Hoarding Oscar's Leftovers

During my annual Oscar Quest, there are usually two or three films that I miss, due to time or money. I hoard these films until DVD release, where I hope to savor them like the fresh strawberry apple tart I just ate for dessert. Usually they are the “acting” films, with some career-defining performance that I missed while running through the Ten Best Pic Wanna-Bes.

This week I watched two of these films – “The Messenger” and “The Young Victoria”.

“The Messenger” was Woody Harrelson’s latest Oscar bid, where he plays a jaded American soldier given the most unwanted of jobs. He and his partner (played by Ben Foster) have to notify the next of kin about the death of their loved one. It’s not an easy task, and it could have made a fascinating character study, and for awhile it is. There are several bit parts and cameos, including Steve Buscemi as a father who becomes combative after finding out about his loss.

Unfortunately, though, the film suffers because it isn’t really sure which direction to follow. Then again, neither do the characters. It gets the most weighted down when addressing the love story between Foster and Samantha Morton, who plays a wife left behind to raise a child. I found this part of the film completely implausible and unnecessary. I wanted to see more of Foster’s interactions with Harrelson, who is extremely good in the film, but I can’t say I expected anything less. Harrelson’s proven that he has a huge range. He’s always exciting to watch. I do think eventually he’ll get one, but he might have to have a long career in order to do it.

Next up was “The Young Victoria”. I admit that I have a bias towards all things British, and it is usually an Oscar rule that playing a British Queen will get at least Oscar buzz. In this case, the buzz was all about Emily Blunt, playing the title role. This is supposed to be her “role of a lifetime”, but I think that at her age, there is still many roles for her to play. This film isn’t your typical period piece, running several hours with multiple boring crises. It’s more a coming of age story for a young woman who just happens to be the Queen of England. The best part of this film is the pacing; the run time is not even two hours, which is just enough time to get a fine mist of a story as opposed to the usual British downpour. Blunt is fantastic; but I do have trouble buying her as an eighteen year old. The rest of the cast is solid. I found it to be a very pleasant film, but not a great film.

Here’s hoping that next week brings brighter films, but then again the next film on the list is “Schindler’s List”, so I can’t exactly promise anything. I just hope that great films don’t continue to be so hard to find.