This year Meryl Streep is up for her 16th Oscar nomination for her work in Julie and Julia. If you read my previous article on Streep you would know I don’t support this nomination or a win. Streep has been much better before and if she truly wants a third Oscar she is going to need to be much riskier in her acting choices. The last few years we have seen the actress slumming around in middle-of-the-road comedies and Oscar bait. Her Julia Child impersonation is adequate but it is not the type of role that calls for a third Oscar.
For months it seemed Streep was unstoppable, until her tie at the Critic’s Choice Awards with Sandra Bullock. Bullock then went on to claim both the Golden Globe and SAG award for her portrayal of the do-gooding, right-wing football fanatic Leigh Ann Tuohy in The Blind Side. Much has been said about whether or not Bullock’s performance is up to par with the title of Best Actress, but when considering previous wins for Reese Witherspoon, Gwenyth Paltrow and Halle Berry it hardly seems dubious to reward Bullock. She is a very likable star who has given great performances before (her turn in Infamous is much better than Catherine Keener’s Harper Lee in Capote, but unfortunately Bullock was in the other Truman Capote movie) and achieved incomparable success this year with The Proposal and The Blind Side. If it between Bullock and Streep, I would have to go with Bullock for the sheer fact that she will probably never have another opportunity at the golden guy and to send a message to Streep that she is going to have to do more than show up to the set to earn another statue. Bullock’s film gaining a Best Picture nomination over Julie and Julia doesn’t bode well for Streep’s chances either.
Newcomers Gabourey Sidibe and Carey Mulligan gave the two best performances out of the nominees but haven’t gained enough precursor support to have a real shot at winning the award. It is possible for one of them to pull ahead if Streep and Bullock cancel each other out much like the win for Adrien Brody over Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis in 2002. Mulligan benefits from being a demure, thin, white woman and should have no problem finding her way back into the Oscar race if she is given the right projects. I would love more than anything if the Academy would reward Sidibe, the best of the nominees, for her haunting portrayal in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire but it is highly unlikely due the prejudices in place against someone of her race and size.
Helen Mirren’s nomination is similar to that of Charlize Theron in North Country or Jodie Foster in Nell; a recent Best Actress winner filing the fifth slot despite the quality of the work. She doesn’t stand a threat to win but serves more as a validation of her recent win. Filler nominations such as these make it hard to accept snubs of much greater work. It’s hard to believe they couldn’t find room for someone like Tilda Swinton in Julia or Michelle Pfeiffer in Cheri yet Mirren was able to squeak in with a film hardly anyone saw or seemed to have much passion for.
Will Win: Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
Should Win: Gabourey Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Should Have Been Nominated: Tilda Swinton for Julia