia, and how its plastic facade still hides fears, dreams, & the humanity of those inside.
The Green Mile was the first Stephen King adaptation to be cited for Best Picture, but it is hardly the best example of someone adapting his work. The movie is too long, and it's too schmaltzy. Originally told in individual novella chapters (I still remember the new installments glossily displayed at the Waldenbooks at the St. Cloud shopping mall), the movie plays like it's disjointed in that regard. I hate the "it should've been a miniseries" refrain that comes up a lot lately because frequently they're wrong (if you can't parse it down, perhaps it shouldn't be told cinematically at all), but if this was ever going to work, it needed sharper editing or more time to percolate-it has neither, and fails.
The Cider House Rules is a decent movie that, more than perhaps any other recent flick (give or take Chocolat) fell apart under the weight of Oscar's prestige. The film itself is fine-Caine is really good, as is Rachel Portman's soaring score, which might be her best. The problem is it's not worthy of an Oscar. The Weinstein Machine nearly won this film an Oscar for Best Picture, but it's disposable dramatic fare, not something that should be uttered in the same breath as Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia. This clearly being over-its-head largely derailed the Weinstein Oscar machine (or at least got it off-track)...not what should've taken down Harvey, but it was a start.
We have The Sixth Sense next, a movie that got here by sheer quality. Whenever you have a genre film getting into the Best Picture race, it's entirely being driven by its own strength, as otherwise Oscar isn't going to touch it. Here, that popcorn-chomping, grip-your-seat roller coaster is filled with thrills, and a lot of conversations about grief & letting go of the ones you love. There are moments where it doesn't quite work (I think if you know the twist, some of it feels a bit too cheeky), but Shyamalan's first big breakthrough remains his best film, and one of the best "prestige horror" precursors.
Our final nomination is Michael Mann's The Insider, a really wonderfully-constructed legal thriller that honestly is so well-presented, even if you already know how it ends (and the stakes, decades later, feel less intense because we've spent the past few decades with the tobacco industry properly demonized into oblivion), it works well. That's partially driven by the acting, particularly the work of Russell Crowe & Christopher Plummer, and the editing room, which keeps pacing strong. I wasn't as big of a fan of the blue-screen cinematography and the overbearing score, but that's a small complaint, particularly given this is the only one of Michael Mann's distinctive films to break through with the Academy.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes have their categories separated into Musical/Comedy and Drama, and this was in the days that animated films could still compete (they weren't in a separate category) so we have Toy Story 2 taking Musical/Comedy over Analyze This, Being John Malkovich, Man on the Moon, & Notting Hill while Drama went to American Beauty against The End of the Affair, The Hurricane, The Insider, & The Talented Mr. Ripley (American Beauty would 100% be considered a comedy today given how much the Globes have watered-down that definition, so curious which one of these would've taken the cake if it wasn't here). BAFTA also went with American Beauty atop East is East, The End of the Affair, The Sixth Sense, & The Talented Mr. Ripley, while the PGA Awards (then known as the Golden Laurel Awards) went with American Beauty against Being John Malkovich, The Cider House Rules, The Hurricane, & The Insider. In sixth place, it feels like a competition between Ripley and Malkovich, and given that Ripley is more in Oscar's wheelhouse, I'll go with that even if Malkovich got the Best Director citation (it should be noted that Columbia/Sony pushed hard for The End of the Affair, so that should at least be mentioned, but barely struck a chord with Oscar so I don't know if it's a serious threat).
Films I Would Have Nominated: You'll find out later this weekend (saying it so I commit to it)!
Oscar’s Choice: There was a very real risk at the time that a late-breaking storm in Cider House's favor was going to upend the queerer, moodier Best Picture frontrunner (see also 2005 & 2021), but ultimately American Beauty took the prize.
My Choice: In a close race, I'm going to go with The Sixth Sense over American Beauty, as the former just has a stronger direction (and a better ending). Behind them, I'd pick The Insider, The Cider House Rules, and in last The Green Mile.
And there you have it-another OVP in the books. Are you going to stick with Oscar & his rose petals, or will you come over and see dead people with me? Does anyone remember how insane this race felt with the Cider House sneak attack that nearly pulled off a win? And overall-what is your favorite movie of 1999? Share your comments below!
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