In Contention

Tag: Rosemarie DeWitt

  • THE LISTS: Top 10 pet peeves of the 2008-2009 Oscar season

    Rachel Getting Married

    The season is winding down this week.  The slow President’s Day holiday yesterday seemed to be more of a harbinger than a lull in the excitement.  This time next week, we’ll probably be over the fallout of the circuit and on to debating the contenders we’re likely to see a year from now.

    It’s a vicious, beautiful, sad, interesting circle.

    But before the 81st Annual Academy Awards telecast puts a bow on the festivities Sunday night, it seems a decent enough time to reflect.  And not to be too negative, but this became one of the most irritating seasons I’ve ever covered, both in the lack of excitement to the dichotomy that circumstance presented for me (given that my favorite film of the year has lead the field throughout).

    With that in mind, I fully expect this piece to grate the nerves of more than a few readers.  Then again, I’m sure plenty of these views are shared by a handful as well, but whatever the case, a list of pet peeves began to stack up early on in the season.  I thought it reasonable to collect them here, so feast your eyes (or roll them), this is what got under my skin this year.

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  • It’s all about the actors

    Over at USA Today, Susan Wloszczyna has come to the conclusion that, in a fairly weak year for film with a less-than-competitive Best Picture slate to show for it, the performance categories are where it’s at this year:

    The real action this year is in the acting. Sets were chewed with delicious relish and scenes were snatched with delectable finesse, even if the films themselves have underwhelmed.

    “I look at my ballot and see all these amazing actors,” says an overwhelmed Donna Gigliotti, a producer on The Reader and a trophy winner for 1998’s Shakespeare in Love. “It’s just staggering. That role was a game changer for Anne Hathaway, nothing that anyone expected from her. And Melissa Leo in Frozen River? What is she, 48? Her nomination just made me want to stand up and cheer. Richard Jenkins is such a fabulous actor. And Taraji P. Henson is the soul of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.“

    I’m inclined to agree. Though I still think the Academy dropped the ball in some areas (Best Actress, in particular, could have been a far richer and more diverse race had the likes of Sally Hawkins and Kristin Scott Thomas been invited), it’s true that, while 2008 hasn’t been as rewarding for auteur works as some previous years, we’ve seen a lot of films either wholly constructed around their performances (“The Wrestler” being a prime example) or saved by them (for my money, Anne Hathaway and Rosemarie DeWitt are the most focused elements of “Rachel Getting Married”).

    The result is, I think, that people seem a lot more invested in this year’s acting races than the ones for Picture or Director — and it’s not just because the latter two are foregone conclusions. (Let’s face it, there’s not much more suspense in some of the acting categories, and I think you know what I’m referring to.) It seems to me that the performances of 2008 have been more complete, complex and adventurous than the films — in some cases, the very films in which they appear.

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  • SANTA BARBARA: Virtuosos on the march

    Richard JenkinsUnfortunately, “Happy-Go-Lucky” star couldn’t make it to tonight’s presentation of the Virtuoso Awards at the Lobero Theatre due to surgery recovery, but Viola Davis, Richard Jenkins, Rosemarie DeWitt, Melissa Leo and Michael Shannon were on hand to talk their roles in five of the most critically acclaimed films of the year.  James Cromwell did the honor of presentation.

    It’s a shame DeWitt was the only one on stage lacking (criminally) an Oscar nomination, but moderator Roger Durling kept the conversation away from awards as much as he could.

    A considerably amount of the discussion was spent on the nature of these actors’ careers, floating between the big screen, television and theater with a particular ease.  Many of the Virtuosos swept the comment aside with the usual “we go where the work takes us” rhetoric, which is fine, but Davis made a compelling comment regarding the state of the profession.

    “When you think about actors, you think about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie,” she said.  “But most of them look just like us here on stage.”  The indication, of course, is the middle class actor and how often he or she isn’t given the proper credit, be it on television, on stage or, certainly, on the screen.

    “Please, go to New York,” DeWitt said.  “See a play.  Some of the greatest actors in the world are working on stage,” but their names aren’t well-known.  It’s an interesting topic with the SAG dispute of late, which finds middle class actors at the forefront of a fight for credit.  Durling, of course, didn’t pursue that line of questioning.

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  • A word of advice

    To any actors who might find themselves in the hunt for an Oscar nod next year: don’t let me interview you.

    Seriously. It appears that the mere act of shaking my hand, or even greeting me over the phone, placed an immediate hex on the Oscar chances of several deserving thesps this season. If your publicist informs you that you’re due to speak to one Mr. Guy Lodge, proceed at your peril. (Directors, however, are apparently safe.)

    To Sally Hawkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, Eddie Marsan, Rosemarie DeWitt, Michelle Williams and Elsa Zylberstein, I’m sorry you had to learn this the hard way. It doesn’t make me love your performances any less.

  • All in the family: a note on the SAG nods

    I know I shouldn’t get upset. As Sasha Stone over at Awards Daily repeatedly intones, when it comes to awards analysis, “the trick is not minding.” You should coolly observe the trends, learn from them and be guided always by your head rather than your heart.

    But damn it, I’m only human. I can’t help getting invested in certain contenders. And I don’t mind admitting that I was utterly dismayed by this morning’s thoroughly unadventurous and, worse yet, insular set of SAG nominations. Did the voters really carefully consider all the possible options before putting pen to ballot paper? Did they really take time to decide which of the year’s performances and ensembles most moved and challenged them? Or did they simply reel off the five names in each category that they’ve heard the most about, and think are most likely to feature in the Oscar race?

    Maybe the answer to the first two questions is “yes.” But I doubt it. I find it hard to imagine that any actor adequately attuned to their own craft could consider all the female supporting performances of the year and somehow decide that Amy Adams’ performance in “Doubt” was more rich and complex than what Rosemarie DeWItt achieved in “Rachel Getting Married,” or Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler.”

    I don’t believe (or at least I don’t want to believe) that actors who supposedly have some experience of ensemble work can fail to notice that the ensembles of “Synecdoche, New York,” “The Dark Knight,” “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” or even “Rachel Getting Married” are denser, more intricate and infinitely more integrated than those of “Frost/Nixon” or “Doubt.”

    A great ensemble is about more than the prestige of the names within it. You’d expect actors to understand that, and last year’s off-the-wall nominations for “Hairspray” and “3:10 to Yuma” suggested that maybe, just maybe, they did. This year, however, was back to business as usual, as they turn their highest and most unique award into yet another Best Picture-emulating copycat list.

    (More thoughts, and predictions, after the cut.)

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  • Six Virtuosos chosen for Santa Barbara Fest

    Michael Shannon in Revolutionary RoadThe press release, in part (happy for Shannon, one of the good guys):

    The Santa Barbara International Film Festival continues its tradition of honoring the year’s standout performers by presenting The 2009 Virtuosos Award to Viola Davis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins, Melissa Leo and Michael Shannon.  The Award presentation will take place Wednesday, January 28 at the 24th edition of the Fest, which runs January 22-February 1, 2009, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling.

    The Virtuosos Award was created last year to recognize a select group of actors who have distinguished themselves through performances in film this past year.  Last year’s recipients of this inaugural award were Casey Affleck, Marion Cottilard, who went on to win the Best Actress Oscar, James McAvoy, Ellen Page and Amy Ryan.

    “Each of these virtuosos have dazzled us with some of the most unexpected, scene-stealing, heart-breaking, uncompromising, fearless and startling performances of the year,” Durling commented.

  • D.C. critics chime in, ‘Slumdog’ reigns

    Rubiana Ali in Slumdog MillionaireI was totally out to lunch on this today.  “Slumdog Millionaire” continues to dominate while Heath Ledger wins his second award (after that AFI gong earlier in the week).  “Doubt” pulls down another ensemble win while truly astounding group performances from films such as “Synecdoche, New York,” “Gomorrah” and, indeed, “Slumdog Millionaire” continue to be ignored.  And Mickey Rourke picks up his first critics’ citation.

    The winners:

    Best Film: “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
    Best Actress: Meryl Streep, “Doubt”
    Best Ensemble: “Doubt”
    Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
    Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt, “Rachel Getting Married”
    Best Breakthrough Performance: Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”
    Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet, “Rachel Getting Married”
    Best Animated Feature: “WALL-E”
    Best Foreign Language Film: “Let The Right One In”
    Best Documentary: “Man On Wire”
    Best Art Direction: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

    Sasha Stone has some historical perspective over at Awards Daily.

  • 11/26 Oscarweb Round-up

    WALL-E• Jeff Wells is beside himself because Oscar prognosticators understand “Che” has a snowball’s chance in hell at a best Picture nomination. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Noah Forrest podcasts “Changeling” screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski. [Movie City News]

    • Anne Thompson gets the “Australia” goods from Hugh Jackman. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Tom O’Neil, meanwhile, wonders if pundits are underestimating the film…nah. [Gold Derby]

    • The economy takes a bite out of one of the season’s biggest Oscar bashes. [Vanity Fair]

    • Pete Hammond is a party pooper, makes sure we all understand a SAG strike could put a damper on the season. [Notes on a Season]

    • Nathaniel Rogers talks to “Rachel Getting Married” gals Rosemarie DeWitt and Jenny Lumet. [The Film Experience]

    • Peter Bart joins my Brandon Walters bandwagon, says director Baz Luhrmann has created a star. [Peter Bart]

    • Kevin Kelly talks to “WALL-E” and “Star Wars” sound whiz Ben Burtt. [Spout Blog]

    • Patrick Goldstein digs into the emotional chill factor of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” [The Big Picture]

    • A Harvey Milk Cliff’s Notes for your “Milk” screening preparations. [USA Today]

  • WEEKLY WRAP: Big guns unveiled, docs shortlisted, Saviano speaks

    A big week, this, in which the covers were finally lifted off some heavyweight titles. Here’s what we were talking about:

    • And speaking of those heavyweights, Kris ran hot on “Revolutionary Road,” but cool on “Australia” …

    • … while being offered a frustratingly truncated glimpse of “Benjamin Button.”

    • The Academy announced their 15-strong shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, and emerged with credibility largely intact, in my opinion.

    • We were fortunate enough to chat to the incredible Roberto Saviano of “Gomorrah” fame…

    • … as well as the charming Rosemarie DeWitt, our pick of the “Rachel Getting Married” ensemble.

    • Roger Ebert either picked the brain of an Academy insider, or made some bold predictions of his own. Interesting either way.

    • This week’s Off the Carpet column played the waiting game.

    • Tech Support got musical this week, with a look at the composers in the hunt for gold this year.

    • We examined the horses (or lack thereof) in the Comedy/Musical races at the Golden Globes.

    • This week’s edition of The Lists delved into the embarrassment of cinematic riches that was the 1970s.

    • “The Wrestler” finally got a poster and an impressive trailer.

    • We contemplated next year’s BAFTA awards, wondering whether homegrown winners will again dominate proceedings.

    • The Best Picture debate over “The Dark Knight” continues apace.

  • INTERVIEW: Rosemarie DeWitt

    Rosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWitt is excited.

    It can be difficult to gauge emotion in the formal, slightly removed context of a phone interview, but DeWitt’s warm, clear voice betrays an eagerness right from the get-go, articulating thoughts at a pace that occasionally exceeds my shorthand. Only when addressing the heady buzz of awards season does she finally pause to reach for words.

    “It’s crazy, seriously crazy, but more than anything, it’s just really flattering,” she says.  “This is the best job I’ve ever had, and I’m so, so proud of the film. Anything more than that is just…” A moment passes as she takes a breath, and considers the matter. “Wow,” she concludes simply.

    The film in question, of course, is “Rachel Getting Married,” Jonathan Demme’s barbed family drama that has been widley declared the filmmaker’s return to form after some years in the wilderness. The buzz, meanwhile, is for DeWitt’s subtle, complex turn in the title role, which has garnered considerable plaudits for the hitherto low-profile 34-year-old actor, a frequent stage presence only recently receiving her due on screen, both big and small.

    Best known until now for her tart, sexy portrayal of Midge, Jon Hamm’s bohemian city mistress in TV critics’ darling “Mad Men,” DeWitt is calling from Los Angeles.  She’s just finishing work on another cable series, “The United States of Tara,” a dark, high-concept comedy created by Diablo Cody and starring Toni Collette (an “absolute genius,” DeWitt gushes).

    All of which would be enough to get excited about without Oscar talk being thrown into the mix. But as Rachel, the older sister of Anne Hathaway’s self-destructive addict Kym, DeWitt’s attentive, commendably unflattering performance finds itself right in the thick of the Best Supporting Actress competition. Hers is, for me, the most resonant performance in a film that doesn’t want for thespian fireworks, largely because DeWitt never pushes Rachel into the stock character of the saintly, long-suffering sibling.

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  • Does ‘Rachel’ have Oscar legs?

    One advantage of the hectic festival environment is that, while seeing more movies in a month than is medically advisable, it offers a pretty ruthless method of separating the wheat from the chaff. If a film still sticks in your mind after seeing a million others in such a compressed timeframe, it clearly has something special. (For me, those would be the films in my London Top Ten list.)

    On the other hand, there are a couple of films that, even if they seem quite impressive in the moment, ultimately get lost in the crush. And so it was with me and Jonathan Demme’s much-vaunted “Rachel Getting Married.”

    One of the first films I saw in the festival press screenings, I enjoyed it for the funky looseness of Demme’s direction and a couple of interestingly barbed performances — even if I didn’t quite get the ecstatic wave of praise that greeted it in the US. A month later, however, with numerous other films jostling for attention in my brain, I find it difficult to remember much about the film at all… and that goes for the actors too.

    Of course, that’s an entirely subjective test, one that is largely irrelevant to awards prognostication — there are still plenty of ardent devotees declaring it the best film of the year (huh?), and they will no doubt continue to do so. Still, something caught my attention yesterday which suggested I might not be alone. In their always-interesting Oscar Futures chart, those wicked guys at Vulture sense a downturn in momentum for Anne Hathaway in the Best Actress race:

    This category is getting pretty competitive — was she really as good as everybody thought two weeks ago?

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  • 10/31 Oscarweb Round-up — HALLOWEEN EDITION!

    WALL-E• Tom O’Neil podcasts it with Rosemarie DeWitt. [Gold Derby]

    • Jeffrey Wells comes back to the “Valkyrie” poster with admiration a few weeks later. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • John Campea is excited about the “WALL-E” Best Picture campaign. [The Movie Blog]

    • Debuting the new “Valkyrie” trailer. [Yahoo! Movies]

    • Anne Thompson takes her first real stab at the season. [Thompson on Hollywood]

    • Can a Pulitzer Prize winner save the “Spider-Man” franchise? [The Hollywood Reporter]

    • A grown-up’s guide to Halloween movies. [Premiere]

  • ‘Ballast’ tops list of Gotham Indie award nominees

    BallastThe Gotham Independent Film Award nominees have been announced (note the change in moniker this year), and Lance Hammer’s Mississippi drama “Ballast” leads the pack with four nominations.  Six films received two nominations apiece, including Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York,” Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married” and Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

    One film that might have popped up had it been eligible was Gus Van Sant’s “Milk,” but the film was not ready to screen for IFP in time.

    These are the first set of film awards nominations of the 2008 season, kicking off the campaigns for more than a few potential Oscar contenders, including actresses Rosemarie DeWitt, Melissa Leo and Rebecca Hall, each of them nominated in the Breakthrough Actor category.  The documentary race also includes a number of Oscar hopefuls, “Man on Wire,” “Trouble the Water” and “Encounters at the End of the World” among them.

    The frontrunner at this point is probably the bread-winner of the nomiantions process: “Ballast.”  But I have a feeling “The Visitor” could spark enough support to surprise in the end.  Also nominated for Best Feature is Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler,” the film’s only mention.

    The awards will be held on Tuesday Decmber 2 at New York’s Cipriani Wall Street.

    (Full list of nominees after the jump.)

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  • 10/2 Oscarweb Round-up

    Rosemarie Dewitt in Rachel Getting Married• Jeffrey Wells reports that Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers” has been pushed to 2009. [Hollywood Elsewhere]

    • Patrick Goldstein hypothesizes that the year-end Oscar glut is detrimental to quality films and, in a round about way, that studios should forgo the Oscar spending.  Gasp! [The Big Picture]

    • David Poland apparently missed the qualifier “largely” in disputing a section of Goldstein’s lede. [The Hot Blog]

    • Michael Ordoña talks to the wonderful Rosemarie Dewitt about her work in “Rachel Getting Married.”  Best in show, in my opinion. [Los Angeles Times]

    • Tom O’Neil spotlights the tech crew of “Eagle Eye,” wonders if Oscar might be in their future. [Gold Derby]

    • Karina Longworth reports on the “Wrestler” press conference at the New York fest. [Spout Blog]

    • Andrew O’Hehir talks to Bill Maher — boy is he making the rounds for “Religulous.” [Beyond the Multiplex]

    • Chris Ayers heads over to Ixtlan for a “W.” chat with Oliver Stone. [The Times]

    • The 25 greatest movie posters of all time.  Too heavy ont he vintage stuff, but a fun list. [Premiere]

  • TORONTO: ‘Rachel Getting Married,’ ‘Flash of Genius’

    Greg Kinnear in Flash of GeniusWoke up dog tired this morning, yesterday’s marathon of screenings wore me out. Getting old. Do the usual pre-screening intake of food and coffee (a festival staple) before getting ready to head off to the first screening, “Flash of Genius” which I am looking to seeing.

    Greg Kinnear convinced me he was the real deal opposite Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets” and even more so as Bob Crane in the dark biopic “Auto Focus.” He has got an all American quality about him that I quite enjoy.

    (Reviews after the jump.)

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  • SHORT TAKE: “Rachel Getting Married” (***)

    (from left) Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie Dewitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger in Rachel Getting MarriedJonathan Demme and Jenny Lumet’s menagerie of characterization, “Rachel Getting Married,” will have a diversity of followers.

    Some will be drawn to the angst and closeted guilt of Anne Hathaway’s Kym, a portrayal with layers that announces new talent in the starlet.  Others will be delighted and taken by Bill Irwin’s equal doses of authenticity and questionable mugging.

    Others still might side with the conflicted and forcefully honest sparkplug of the film’s title, conveyed splendidly by Rosemarie Dewitt; or the five or ten minutes Debra Winger gets to step in as an absentee mother before flying off the rails in one of the most painfully unrealistic scenes of the year.

    Perhaps the calming presence of Tunde Adebimpe’s groom-to-be Sidney will sooth the soul, however bizarre his coupling seems to be, or the overall zen of Anna Deveare Smith’s alpha female Carol.

    Whatever your attraction to the film’s ensemble, the point that should be taken away is how vibrantly Demme has wrought its diversity and thematic purpose throughout.  Comparison’s to Noah Baumbach’s “Margot at the Wedding” may be in store, but unlike Baumbach, Demme understand the impact of true realism over a reaching attempt at stylizing it.

    Jenny Lumet’s script isn’t as hackneyed as it might be, though it certainly isn’t as complete as it thinks it is.  But perhaps that is another important (if tired) artistic point: the episodic nature of family, the ups and downs and how they seem to fade into a cluster of events impossible to distinguish.  No grand insightful gestures are made, no sweeping epiphanies of characterization, but Demme brings the appropriate edge and guidance to make it pass for unique.

    Top honors go to Ms. Dewitt, who harnesses her character’s hypocrisies while maintaining an even keel within Lumet’s most complex creation.  She approaches the warmth of sisterly familiarity and the sizzle of bridezilla conceit with equal aplomb, making for the film’s most fully realized performance.

    Despite valiant stands in front of and behind the camera, however, “Rachel” suffers from a screenplay that seems trite when boiled to its essence and leaves no real room for creative expansion.

  • ‘Che’ = ‘Havana’s Gate’

    Ouch:

    Call it Havana’s Gate. Steven Soderbergh’s elephantine account of the rise and deification of revolutionary icon Ernesto (Che) Guevara could prove as deadly to the director’s career as Heaven’s Gate was to Michael Cimino’s. Running a bladder-bursting 4 hours and 22 minutes (split over two parts), it reeks of authenticity but also self-indulgence. A potentially great performance by Benicio Del Toro in the title role is buried beneath Soderbergh’s stylistic tics and an almost complete lack of dramatic tension. It feels like every plodding jungle bootstep of Che and his band of rebels is shown, first in Cuba and later in Bolivia, but we never really get to know the man whose face launched a million T-shirts.

    Pete Howell has also given high marks to Ed Harris’s “Appaloosa” and Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married.” Neither was my cup of tea, and the former was an outright disappointment of potential, but I expect there to be plenty of fans to go around for each.  Especially “Rachel,” with a delicious duo on screen in the form of Anne Hathaway and Rosemarie Dewitt. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh, eat your hearts out.

  • ‘Rachel’ not just about the women?

    In his autumn preview, Noah Forrest at Movie City News briefly kinda-reviews Jonathan Demme’s “Rachel Getting Married,” which will make its official bow at Venice next week. Having seen an unfinished cut, he gives it the thumbs-up, citing “beautiful music, excellent performances and a few surprises I didn’t see coming.”

    Most excitingly, he compares it to Demme’s loosier, funkier output from the 1980’s, which is fine by me. If the film has anything approaching the wit and danger of “Something Wild,” I’m there.

    Forrest also throws a new, relatively unheralded name into the Oscar cauldron. Much has been made of the awards potential the film offers for Anne Hathaway and Debra Winger – though in the latter case, the buzz seems to be built more on industry goodwill towards the actress than on anything else. As Kris has pointed out, Rosemarie DeWitt (best known as Jon Hamm’s boho mistress in “Mad Men”) appears to have the meatier supporting role, and could well make an awards run. Forrest, meanwhile, has someone else in mind:

    While Anne Hathaway and Rosemarie DeWitt (are) excellent in it, I want to start beating the Best Supporting Actor drum for Bill Irwin. He plays the patriarch of the fractured clan and he is so damn good that I couldn’t stop shaking my head, awed by how effortlessly he brings both pathos and humour to the role.

    A respected Tony-winning stage actor whose screen work ranges from “Sesame Street” to Ron Howard’s ill-fated “Grinch” film, Irwin hasn’t had a breakthrough film role yet – this could be it.

    So far, “Rachel” is looking more like a contender for acting (and possibly writing) nominations than the big prize, but the Academy can occasionally give a lot of acting slots to an otherwise low-profile pic (“Iris” being a good example). This film seems to have a lot of balls in the air.