By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
The Fat Man Sings Again…
Just when you thought he might actually be in trouble, Harvey Weinstein has the ammunition to be a player in the Oscar race yet again. Forget about Proof or The Libertine or any of the other maudlin mess of stuff that has been unceremoniously dumped this month. The goose that has gold in its colon is Mrs. Henderson Presents… and the only question is whether Ol’ Harv has the staff muscle to make one of his classic runs.
The Best Actress race is looking pretty loaded, with (in my opinion) Dian Keaton, Reese Witherspoon, and now, Judi Dench as locks for nominations, with what is looking real good for Charlize Theron to leave only one slot open. (I’ll finally see North Country later this week, but while some people question the film, few seem to questioning the now-fully-credentialed Ms. Theron. The one “female dominated movie” of the season, Memoirs of a Geisha, may have to settle for a supporting nom for Michelle Yeoh… assuming they get that close. Suddenly, this is the tightest race, though there are a ton of Best Actor possibilities, few of the performances have been seen and been locked in.
The picture itself, which should probably slot Bob Hoskins in as supporting, even though he is the co-lead, is the classic “movie the Academy loves.” It is period… it has war… it has laughs… it has nomination worthy performances… it has some tears… and it has a very well respected director in Stephen Frears, who once again flexes outside of expectations to make a beautifully old-fashioned film.
There are other films out there, like Casanova, that hope to fill this feel-good Academy slot. But Mrs. Henderson Presents is practically tailor-made for the task. That hardly guarantees things and The Weinstein Company – whose new logo is audaciously a tuxedo built into a “W” – is undermanned compared to years past. But Henderson is not Chocolat… it is a lot more senior-friendly. On the flip side, there is no David Brown to sell it. But as much as I hate to accept that the Weinstein hype machine is sometimes right… the shape of this awards puzzle piece is very close to sliding in with almost no effort at all.