Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 389-390: A Double Soderbergh

It's very rare that a director gets two films entered into the Best Picture category in the same year, although we've seen it several times throughout the challenge. However, it's even rarer when that person competes against themselves in the Best Director category. This event did occur at the 2001 ceremony when Steven Soderbergh was nominated for directing Best Picture nominees Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Not only did he go on to win the award for directing, his films brought in five Oscars between the two of them.
Erin Brockovich only got one of these five wins however it was in a pretty prestigious category, that of Best Actress. The recipient of this award was Julia Roberts who, after years of being viewed primarily as a multi-million dollar movie star, redeemed herself in the eyes of the audience by playing the brassy single mother of the title. Erin Brockovich resembles several other movies that have won their leading actress the top prize, most notably Norma Rae. Just like Norma Rae, Erin Brockovich was a character who fought for what she believed in even if she was a small fish in a big pond. Initially barging her way into a job at a legal firm at which she had previously been a client, Erin soon takes interest in a family whose have had an offer made on their house by Pacific Gas and Electric. As Erin begins to investigate the case further, she learns that the company had been using chromium in the water in a plant just outside Hinkley, California. As a result, the surrounding residents had gradually begun to develop various illnesses, with a few suffering from cancer. Whilst Erin takes on this crusade her neighbour, and later lover, George takes on the kids but finds it hard playing mum. Eventually, Erin and lawyer Ed gain the attention of PG&E and the two sides fight to get their cases heard in court. Although Erin Brockovich is definitely a legal drama of sorts it's one that focuses on the effects the outcome of the case will have on the characters rather than the courtroom battles themselves.

Despite the themes of underdogs taking on the big corporations being a rather cliched topic; Erin Brockovich feels fresh for the most part even if it does give in to stereotypes from time to time. The one stereotype that I wasn't a fan of was the way that writer Susannah Grant demonstrated Erin's coarse nature by having her swear every five minutes. The promiscuous clothing that Roberts wore was similarly tactless although her ample cleavage did provide one of the film's most memorable scenes. However I felt where the film was successful was in making these characters feel real and how Grant was able to set up the story rather nimbly. Before the first half hour was out I felt I knew Ed, Erin and George all really well and that's a testament to both Grant and Soderbergh. Additionally I felt that the cast succeeded in fleshing out their characters with Roberts giving some extra weight to the character of Erin. She was able to portray her character's steely nature and combine it with a fear of being left to raise three children with no money. As harassed small-town lawyer Ed, I found Albert Finney to be equally strong and played the perfect foil to Roberts' Erin. Meanwhile I found Aaron Eckhart to make the most of his role as sensitive biker George who found playing second fiddle to Erin's law work just a bit too much to handle. After an intriguing first half as we, along with Erin, learn about the problems in Hinkley, the second half drags a little as we sit through one interview after another. The final scenes, where Erin reveals how much money the people of Hinkley are going to receive, is a little underwhelming but thankfully so much has been done to make us care about the characters that this is simply a minor quibble. Ultimately Erin Brockovich is a character drama first and foremost and thanks to the Oscar-winning Roberts, Soderbergh and Grant it succeeds at presenting a sympathetic protagonist who we root for throughout.
I've always found Soderbergh to be a rather eclectic director as two of his films are rarely the same unless of course they're sequels. So, in the same year that he made the rather mainstream underdog drama Erin Brockovich, he also directed the multi-layered drug epic Traffic. Based on the 1980s Channel 4 miniseries of the same name; Traffic saw Soderbergh tackle the war on drugs by telling three interconnected stories. The first and most powerful story followed police officer Javier Rodriguez, a mild-mannered enforcer who was hoping to clear up the drug problem in Tijuana. However, Rodriguez's recruitment by the seemingly good-natured General Salazar later proved to be an almost fatal mistake as he found himself caught between two rival gangs. Meanwhile, in America, Judge Robert Wakefield is tasked with heading up the president's Office of National Drug Policy. Inspired by Salazar's phony efforts to clean up Mexico, Wakefield hopes to employ similar methods in the USA. However, Wakefield's problems are closer to home when it appears that his straight A-student daughter Caroline is becoming more and more dependent on drugs. Caroline's problems get so bad that eventually Robert decides that he can't fight a war against his own family. The weakest story for me saw the arrest and trial of Carlos Ayala, a drug lord working for the cartel that Salazar was trying to bring down in America. The problem with this story was that it was told from the eyes of Carlos' trophy wife Helena, who struggled to cope after her husband's arrest. This story was also the one that ran out of steam quickest and proved that not everybody could be brought to justice.

Traffic won four awards at the 2001 ceremony including Best Director for Steven Soderbergh, Best Screenplay for Stephen Gagan and Best Editing. Additionally, the wonderful Benicio Del Toro won Best Supporting Actor for his powerful portrayal of Javier Rodriguez; whose story arc is possibly Traffic's most compelling. Del Toro's gritty performance felt realistic in tone and his final facial expression when he saw the local kids playing baseball provided the perfect end to the story. I also enjoyed the performance Michael Douglas gave as the increasingly desperate Wakefield, a man who was forced to juggle working for the President with looking for his drug-addled daughter. Although I found Douglas' performance to be gripping, I found this story a little hard to take a times. I found Gagan struggled to write believable dialogue for Caroline her boyfriend Josh; whose conversations didn't feel like they were coming from the mouths of teenagers. In addition I felt that Caroline went from casual drug user to thieving prostitute rather quickly and I had to suspend my disbelief quite substantially in order to get on board with her downfall. Meanwhile, I felt that Catherine Zeta Jones was miscast as Helena and the scene in which she tried to do a drug deal was just laughable. However there were more hits than misses in a film which is a real testament to Soderbergh as he ties all three stories together perfectly. I personally loved the way in which all three stories are shot differently with a colour representing different areas. So for example the Mexico scenes were given a grainy feel, the Wakefield plot was given a blueish tinge and Carlos and Helena's world was richly produced. Although I could've done without some of the scenes involving Zeta-Jones' Helena, Traffic was definitely a film that grew on me thanks to Soderbergh's deft directorial flair. Whilst I do believe he's made better films, Traffic is definitely his most ambitious and therefore its right that it's the one he received his Oscar for.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 283-284: Peter's Pictures

Throughout this challenge I have encountered some directors that I've previously been unaware of in the past. This is usually because these directors aren't particularly big names and don't get the same publicity as the likes of Spielberg and Scorsese. One of these directors is British Peter Yates who, by the 1980s, had already helmed a diverse range of films from the Cliff Richard classic Summer Holiday to the iconic Steve McQueen picture Bullitt. But it wasn't till the 1980s that his films began to get nominated for Best Picture, with two very different offerings up for the big prize.

The first film is an incredibly American piece of cinema, so much so that it's hard to imagine that it's been directed by a Brit. Breaking Away focuses on four nineteen-year-old men living in the college town of Bloomington, Indiana none of whom have elected to take on higher education. Dave, Mike, Cyril and Moocher have instead decided to take a year off from doing anything in particular much to the chagrin of Dave's second-hand car dealer father. Dave's big passion in cycling and in particular he has a love from everything Italian from the music to the language. Posing as an Italian exchange student, Dave captures the eye of college attendee Kath and the two begin a relationship. Meanwhile, Dave is excited when a group of Italian racers come to town, primarily as he is eager to compete against them. However, the experience at the race leaves him disenfranchised with life in general and he drops the Italian fascination altogether. Meanwhile Mike, sick of being disparaged by the college students, is eager for the group to participate in the 'Little 500' a bike ride that is traditionally only open to the members of the institution. This forces a dejected Dave to put his life in order and build a proper relationship with a father that he has more in common with than he first thought.

Breaking Away definitely feels like it's been influenced by coming-of-age films like The Last Picture Show and American Graffiti. But, whereas those films were stuck in the past, Breaking Away still feels relevant almost thirty-five years after it was released. There's just something relatable about the four central protagonists who haven't quite decided want they want to do with their lives and are under pressure to find their place in life. Steve Tesich's script is incredibly well-observed as the four protagonists talk to each other as young men would and each has a clearly defined character. The cycling motif of Breaking Away forms some of the film's best set pieces namely the end race which has plenty of time devoted to it. But Breaking Away is more than just a cycling film and is an exploration of both friendship and the bond between a father and a son. I'm not afraid to admit that I got emotional at least once during the last twenty minutes of the film as Dave's dad finally opened up to his son. The whole film is enhanced by the use of the Italian classical music which gives Breaking Away its own identity and sets it apart from other coming-of-age movies. In terms of performances the film really belongs to Dennis Christopher as Dave as he delivers an incredibly captivating turn throughout. Christopher won newcomer awards for his role here but oddly he's the only member of the cast who isn't a recognisable name. Instead Christopher's co-stars Daniel Stern, Jackie Earl Haley and especially Dennis Quaid have gone on to have bigger success further down the line. If I have one criticism of the film then it's that Stern's Cyril really doesn't have a lot to do save a couple of overtly comic moments. But that's a minor quibble in a film that I enjoyed incredibly as it combined emotional, realistic drama with some genuinely funny lines.

To an extent the same can be said for Yates' other offering from the 1980s, The Dresser but it differs in every other way. Based on the 1980 play by Ronald Harwood, The Dresser follows a struggling Shakespearian company who continue to put on productions despite the Blitz being in full effect. The company has been cut quite dramatically due to the war and is ruled over by its often dictatorial star simply known here as 'Sir'. The majority of the film centres around the company's production of King Lear during which 'Sir' is set to play the lead role. However, the day of the performance, he has a breakdown in the street and is hospitalised leading us to believe the he is suffering from senility. The majority of the cast and crew feel that the show should be cancelled and that 'Sir' is in no fit state to be on the stage. The only person who wants the show to go on is our leading man's 'dresser' Norman, an effeminate Northerner who has devoted his life to looking after his idol. Norman is essentially the Smithers to Sir's Mr Burns and is jealous of the affection that he gets from others. He also hates it when people are mean towards 'Sir', often believing him to be past his sell-by-date and living-in-the-past. This is especially true of Oxenby, a younger actor feels he should be part of the group. Over the course of the film we see King Lear played out with 'Sir' dishing out some home truths and Norman hoping his idol can light up the stage one more time. For me, the major problem with the film is the ending, which I felt was a little too over-the-top however there's not much that Yates could do if that's how the play ended.

As is the case with a lot of plays that become films, The Dresser isn't overly cinematic seeing as its primarily set in a theatre. There are some early exterior scenes, including a great set piece at a train station, but once 'Sir' returns from hospital then everything else is indoors. With Ronald Harwood adapting his own play, the script is incredibly tight and really showcases the backstage politics in local theatre. Harwood's main strength is in the creation of the two characters of 'Sir' and Norman both of whom feel incredibly human. Despite both appearing to be difficult to deal with, Harwood ensures we have a huge amount of sympathy for each of them. As we can see he's suffering from senility, 'Sir' is somebody who goes from grand posturing on stage to behaving like a scared child in his dressing room. Meanwhile Norman is somebody who cares for the theatre so much that sometimes he can get incredibly nasty. What made the film for me though was the performances from Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay who sparkle as 'Sir' and Norman respectively. Finney is incredibly convincing as the ageing actor, he was only in his forties at the time, and his sensitive portrayal of the actor's dementia is incredibly moving. Courtenay has the harder role but is absolutely astounding, instantly portraying Norman's role as we see him by Finney's side. Both Finney and Courtenay were nominated for Best Actor but lost out to the deserving Robert Duvall, however Courtenay did tie with Duvall for the prize at the Golden Globes. Though I found it funny and moving at times, I thought The Dresser didn't really showcase Peter Yates' directorial skills as much as some of his other features. This was obviously a labour of love for Yates and he did create a memorable film with two magnificent performances however it was never a film that astounded me visually.

Continuing along the British theme next time we have an Oscar-winning film that proved that the British were definitely coming.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 189: Me and Mr Jones

Every time I come across a Best Picture winner I haven't seen before I get a little bit more excited. In theory every winner of the Best Picture award should be an outstanding film and in some cases we've seen that. However for every Casablanca there's an Around the World in 80 Days and I'm afraid that Tom Jones may fall into that latter category. The 1964 Best Picture winner was of course an adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel however I'm not sure how much writer John Osbourne stuck to the original source material. The basic story of the film sees a Squire adopt the titular hero after believing he was the result of an affair between two servants. When Tom Jones grows up, and is played by Albert Finney, he turns into a womanising hunter with no respect for the high society into which he was adopted. Tom does find love with Susannah York's Sophie however her suitor tries to keep Tom and Sophie apart. He eventually convinces the Squire that Tom is evil so the Squire sends Tom away to seek a life outside of his house. The second half of the film then sees Tom join the army and almost get murdered by a fellow officer. Sophie meanwhile runs away from home and the two keep missing each other before finally ending up in London. It is in London that Tom falls under the spell of the devious Lady Bellaston who claims she will reunite him with his beloved Sophie. Eventually Tom is falsely arrested for attempted murder and robbery with a race ensuing to save him from the gallows after certain truths are revealed.

The best way to describe Tom Jones would be as a series of set pieces tied together to make one film. I have to say I wasn't a fan of the film as a whole although certain set pieces were fairly enjoyable. I found Tony Richardson's directorial style to be fairly anarchic and he almost employed the philosophy of 'let's throw everything at the wall and see what sticks'. Therefore there are a lot of different styles employed such as a silent-film homage as an opening sequence and later a lot of characters are seen to be breaking the fourth wall. Richardson also has seemed to ask all of his cast members to ham it up as much as possible because that is the style of acting that most are employing here. I have to say Albert Finney was at least an amiable presence in the lead role and his cheekiness was endearing rather than annoying. The better members of the female cast were Joan Greenwood as the sly Lady Bellaston and Joyce Redman as the boisterous Mrs Waters. My personal favourite elements of the film had to be John Addison's lively score and Walter Lassally's sumptuous cinematography. While Tom Jones isn't the worse film to win the Best Picture Award I still found it completely unremarkable and there was never one moment like I felt that this could've been the best film in contention at the 1964 ceremony. However you'll just have to keep reading to find out what I thought deserved to win the award that year.