Saturday, November 21, 2009

Invictus yay or nay? Maybe a bit of both.

I talked to a friend who'd seen Clint Eastwood's Invictus this week. He's much more of an Clint fan than I am (I know that describes 90% of the population) but he wasn't too impressed. He sees a mixed Oscar response coming... although a big hit. He calls it "super commercial" but thinks it's rather clunky with exposition and lots of “I just showed you, but in case you didn’t get it, now I’ll TELL you” moments. Morgan Freeman's star turn he describes as "oratory and noble" and also "pretty boring". Ouch.

"Let's keep on making pictures with Clint." "Shake on it!"

Despite his reservations about the quality of Invictus he still thinks it'll sneak in as a Best Pic nominee because there’s ten slots. He capped off our conversation with the following confession
I didn’t think it was very good, but maybe I cried a couple of times...don’t judge.
Hee. Hey, I'm never judging tears in a movie. I choked up once during My Sister's Keeper and I thought it stunk. My best friend cried buckets at Casper (1995) of all things. And we were at a drive in! We still tease him about it 14 years later... but in a loving way.

Do you have faith that Oscar will want Eastwood back in a big way this year after the muted awards response last year. Or are you doubtful? Either way there's always next year. The iconic actor/director is already filming his next project Hereafter scheduled for (YOU GUESSED IT!) a December 2010 release. Matt Damon stars in that one, too.
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8 comments:

Jude said...

This sounds better than Changeling, which nabbed Angelina an Oscar nod over someone more deserving like Kristen Scott Thomas, so I'm assuming Morgan will be nominated nonetheless. Glad to see it's not a picture front-runner anymore! Although, knowing Clint it will still get into the mix.

Alex said...

I can see Clint not making the cut, but Morgan Freeman is the type of actor who, when he does work in Oscary films, is almost always recognized.

Robert said...

Isn't there always a lot of "I just showed you, but now I'll tell you" moments in Eastwood films?

I'll give you an example of 3 back to back moments in Grand Torino. 1. A close up of a car's foreign hood ornament. 2. Clint growling to himself "would it kill you to buy American?" 3. the kids in the car saying "did you see how dad looked at the car?"

I was sitting in my living room shouting "I get it already!" at the TV.

cal roth said...

I love Clint Eastwood, but sometimes he just doesn't deliver. And I always thought this project was not like the ones The Clint usually homeruns - smaller dramas about how people deal with violence (even Madison County is all about it, since it's about people who hurt themselves and decide to give up happiness).

Invictus never convinced me as Clint project, but let's wait till we can see it. Not expecting much.

Amir said...

i'm A HUNDRED PERCENT sure that morgan freeman will still get a nomination and the movie will be in the final 10 spots.
it's clint eastwood and they love him.
i was kinda hoping matt damon would be good though. i'm usually a fan of his work and i was hoping he'd get one nomination this year for either of his films.

javi said...

"It’s the kind of movie that any smart person has trouble rationalizing liking."

And yet that sounds like a fair description of 70% of BP nominees.

adam k. said...

If neither Freeman nor Damon is nominated, that's not a "mixed response." That's a FAIL. They were supposed to be sure things.

I suppose it could end up still being a 1 nomination best pic nominee, but somehow I doubt that.

Poor Matt Damon. This was supposed to be his year. But generally, there is at least one "ZOMG they'll be a double nominee for sure!" famous actor whose projects/roles both fail to live up to the hype.

Remember Julianne Moore in 2001! "ZOMG, Hannibal and The Shipping News! She can't miss!"

Or for that matter, Penelope Cruz this year... though she may well still scrape out a nod. As could Damon. We'll see.

Anonymous said...

The fifth slot for best actor gonna be Freeman x Day Lewis!!