Oscars 2016: Best Picture Review Roundup

‘Tis the season to raise a glass to Hollywood– ladies and gentlemen, it’s Oscars week. Want to get down-and-dirty reviews of the Best Picture nominees so that you have something to say about them around the water cooler? Behold: the one-word review that distills a film to its essence.

 

The Big Short: Mansplaining.

There is a lot of love for this film, but definitely not from me. Though its performances are great (especially Christian Bale and Steve Carell), The Big Short is basically the other side of the Wolf of Wall Street coin– same coin, different side. Yes, the movie is about beating Wall Street at its own game. But its lack of diversity, constant mansplaining, and fratty feel turned me off and perpetuated the notion that the world of finance is a white boys’ club.

 

Bridge of Spies: Old-fashioned.

This film feels like it’s from the 1980s or 1990s– it’s classic Spielberg. Tom Hanks does what Tom Hanks does best: as an insurance lawyer tasked with defending an accused Soviet spy in 1960, he is lovably honorable as he upholds core American values (and reminds you, yet again, that he should just quit Hollywood and run for president). More importantly, this film is elevated by Mark Rylance’s performance as accused spy Rudolf Abel. There were better, more complex films this year; but, since I’m a sucker for Spielberg, I enjoyed this one.

 

Brooklyn: Evocative.

I said it when I first saw this gem at the New York Film Festival in October, and I’ll say it again: Brooklyn is my favorite movie this year. This moving story is sweet without being saccharine and intelligent without being pretentious, as it explores the complex emotional world of a young Irish immigrant grappling with her fractured sense of home and belonging in the titular New York borough. Its perfect tone is matched by flawless performances– what’s not to like? Will it win Best Picture? Probably not. But, of all the nominated films this year, Brooklyn is the one I’ll cherish and remember for years to come.

 

Mad Max: Fury Road: Trippy.

Oh, Mad Max, you crazy, quirky, one-of-a-kind, adrenaline-pumping, stylized joy ride. It took me a good twenty minutes or so to actually figure out what the hell was going on; but once I did (something about captive wives escaping their tyrant-husband with the help of a one-armed trucker and Tom Hardy), I had a whole lot of fun watching it. While this film definitely isn’t to everyone’s taste, the fact remains that the technical aspects of this movie are unbeatable– after all, it took the filmmakers years to perfect them after shooting wrapped in 2012! I imagine it will clean up in the technical categories.

 

The Martian: Middle-of-the-road.

This film’s producers were perhaps hoping that The Martian would be this year’s Argo or Slumdog Millionaire: both are feel-good movies whose popularity pushed them to Oscar gold. The Martian is certainly made on the stuff of feel-good prize-winners. Matt Damon plays a US astronaut who gets left behind when his team’s mission on Mars collapses, and he must somehow survive long enough to be rescued. Unfortunately, The Martian is uneven: the first half is genuinely engaging and thrilling, as we watch Damon’s character engineer his own survival; the second half, however, slips into an unremarkable space melodrama.

 

The Revenant: Extreme.

Oh boy, do I have a lot to say about this film. This survival-and-revenge movie is about yet another man left behind by his company– this time, however, it’s based on the true story of a never-say-die frontiersman who is left in the wilderness after he’s been mauled by a bear. It is an elemental film that artistically explores the well-trodden themes of “man vs. nature” and “the savagery of man.” The film’s unrelenting violence and brutality have been at the center of conversations surrounding The Revenant. Indeed, the film is equal parts beauty and barbarity, heady brilliance and visceral physicality. In fact, the film revels in its own brutality, sometimes to its detriment. The fight scene between man and bear was perhaps one of the most gripping and intense things I’ve ever seen on film– and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of unedited violence throughout the film.  Its unrelenting brutality reminded me of 12 Years a Slave, a film that dared its audience to confront the violence of the antebellum South and challenged Hollywood’s sanitized depictions of slavery. In other words, the violence in 12 Years a Slave fulfilled a specific purpose and was justified. I’m not so sure the violence in The Revenant is justified beyond simply developing its core themes. Violence aside, it’s also worth mentioning that The Revenant could have been about 20 minutes shorter, and that’s an indication of an editing problem. I counted at least two brutal scenes that accomplished the exact same thing. (I won’t spoil the scenes, but they both suggest rebirth.) At the same time, it’s an exceptionally well-made film with breathtaking shots, beautiful transitions, convincing effects, and top-notch performances (especially from Tom Hardy, who is the real standout in this film– sorry, Leo!). This definitely has a real shot at Best Picture. But the question remains: how many Academy voters will actually watch it, after they’ve heard how hard it is to sit through this film?

 

Room: Powerful.

Since the old boys’ club that is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loves to reward women for “fearless” and “bold” performance (code words denoting actresses who dared to act without makeup on, or women who were willing to look normal for a ridiculously rare, meaty role– GASP!), Brie Larson could very well walk away with the Oscar for Best Actress. She stars as a young mother who is holed up in a single room with her 5-year-old son. Ultimately, Room is an intense and emotional story of survival– I’m sensing a theme here with these nominations!–and, most importantly, it’s a film about taking the initiative to save yourself.

 

Spotlight: Solid.

This film isn’t beautifully barbaric like The Revenant; yet, savagery certainly lurks in this story, too. Spotlight centers on the investigation team (“Spotlight”) from the Boston Globe that brought attention to sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. It succeeds because it does exactly what it sets out to do. Spotlight is a genre film that unfolds slowly and purposefully, in the same way that the Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team took their time to do justice to the story that they were breaking. Though it tends to glorify journalists, the film is strengthened by subtle performances– especially from Michael Keaton– and a sensitivity that might have been lost in the hands of a lesser director.

 

Photo Credit: ABC/Andrew Eccles