OVP: Best Adapted Screenplay (2003)
The Nominees Were...
Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, American Splendor
Braulio Mantovani, City of God
Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, & Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Brian Helgeland, Mystic River
Gary Ross, Seabiscuit
My Thoughts: We are going to to try and get as much of 2003 done this week as my body will allow. I have been exhausted lately, but in the next two weeks I will be A) stuck at home because of ongoing car troubles and B) traveling less than I have in months, as I have my first two consecutive weekends where I will be home alone this year. This should hopefully mean we'll be getting a bunch of articles happening & getting into the rhythm of 2022 (it should also hopefully mean that some of the long-delayed projects I planned for the new year will begin). In the meantime, this week we'll be focusing quite a bit on the 2003 OVP in terms of articles (other than Oscar predictions & our February star, I don't know if we'll have time for much else, though for my political readers I promise to make some political articles priority the following week as we have been slacking), almost certainly finishing next week. Let's begin!
Our first adapted screenplay was the nomination heard around the world-City of God. It's hard to impress upon young Oscar watchers, but in those early days of blogging (pre-Twitter), there was nothing more shocking than City of God, which no one had predicted, getting this nomination. The film itself is, I'll admit, a technical feat but not one that I can get into, though its influence in the years since is undeniable. Part of that lies with the story; the film involves too much plot, never quite knowing what to do with itself as it continues (Goose's story feels almost superfluous when you compare his tale to that of Benny later in the picture). There are moments that feel truly exceptional (one late death is jaw-dropping in the way it unfolds), but it is uneven.
You could make a similar argument about Mystic River, which was definitely the "other" potential winner in this lineup against Return of the King, at least in Oscar's eyes. The movie is intoxicating, and there are great monologues (Laura Linney's speech toward the end, where she uncovers a Lady Macbeth that's been in plain sight the whole picture, being the best). But it feels a little bit trite, and borrows so much from Shakespeare that you can't help but feel like you've been cheated out of some of the twists that come later in the picture as we learn each character's true nature.
One could make the sincere argument that Return of the King's least successful element is its script. The movie is littered with marvelous speeches (my audience actively cheered after Miranda Otto's "I am no man!" declaration), but the ending is indulgent, the sign of someone who might not have known how to edit out enough of his tale. That being said, it manages to give us finite endings to a dozen or so characters we'd spent literal years falling for, and so it's hard to discount it too much. It's the sort of nomination, though, that a strong year might take away another of Tolkien's trophies (so far we've only denied it one).
That film is not Seabiscuit, however. The movie has some scripted moments that work (William H. Macy's announcing has a bit of humor & heart that would've carried the film better if it'd been more of a plot point). The movie is dull, and it's predictable. It doesn't take knowing the actual true story behind Seabiscuit to understand that this horse is going to come out of nowhere and become a legend...you can tell that in the way it's telegraphed in virtually every scene. Seabiscuit is the worst kind of prestige sport film, rife with cliche & nothing distinctive. It's the sort of film that might have been passable (but forgettable) if you hadn't shoved a bunch of Oscar nominations in front of it.
American Splendor isn't much better. Playing with form, it tries to be a cringe comedy, animated feature, & documentary, utilizing the real-life Harvey Pekar, his famous cartoons, and the fictionalized version in Paul Giamatti, but it doesn't quite work. I think part of the investment in American Splendor is finding Pekar's off-putting personality (and mental health conditions) charming in a curmudgeonly way, but I didn't...that isn't entirely the script's fault (I blame to a large degree Paul Giamatti, who is not good at playing subtle characters and with such a loud figure to play, he uses a sledgehammer to the script), but it doesn't help, and I don't think it's successful in any of the mediums it attempts.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes combine their writing categories so there is no adapted or original distinction, and here we have just two adapted contenders: the Oscar-nominated Mystic River and Cold Mountain. At the BAFTA's the categories are separated, and we had Return of the King taking the big prize over Big Fish, Cold Mountain, Girl with a Pearl Earring, and Mystic River. The WGA's also split their nominees, and went with American Splendor against Cold Mountain, Seabiscuit, Mystic River, and The Return of the King. This all tells me two things. One, with each precursor going in a different direction, this is the rare category (and the last one we'll encounter) where Return of the King's 11-win sweep was in jeopardy. And two, I have no idea how Cold Mountain, Miramax-backed, prestigious Cold Mountain, fell to City of God.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Here's the deal-I'd nominate Cold Mountain. The Civil War is always a bit rough onscreen, but it does a great job of feeling urgent while also ensuring that we get a taste for the true day-to-day life in the American South during the darkest days of the Republic.
Oscar's Choice: Return of the King wins, likely in a close contest against Mystic River in its only true shot at a non-acting award.
My Choice: Return of the King is a brilliant movie, and its script is very good. It is not, however, the strongest element of the film so given, say, a Lost in Translation in this race, I might well have gone with that film because Return could have done better (you could make a sincere argument it is the least tightly-scriped of the original three films). But against this competition, it takes it over Mystic River. Following them is City of God, American Splendor, and Seabiscuit.
Those are my thoughts-what about you? Is everyone kind of ready to give Tolkien another award, or is there a winner I'm missing here? Does anyone feel a little weird about American Splendor knowing how the story ends in real life (as opposed to stopping in 2003)? And how the hell did Cold Mountain get skipped here? Share your thoughts below!
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