Full disclosure: I am yet to see Trumbo or The Danish Girl, so sections involving those movies will focus on the awards buzz instead of the performances.
Well it’s about time.
While some don’t completely agree he deserves it, it’s time.
Unfollow your favourite topical meme page because Leo is winning a statue.
It may not be his best performance, or really in his best handful, but a combination of factors which is mostly lack of real competition, means Leo will have to make space on his mantle piece.
Who does this leave us as the perennial loser then?
Bradley Cooper has fallen short a couple of times recently, Amy Adams has done enough to become a loser and Joaquin Phoenix has tried, even if he denies he even knows what the Oscars are.
My hope? Brad Pitt makes another run at an actor win and crashes and burns.
Who else could have been nominated:
Will Smith and his wife staged a protest because he wasn’t nominated (and because of the lack of diversity in the nominees, but really), while Al Pacino and Mark Ruffalo were both nominated for comedy/musical Golden Globes but weren’t really in the frame here.
Christian Bale and Steve Carell were both nominated in that above a category as well, but Bale was downgraded to a supporting actor and Carell was campaigned for in that category too.
Tom Hanks made another excellent movie this year and didn’t get a look in, Tom Hardy played two people in one movie and Johnny Depp stays on the outside after his role in Black Mass.
Who was nominated:
Bryan Cranston for playing Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio for playing Hugh Glass inThe Revenant
Michael Fassbender for playing Steve Jobs inSteve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne for playing Lili Elbe/Einar Wegener in The Danish Girl
The nominees:
Bryan Cranston
Why he will win: The dark horse in this race, Cranston is a much loved, award winning figure in Hollywood. He knows how to win over votes and is a hit on the social side of things around the awards season. Could he pull enough votes away out of sheer good will? Why he wont win: Probably not. DiCaprio likely has a stronger pull of well wishers and Trumbo was a little seen, forgetting movie that hasn’t won anything. Cranston may be everyone’s second choice, but there are no votes for second in this award.
Matt Damon
Why he will win: Damon is the only other nominee to have any serious silverware to show off this season with his Golden Globe win, and DiCaprio aside, he had to carry a film and play off nobody more than anybody else. Why he wont win: Damon is another contender to take the throne as the win less joke of the Internet, because he isn’t going to win here.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Why he will win: He’s cornered the market in terms of good will and general love from Hollywood this season. DiCaprio is part of a film that is roaring into the final week of the awards season and his performance is at least on par with everyone else. Why he wont win: Um, maybe people are going to tick the wrong box?
Michael Fassbender
Why he will win: Before the season officially commenced, Fassbender was probably the front runner. He carries Steve Jobs terrifically and is probably the best performance in the category. Why he wont win: Once awards season began, Steve Jobs took a nosedive in consideration and Fassbender’s chances went with it.
Eddie Redmayne
Why he will win: Redmayne is obviously a recognised award winner and his character certainly makes the biggest transformation of any in this category. Why he wont win: Only Tom Hanks and Spencer Tracy have won consecutive Best Actor awards and Redmayne doesn’t yet have the accepted brilliance to break into that category. Winning again recently is extremely rare at the Oscars and Redmayne just doesn’t have the power to pull it off.
Who could win: Michael Fassbender
Who should win: Michael Fassbender, Leonardo DiCaprioWho will win: Leonardo DiCaprio
“My heart bleeds…but revenge is in the creator’s hands”
Despite the now infamously near impossible shoot, despite the isolated and slow moving story line, despite the almost unrelatable timeline and despite the confusing beards, The Revenant is a triumph.
So much could have gone wrong in the creation of this film, yet somehow Alejandro González Iñárritu crafts a near masterpiece, a breathtaking visual delight with enough character building and great performances to keep things ticking.
Encapsulating the wilderness with incredible artistic flair and some clever choices, Iñárritu confirms his status as an A-grade filmmaker, blending a revenge fantasy with a self-reflecting conversation about faith.
It’s in his direction that Iñárritu truly succeeds. While his previous work, Birdman, was innovating, it’s with The Revenant that he shows a clear maturation as a director and performs even better.
The single-take style in Birdman was cool and fun and all of that, but with time it felt like a bit of a gimmick and entering The Revenant I held some fears that Iñárritu would overreach and try to capture a survival/revenge film in one take.
There are one take scenes but they are kept to a handful of action scenes, leaving the result truly breathtaking when they are brought out.
The opening sequence – a scene-setting battle between Native Americans and pioneering Americans who are out to harvest/steal pelts (which from what I can gather means animal fur) – is astonishing.
Iñárritu inhales this scene with sensational decision making and the way his camera follows and also create the action is something completely unique to his personal style.
The audience seems to travel all at once from spot fire to spot fire as fighting crashes between guns and bow and arrow to fistfighting to knife on knife.
While the movie is certainly not dull from then on, it’s in the first 12 minutes that The Revenant makes its mark in the memory.
Of course there is more to proceedings, as Leonardo DiCaprio’s troop of Americans, reduced in number by that opening battle, escape and begin to plan their way out of this predicament.
DiCaprio’s protagonist Hugh Glass, traveling with his mixed race son Hawk (Forrest Goodluck) following the death of Hawk’s mother (Grace Dove), is the nature expert and charged with leading the expedition back to base.
Things get tricky when this group of men are together taking verbal shots at each other, as all aside from Hawk and the young James Bridger (a mature and sharp Will Poulter) wear beards, long hair and look scruffy.
Four or five of these men are unrecognisable and are left in the background. That’s fine because they aren’t really essential characters, but it get’s grating when it is so hard to tell who is who and where they stand regarding Glass.
It’s clear where the dastardly John Fitzgerald stands. Portrayed by Tom Hardy, Fitzgerald is a villain from the top shelf – clear with motives, genuinely dark and evil, yet making decisions that really aren’t that silly.
Hardy nails it, again and outshines DiCaprio. Forget him being the next James Bond, Hardy is the next great Bond villain. Him in the Sean Bean–GoldenEye role is the best possible outcome in terms of Hardy in the 007 universe.
In the wilderness, money driven Fitzgerald pokes at the merits of carrying a teen aged Hawk with the group, to the chagrin of Glass and the semi-annoyance of group leader Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson, who has quietly put together an exceptional run, with Ex Machina, The Force Awakens andBrooklyn alongside The Revenant as an outstanding 2015).
When Glass inexplicably goes for a walk in the woods and gets molested by a bear he lands on the brink of death and becomes dead weight for the limited group of men.
Understandably Fitzgerald doesn’t want to bother lugging Glass up and down icy mountains with Native Americans lurking behind every tree, so in a round-a-bout way he manufactures a way to devoid himself of Glass and make some money.
Of course, if you’re going to leave Leo for dead, make sure he is actually dead, because Glass rises from his grave and begins a trek back to seek revenge.
This middle act, of Glass returning to camp is kept alive by some clever dream sequences that help remove the audience from suffering and cold for brief respites.
One particular sequence, set in a dilapidated church is stunning and the sound work of Bryce Dessner, Carsten Nicolai and the great Ryuichi Sakamoto plays a big part in keeping the tempo going.
Problems arise with The Revenant as Glass goes through turmoil after turmoil. While he survived the real life version of this, it becomes increasingly hard to hold the suspension of disbelief as he fights more and more battles.
It certainly feels like too much when his horse goes off a cliff and he is left to go to Hotel Luke Skywalker, and time could have been shaved off by removing a couple of those speed bumps and a portion of the mostly unimportant Native American-French subplot.
Things don’t drag on that havily, as Iñárritu’s excellent direction makes sure the film is enthralling and things keep moving.
As the finale lurches to its natural conclusion, and the film goes dark it is clear that The Revenant provides a moving an brilliant experience.
So much could have gone wrong here, yet what is left is a near perfect piece of cinematic art.
If you missed it, I have a new rating style. Read up on it here.
Direction/cinematography
As part of the swirling rumours about the shoot, it is believed that in an effort to capture the natural conditions of the setting, Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki only shot in natural light.
This adds to the beauty of the setting and speaks of the commitment behind capturing a seriously good picture. In that awesome opening sequence, the sun is seen setting and that visual glory makes for an even more beautiful experience.
The camera feels like it is going with the characters and a part of proceedings, not just capturing them, as evidenced during a horseback chase, where the camera is left to hover over the conclusion.
At one point the camera is encapsulated by the breath of DiCaprio and fogs over, leading to a cut showing impending fog. While that sounds a little gimmicky on this screen, the cut is so well put together that is allows the audience to breath a little.
This a perfectly captured film, and I pray that Iñárritu makes a war film soon to display that action nuance that is so glorious.
2/2
Screenplay
It feels wrong to contrast The Revenant with Birdman because they are such separate films, yet in the screenplay it is obvious that The Revenant doesn’t have that same dialogue pop.
That’s ok, this film clearly isn’t about dialogue, yet some lines come out cheesy and forced.
The ideas imparted though, in particular one scene where Glass befriends a traveling Native and is left to ponder his place before God hits hard at religious motifs, particularly as it follows Glass literally walking out of water when he couldn’t walk properly before, hinting at evolution.
This ideas and propositions are kept to a minimum so as not to interfere with the adventure, yet are positioned well enough to leave some deep thinking.
On the other hand, things do go on for a little too long.
1.6/2
Acting
Has there ever been a more contrasting set of back-to-back films from a superstar actor than The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant?
From the hilariously fun and brilliant performance in Wolf to switch lanes into a deep, slow burning, pain-ridden role in The Revenant is an achievement unto its own.
DiCaprio doesn’t hit the same must-watch heights of performance in The Revenant as he did in his previous film, but he doesn’t really have the chance.
Because of the situation of the film he is left to spend a good 90 minutes grunting, wheezing and straining through pain and physical obstacles, almost in a long version of the Lemmons scene.
DiCaprio is good though, in a way that only he can be with such engaging presence.
Hardy bests him, mostly because he has more to do. He really is just great in everything, good on you Tom.
Gleeson and Poulter provide strong supporting roles, and Poulter is particularly impressive in a mature turn. His role could easily have slipped into petulance but he holds firm.
1.8/2
Re-watchability
This a tricky one in so much that sitting through the entire film is a bit of a battle.
Don’t get me wrong, The Revenant is plenty engaging, but at a certain point the bodily harm against Glass makes it difficult to slug through.
Tuning into the opening and closing sections of the film would be a better option, and it does have memorable bookends making it definitely re-watchable.
1.5/2
Zeitgeist
It’s hard to peg this one as well.
So much of how this film will be remembered hinges on awards, where a major couple of wins will make this film instantly recognisable for years.
It’s not DiCaprio’s finest performance, but it fits into a genre that is rarely mined with quality films.
The Revenant is probably the most memorable survival flick in years, particularly considering Everest came and went very quickly.
If Iñárritu continues to make quality pictures The Revenant will be given a boost as part of the must-watch directors collection, so there are high hopes.
This is part of a series previewing the 86th Academy Awards. For the home page of that series, click here.
Can anything stop the #McConnaisance? Seriously, this thing is out of control. Matthew McConaughey is suddenly the most interesting actor in Hollywood and is riding that uncontrollable wave of momentum to the Oscar ceremony, which is extremely unfortunate for Leonardo DiCaprio. These two are in poll position, but whether Leo can top the McConnaisance is the big story of this category.
Who else could have been nominated: There were a few actors who would have penciled in nominations at the start of the year, including Tom Hanks (Saving Mr Banks, Captain Phillips) and Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom). Joaquin Phoenix was stiff, considering he carried Her to critical acclaim and a Best Picture nomination, while Robert Redford seemed a little peeved he couldn’t snaffle a nomination for All Is Lost.
Who was nominated:
Christian Bale – As Irving Rosenfeld in American Hustle
Bruce Dern – As Woody Grant in Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio – As Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor – As Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey – As Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club
Christian Bale
Why he will win: Bale continued his history for transformation with American Hustle, usually a sure-fire way to draw votes. Bale has become one of the most reliable actors in film and his consistency should count for something, also he was kind of mesmerising in this film. Why he wont win:American Hustle is a strange film in it’s shared wealth between characters, and Bale’s Irving Rosenfeld couldn’t claim to have been hands down the main character.
2014 just doesn’t feel like Bale’s year, he seems to have been passed over too much to draw enough votes to pull in the award.
Bruce Dern
Why he will win: Dern has the best story of the category. A elderly supporting player becomes star by playing an elderly no hoper is worth votes on its own. That is without mentioning the control and humour Dern showcases in a smart, captivating performance. Why he wont win: Like Bale before him, Dern isn’t truly the main character in Nebraska. And while his performance was great, he wasn’t given a chance to showcase a huge range of acting (which was the point).
Leonardo DiCaprio
Why he will win: He’s due. Leo still hasn’t won an Oscar (don’t take my word for it, ask any meme) and the Academy will know that. And really, how he hasn’t won one (particularly for The Departed and Django Unchained [don’t get me started on his Django snub]) is a mystery.
The Academy often values actors who step out of their norm in roles, and Leo’s uncharacteristic hilarity in The Wolf of Wall Street will draw positive feeling from voters. Why he wont win: Leo is swimming against a McConaughey current, and voters may feel that the Golden Globe he won may be enough for this year, unfortunately. But how could he not win, have you seen the lemmons sequence?
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Why he will win: Ejiofor is in every scene of the film that is probably going to win Best Picture, that has to count for something. Had Ejiofor failed, so to would have 12 Years a Slave, so the success of the film is owed to Ejiofor’s quality performance. Why he wont win: Ejiofor held me back from falling completely in love with the film, not because of a bad performance – far from it – but Ejiofor seemed to fade in to the background behind his supporting players, particularly Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson and Paul Dano.
Matthew McConaughey
Why he will win: Because nobody can stop him. Seriously, McConaughey is going to rule the world. Not only did he put in a stunning performance, he included a large weight loss to tip him over the edge with voters. And unlike a couple of actors I’ve been jibing on, McConaughey remained the focus at all times, even with Jared Leto trying to steal the spotlight. There is no escape. Why he wont win: Contrasting DiCaprio, McConaughey plays a rough, but charming Texan, which isn’t a huge leap from his norm. Other than that, the only thing that could stop McConaughey is that DiCaprio was better, but that might not alter the votes.
Who will win: Matthew McConaughey
Who could win: Leonardo DiCaprio
Who should win: Leonardo DiCaprio
‘I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich’
This review doesn’t contain any big spoilers, but it wont be as fun if you haven’t seen it.
It has been well documented that Martin Scorcese makes (at least) one genuine classic each decade. The Wolf of Wall Street is set to be his classic of this decade. Built on success and excess, Wolf is the story of a man who tastes money and fame and can’t get enough. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort is crazy and supremely fun, and so is Wolf.
Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is an ambitious young man who wants to make a name for himself on Wall Street. He works under Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughy) until that firm dives during a financial stumble. Belfort persists thanks to some endearing advice from his wife Teresa (Cristin Milioti) and works his way back into the game and creates his own stockbroking firm, Stratton Oakmont, with his number 2, Donnie (Jonah Hill). Belfort begins to make more money than he knows what to do with and earns the nickname ‘the Wolf of Wall Street’. Things change for him when he meets Naomi (Margot Robbie), and he quickly falls in love with her, and his drug use and illegal activities continue to increase. Of course, Belfort draws the attention of the authorities, in particular Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), a by-the-books agent who will do whatever it takes to bring a stop to Belfort’s lavish lifestyle.
Wolf is a crude, obsurd, durg and nudity filled extravaganza. And I loved it. Scorsese has endless fun, directing with perfect energy to match Belfort’s story. Terence Winter (Boadwalk Empire, The Sopranos) manages to make sense of Jordan Belfort’s novel and creates a smart, hilarious script. The film isn’t perfect though, the running time of 180 minutes is huge (though it doesn’t feel awfully long) and the female characters – perticularly Naomi – need more fleshing out. It would also have been nice to see who Belfort was before his raging success, as Teresa says that she doesn’t even know him anymore, but there is no base point for us to refer to on that. One particular scene surrounding a discussion on how to throw small people are targets is a little grating and the ending is slightly underwhelming, but it is far from awful.
The cast is superb, McConaughy is oustanding in his role, clearly enjoying himself. McConaughy’s humming chant thing, I don’t know what to call it, is terrific and sticks with you after the credits roll (speaking of which, there is a very solid remix of that chant-thingy in the closing credits). Hill continues to supply quality performances, riding the hilarious Donnie to his serious moments perfectly. As mentioned, Robbie doesn’t get a chance to give much depth to Naomi, but is very good at what she is written. Chandler provides a terrific balance to Belfort as the straight lined Agent, bringing none of the Belfort flash and marking a sharp contrast. There are so many supporting roles that I think I might run out of space, but the following are important. Rob Reiner (as Belfort’s father ‘Mad Max’) is hilarious and a lot of fun, Jon Bernthal has a role that is very good, and Jean Dujardin makes an important cameo as well. Joanna Lumley also puts in a smart cameo. This is Leo’s movie, and he owns it. His performance is uncharacteristically hilarious and over the top, and perfect. Leo runs the movie and deserved his Golden Globe, and at the moment I fell he has to be the front runner for an Oscar.
Sure, Wolf is all about stealing, taking drugs, swearing, sex and abusing small people, but it is just so much fun. There are some unbelievable scenes that are too funny and too sad at the same time. Winter’s use of reading thoughts and breaking the fourth wall is wonderful, particularly when Belfort shrugs off the intricacies of stockbroking. One particular scene involving ‘lemmon’, crawling, Popeye, ham and choking is as good as any in the past 12 months. The parties are never ending (‘obscene, in the normal world, but who the fuck wants to live there?’), and that can become a little overwhelming, but the sheer ridiculousness of some of the party antics make them all worth remembering. Comparisons to Scorsese’s GoodFellas will be abound and are relevant, but Wolf certainly blazes it’s own trail. At one point a character says that Belfort is like Gordon Gekko, but this is more than Gekko on turbo, Wolf is about how a man couldn’t give up what he loved because of the sheer thrill of it all.
Obviously enough wasn’t enough for Belfort, and excess was everywhere in his life. Wolf is not about a man trying to stop, but a man trying to have more. He doesn’t seem too upset when he (spoiler!!!) is caught, but Belfort is still happy he is rich. Belfort genuinely seems to love what he does, and a particular monologue from DiCaprio is captivating on that. Belfort just wants to be recognized and he just wants to sell things to suckers. He would have been an excellent used car salesman. The swearing and drug use is huge, but it wasn’t overwhelming for me, but I don’t recommend seeing Wolf with your mother.
Any movie with the line ‘when you sail on a boat fit for a Bond villan sometimes you have to play the part, I think its about time you got the fuck off my boat’ is terribly good fun, and Wolf one of the better dark comedies of recent times. Wolf is as good as any character study this awards season for it’s sheer energy, vision and excitement. In the 1970s Scorsese had Taxi Driver, in the 80s had Raging Bull, 90s was GoodFellas, 00s was The Departed. In the 2010’s Scorsese has The Wolf of Wall Street.
9.5 out of 10 – Amazing
Leonardo DiCaprio puts in probably his best performance yet in the incredibly enjoyable Wolf of Wall Street. Martin Scorsese has found his classic of this decade.
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