Remember when Meryl Streep received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 2017 Golden Globes? Her speech was one for the ages, full of good humor, pathos and a riveting call to arms. So titanic was this acceptance speech that, to this day, I believe that it's what secured a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Florence Foster Jenkins. The performance did get a lot of precursor love, but growing Streep fatigue and a stacked race seemed like indicators of an incoming snub. Then, the Golden Globes happened, right at the end of Oscar voting, and it all changed.
Her speech saved her campaign, even though that wasn't the intention of the gesture, and turned her into a lock many didn't see coming until nomination morning arrived. This year, Tom Hanks might follow in Streep's steps…
As we've reported before, while Tom Hanks' artistic endeavors have been on a tremendous upswing for the past decade, the Academy has failed to respond. Even in 2013, when he looked like a sure thing with Captain Phillips, an Oscar nod failed to materialize. Because of that, some prognosticators have remained cautious about predicting him as a lock for this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar. His performance in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is sublime, an idea of a virtuous man and the minutia of a tridimensional personality in seamless osmosis.
Not only that, he's managed to score a nomination for the Globes, the BAFTAs, the SAGs, and the Critics Choice Awards. Still, Hanks doesn't particularly seem like a lock. His precedent with recent snubs is daunting and difficult to ignore. What might mitigate such doubts is that barnburner of a speech he gave upon receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award. It was a stirring emotional rollercoaster, a wonder capable of eliciting laughs and tears in equal measure, all of them served with a healthy dose of earnest humility. He was genuine and projected warmth without ever letting a whiff of unpleasant condescension taint the tone of the words.
More importantly, it lacked the self-aggrandizing antics so easily associated with superstar actors, especially those honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Hanks talked like a pragmatist professional, someone that understands he's part of a machine that involves many artists all working together. He was humble, yes, but he was also inspiring without being schmaltzy, sentimental without being mawkish and above all else, kind. It was perfect. Everyone in the room seemed to think so too if we can judge by those misty-eyed reaction shots.
There are a lot of Academy voters within that bunch and even more watching at home. Hopefully, this homage to Hanks' career coupled with a perfect speech might make them think twice before again snubbing him in their Oscar ballots. After all, who wouldn't love to watch America's Dad tearing up while receiving a well-deserved third Oscar? His win still seems unlikely, of course, but a nomination is looking more like a certainty than a diffuse pipe dream.
Do you consider Tom Hanks a lock for an Oscar nomination?