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Just when you thought last year’s Best Picture victor was down for the count, Fox Searchlight goes and shakes things up in November. First, some background…
When we kicked off our coverage of the 2009-2010 Oscar season a year in advance, one of the more anticipated titles was Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart,” based on the novel by Thomas Cobb about an alcoholic country music singer on the road to redemption. The film stars Jeff Bridges in the leading role, along with Colin Farrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Robert Duvall.
In July, Searchlight picked the film up, touting Bridges’s “performance of a lifetime,” but the studio slated the release for the spring of 2010. It seemed a shame at the time given the fact that the film was shaping up to be a potential awards vehicle for Bridges at the very least, perhaps more. But with “Amelia” on the way, a (so we thought) potentially major player in the race with its typical AMPAS tropes. But that ship has sailed, leaving the studio with only the animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and Marc Webb’s summer entry “(500) Days of Summer” to hawk for awards consideration.
Until now. Maybe.
Patrick Goldstein — jumping the gun without the facts — says the film will have a December 11 limited release. But there is, in fact, no date planned yet, and barring an upcoming screening that will help the studio further gauge the film’s awards potential, it’s still a bit up in the air as to whether the “Crazy Heart” actually WILL get that run.
But if things go well — watch out. The Best Actor race could take an entirely different shape, and while the conversation hasn’t really yielded a clear frontrunner in that field, Bridges could leap way ahead to the front of the pack. He has been nominated four times before, most recently for Rod Lurie’s “The Contender” in 2000 (in a presidential role that our current Commander-in-Chief has called his favorite movie president).
Bridges’s only lead actor nomination came for “Starman” in 1984, so I think it’s high time he makes it back to the head of Oscar’s leading class. He also has the role of Rooster Cogburn in the Coen brothers’ upcoming “True Grit” remake on the way.
19 responses so far
1 11-04-2009 at 10:32 am
Ali E. said...
this would be great. I think there’s no clear frontrunner to win Best Actor right now (I don’t expect Clooney, Day-Lewis or even Freeman to win at this point… Firth, Renner or Mortensen are also unlikely to win) , and Bridges could easily benefit from that…
2 11-04-2009 at 10:34 am
DHE said...
Ooh! Jeff Bridges. Me like. Me like very much.
3 11-04-2009 at 10:43 am
Lance said...
This was becoming a boring category for me, but if Jeff Bridges is included in the conversation it suddenly becomes very interesting.
4 11-04-2009 at 10:47 am
Guy Lodge said...
Or not. If Bridges really is on career-best form, I suspect there might not be a contest at all.
Not that I’d have a problem with that.
5 11-04-2009 at 11:18 am
JAB said...
I’m always down for a Maggie Gyllenhaal movie.
6 11-04-2009 at 11:42 am
AmericanRequiem said...
winner?
7 11-04-2009 at 12:32 pm
Maxim said...
“Bridges’s only lead actor nomination came for “Starman” in 1984, so I think it’s high time he makes it back to the head of Oscar’s leading class.”
Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.
8 11-04-2009 at 1:03 pm
daveylow said...
I’m a huge Jeff Bridges fan but I really love Colin Firth’s performance in A Single Man. If Bridges performance is that good, I would hate to see either lose.
9 11-04-2009 at 1:20 pm
Brian said...
Don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s really refreshing to have a major category where we don’t all think we have the nominees and eventual winner pegged in November.
Of course there will be major categories where a wild card proves the consensus wrong, but here we don’t even really have a consensus yet!
10 11-04-2009 at 1:36 pm
Marlowe said...
Could this also result in another Original Song contender? (I don’t know much about the movie, but I assume as a fictional musician he’d have movie-specific songs)
11 11-04-2009 at 1:37 pm
aspect ratio said...
It’d be lovely seeing Jeff Bridges in the race again, although lead actor’s pretty packed as is, and unless it’s a real slamdunk wham-bam performance that is undeniable, the big risk with such a last-minute addition is that it doesn’t gain momentum before it’s too late.
If it is a real knockout performance and he is nominated, he could certainly be the winner too, being a four-time nominee already (and pretty much one of the most underrated actors out there).
12 11-04-2009 at 1:39 pm
aspect ratio said...
Oh f#ck, I just saw Kris’s tweet, Bridges for the win!!
13 11-04-2009 at 2:22 pm
BerkeleyGirl said...
Wow, there are few – if any – actors alive more overdue for award recognition than Bridges. Personally, I’ve adored him for years and years. He always slips quietly into the skin of his characters – no vanity, no show-boating, all grace.
To be fair, you can also say the same things about Firth, though Bridges has had a longer run with a greater variety of roles.
14 11-04-2009 at 2:26 pm
The Other James D. said...
Ack, as if this year couldn’t be anymore guala-packed!
But I’m highly anticipating this, so awesome. It could be an interesting race: Firth vs. Bridges, with the edge going to the latter most likely.
I was sure that they’d be backing “(500)” for a campaign for screenplay and picture, but if “Crazy” is in the mix, they’ll surely wanna thrust that into the BP lineup. I wonder if Gyllenhaal’s and/or Farrell’s performance warrant much consideration either….This would be a good blitz, although I remain skeptical about their final decision. They might find this year too crowded. Bridges would easily edge out my shaky Damon Best Actor prediction though.
15 11-04-2009 at 3:29 pm
moviefan1 said...
People always talk about DiCaprio or Depp being overdue for an Oscar but I dont think their anywhere near Bridges for consistency. This guy has never given a bad performance and I cant wait to see his performance in this
16 11-04-2009 at 3:36 pm
The Other James D. said...
*Never*?
I haven’t seen “K-Pax”, but what sayeth thou regarding that?
17 11-04-2009 at 3:40 pm
Guy Lodge said...
Nothing wrong with his performance in “K-Pax.”
“The Mirror Has Two Faces,” on the other hand …
But no actor builds up such a long résumé without the occasional miss.
18 11-04-2009 at 4:21 pm
moviefan said...
Bridges was fine in K-Pax but he has more superb performances than many actors who have been around as long as he has, starting way back with Last Picture Show and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. OK, Against All Odds and Jagged Edge are guilty pleasures but: Starman, Tucker, Baker Boys, American Heart, Fisher King, Fearless, Lebowski, Contender, Seabiscuit, Door in the Floor – Whew, that’s just the cream from the top.
Bridges has been one of my favorite actors for over three decades and he’s one of the most overdue for Oscar, in my opinion.
19 11-05-2009 at 6:06 am
pat said...
I wish Columbia would make sequel to STARMAN 2. That’s a film I want Jeff Bridges to make!