Mo’Nique Favored to Have a Precious Night
By Marla Seidell
The nominees for Oscar 2010 are: Penelope Cruz, Nine; Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air; Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart; Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air; and Mo’Nique, Precious.
I would bet my money on Mo’Nonique. Why, you ask? Because Oscar loves drama, a powerhouse performance and the film Mo’Nique has performed in, Precious, is already agog with Oscar love. In addition to Best Supporting Actress, the film is nominated for Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Picture, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Editing (Joe Klotz) and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). Six awards! Yes, Precious is a guaranteed Oscar heavyweight for 2010.
As Roger Ebert puts it,, Mo’Nique, known to some as a TV personality and comic, basically came out of nowhere to create a character that made audiences cringe with her point blank portrayal of a cruel, unloving mother.
Another indicator of Mo’Nique walking away with the Oscar is the Golden Globes. Only 21 movies in the 81 years of the Oscars have gone on to win the Best Picture category without first winning a Golden Globe. These films, such as Annie Hall (1977), The Sting (1974) and Midnight Cowboy (1969), were each unexpected gems in their own right.
Precious was nominated for 3 Golden Globes, including Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Gabourey Sidibe), Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Mo’Nique), only the latter won. And why do I think that the Oscar will follow the lead of the Golden Globe in the case of Best Supporting Actress? Because, in the first place, as I mentioned before, Oscar loves a powerhouse drama, and second, the other major contenders for this award, Penelope Cruz and Maggie Gyllenhaal, while each clearly strong performances, do not measure up to the grit and Oscar-worthiness of Mo’Nique’s performance nor to Precious.
Both Nine and Crazy Heart have been nominated for several Oscars. Nine is nominated for Best Art Direction, Costume Design, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Original Song. In similar fashion, Crazy Heart is nominated for Best Actor, Best Original Song and Best Supporting Actress, and Best Actor. Both these films contain strong performances and music, but neither is worthy of a Best Picture nomination.
Mo’Nique has the full weight of Precious as a Best Picture contender and six nominations behind her, and second, her performance in the indie drama races full speed ahead of Gyllenhaal and Cruz. Not to say that these actresses do not have the talent to win, it’s the material and performance involved. For me, Crazy Heart was a clichéd film rife with predictability and plagued by a boring, simplistic plot that was only somewhat saved by Gyllenhaal’s gentleness and Bridges’ vulnerability. Cruz, on the other hand, is one of my favorites NINE is a film, like many she has done in the U.S. including Blow and Vanilla Sky that does not pay her justice. Cruz actually won this award last year for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
I wager my bets on Mo’Nique garnering the prize. The film and the actress have all the components of Oscar victory: intense drama, unconventionality and breakout greatness. This 82nd Oscars is the first time since the ’40s that 10 films are nominated for Best Picture, a decision made to include the diverse range of options in the film industry such as indie film Precious.
Finally, the content matter of the film — the story of a pregnant, illiterate and neglected teen — is also part of the groundbreaking aspect that is so attractive to the Academy. Oscar loves to be cutting-edge and choose films and performances that mark rites of passage in American culture. Midnight Cowboy was nominated for 7 Oscars and took away 3, including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing for a Screenplay Based on Another Medium. I predict that Precious will walk away with at least 3 Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress.
Road to the Oscars series:
Podcasts – Kit Bowen, Nate Freiberg, Adam Spunberg, and Phil Wallace
February 4: Live Action Short – Kit Bowen
February 5: Animated Short – Kit Bowen
February 8: Documentary Short Subject – Christa Youngpeter
February 9: Documentary Feature – Nate Freiberg
February 10: Foreign Language Film – Paul Popiel
February 12: Animated Film – Nate Freiberg
February 15: Sound Mixing – Jeremy Martin
February 16: Sound Editing – Jeremy Martin
February 17: Original Song – Adam Spunberg and Savanna New
February 18: Visual Effects – Mallory Pickard
February 19: Original Score – Adam Spunberg
February 22: Makeup – Christa Youngpeter
February 23: Costume – Steve Neumann
February 24: Art Direction – Christa Youngpeter
February 25: Film Editing – Steve Neumann
February 26: Cinematography – Paul Popiel
February 27: Original Screenplay – Jeremy Martin
February 28: Adapted Screenplay – Jeremy Martin
March 1: Supporting Actress – Marla Seidell
March 2: Supporting Actor – Phil Wallace
March 3: Actress – Marla Seidell
March 5: Director – Adam Spunberg
March 7: The 82nd Annual Academy Awards!
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