Southpaw returning to the ring. (And by ring we mean movie theaters.)
Friday, October 2, 2015 at 8:30PM someone wants an Oscar... someone wants an Oscar...
We say this in a sing-song teasing way but super-affectionately! For who beyond Jake Gyllenhaal among Hollywood's current leading men has earned more Oscar love than he's received? It's still virtually unthinkable that he missed the shortlist last year for Nightcrawler in which he burrowed into a character that proved far more indelible and challenging and even showy (and AMPAS loves that) than many of the actual nominees. And his work was better than almost all of theirs, too. (At least we gave him a prize right here)
Jake is in theaters right now climbing mountains in Everest but his headlining gig in the summer's modest boxing drama success Southpaw will get another go at theaters (and thus industry attention) this weekend courtesy of The Weinstein Company who just don't mess around when it comes to campaigning for gold. (Although, frankly, if they were going to do this at all, shouldn't they have y'know, announced it with more preliminary fanfare? And maybe not done it during Matt Damon's possibly record-busting weekend?)
Breaking into this year's Best Actor field might still prove difficult since his work in Southpaw isn't as memorable as his work in Nightcrawler and isn't as uniquely inspired as his work in next year's Demolition (he's so terrific in that one - pity about the delay.) On the other hand this year's competition could well thin out if The Revenant is not all that or if AMPAS voters view all the Spotlight guys as supporting, or if Johnny Depp can't reheat that super brief bonfire of Black Mass goodwill or if Matt Damon keeps sticking his foot in his mouth or if...
If if if if if if. You know how this works. Do you think he has a (long) shot?
Reader Comments (8)
Please no. At this point, any actor playing a boxer just reads as "take me seriously" or "gimme that damn Oscar already." I like Gyllenhaal, but his work in Southpaw doesn't even touch his best.
I don't see it happening....the movie kinda came and went, despite decent reviews for Jakey....my thought is, even he couldn't get in for Nightcrawler (which was robbery!), he won't get in for this in such a crowded year.....
This film just wasn't all that good and if Creed delivers then this will get overshadowed anyway. This campaign is done on all fronts. Stick a fork in it, have the time of death pronounced, whatever.
Probably not, even as a "long shot". The reviews aren't good enough for this to make sense.
I don't know, worse performances have gained traction in Best Actor recently, and they do like boxing movies. I could see some precursor support--SAG? Golden Globes? But Oscar probably won't bite. Then again, what is Best Actor right now? Redmayne and Fassbender aren't even locks yet. The rest is wide open. Probably smart to give Jake a run at it.
It's too early to know, really... My gut feeling's that he won't be present during most of the race but then, if some of the contenders fizzle out as you mentioned, he could get in last minute mostly because he's been working his ass off the last few years and was totally robbed of a nom last year. In other words, he could get a surprise just the same way big sis Maggie did for Crazy Heart but seems unlikely.
I'm sure this is more about safeguarding a star for the future than the Weinsteins truly believing they have a shot. They want to keep Jake in their good graces so give him a token campaign (notice this form of campaign is designed to actually make them more money?) Still, I could see SAG going for it.
I've been trying to think if there is a fifth spot longshot. Because with the lone stocking horse of Depp the top five (with Dicaprio sight unseen but included) does feel set.
Maybe Michael B. Jordan for "Creed"?