Is the consensus that Glenn Close is NOW going to win the Oscar this year?

[Bettyboy72]

east side story said: "Glenn never won because she was never...the best in her categories"

Surely you jest. She should have won for Fatal Attraction over Cher. She also should have won for Dangerous Liaisons. 

I'm quite tired by all the folks saying this isn't her best work and she would be getting the Oscar for her body of work. I believe The Wife to be one of her finest performance. Like her recent turn as Norma Desmond in which she approached the performance very differently (less kabuki, less histrionic), its the culmination of her life experiences and her years of acting experience. It all comes together. She is understated in The Wife. Much of her beloved histrionics are gone, save a few moments. She's glorious in what she communicates without words. It was nice to see her not chew the scenery. 

Bullock and Roberts got undeserved Oscars for years of entertainment, but hardly their best performances. Close deserves this Oscar. Gaga had way too much money behind her and she became way too cloying during the press and awards season. Gaga can run anything into the ground. Not a subtle bone in her body. Her next film will be the true test. Like Hudson, Gaga had her hand held through that film. It was a great debut but not award worthy imho.

 

 

[BenElliott]

Maybe my profile pic shows my bias, but Olivia Colman should really be winning this year. I want to see Glenn Close win an Oscar, but she just genuinely isn't the best performance of this year, in my opinion. She's in a disappointingly mediocre film and is barely able to rise above its awful, stilted dialogue and wooden characters as well as an extremely flat supporting cast. It's a performance that should land her a nom, which it has, but I don't think it's an Academy Award winning performance. I don't think this win would age well for her. I think people will remember her work in Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons, but I think Colman and even Gaga (who is slightly amateurish in some of her acting) will be remembered more than Glenn in The Wife. It's a shame they didn't just award her when she deserved it. This feels more like a lifetime achievement award.

[east side story]

I certainly do not jest when it comes to Glenn never being “the best” on Oscar night. She never was, and never won for a reason. The Wife is a snooze, but she will win and disappear to the land of winners never to be nominated again.

[ColorTheHours048]

Her inevitable win feels like a lifetime achievement award more than anything. Her performance in The Wife is very good, but it just didn’t generate the same excitement as watching Olivia Colman’s depth playing Queen Anne or Gaga’s raw naturalism as Ally. I respected it, but I was not affected by it.

But good for her. She deserves to be in the spotlight on the biggest stage for honoring some of the best of the film industry. I just wish it were for a film that truly encapsulated a lifetime of ferocious, exciting performances.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Olivia Coleman is quite good, and deserves to win... Best Supporting Actress. I’m upset that the producers wanted her as Leading as it doesn’t make sense with the film. Out of anyone, Emma Stone should be placed in Leading because the movie is her story. I don’t quite understand her nomination just cause I thought she was the weakest link but y’know?

In my perfect world, Gaga wins. The Wife is so horrible that I really don’t think anyone should be spared. But Close is lucky that the horridness around her makes her look far superior in comparison.

[TheQuibbler]

In The Wife, Close expresses, with a single look, resentment, frustration, pride, years of pain, hurt and sadness which she is able to do because of her lifetime as an actor. It’s a masterful performance given by someone who has carefully sharpened her tools for the duration of her career. It doesn’t really matter that the film she’s in isn’t remarkable because the award is not for the film. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga gives a respectable first film performance that illustrates a natural skill but also a lack of experience. With all the dialogue and songs in the film she can’t apprpach the level of emotional depth Close does with her singular steely glare.

Sally Durant Plummer said, “Olivia Coleman is quite good, and deserves to win... Best Supporting Actress. I’m upset that the producers wanted her as Leading as it doesn’t make sense with the film. Out of anyone, Emma Stone should be placed in Leading because the movie is her story. I don’t quite understand her nomination just cause I thought she was the weakest link but y’know?“

Agreed here, Coleman is so wonderful in the film but it doesn’t feel like she’s the lead. Stone arguably has the largest part.

[A Director]

I'll be happy if either Melissa McCarthy or Yalitza Aparicio wins!

[GeorgeandDot]

Olivia Colman ends up feeling like the lead of The Favourite because her performance is incredible and much of the action takes place around her. I didn't care for Glenn Close in The Wife mainly because I thought the film was just awful. She had quite a few moments that rang false to me. Maybe it was the direction or maybe it was the writing, but I found her performance a little odd. If she wins, it will be a lifetime achievement award because Colman's performance is far superior in nearly every aspect. McCarthy is also great and should really be in second place behind Colman. Gaga is good and entertaining, but you never forget you're watching Gaga act. She just feels like she's acting. I think she'll give an Oscar winning performance someday, but I don't think she deserves one for this. Yalitza, really shouldn't be there. I loved Roma, but she does nothing Oscar worthy in that film. Much of her material is shot at a distance and from behind for a reason. She's an inexperienced actress and Cuaron is able to hide that. This should be Colman's but they seem set to award Close, Malek, King, and Ali, and I don't think a single one of them give the best performance in their category, but I don't think the Oscars care about quality at this point.

[Mister Matt]

I loved The Wife and Close's performance in it.  Wouldn't be surprised in the least if she won.  It's a subtle, nuanced and highly skilled performance of a lifetime of repressed resentment and rage.  The only flaw in the film is Jonathan Pryce, who has been playing the same character for about 30 years.

[Stage Door Sally]

This was a one and done for me. I agree with you Matt. Just saw the film and thought Glenn gave a terrific, Oscar-worthy performance. The film suffered greatly though because of Pryce. He was not the guy for that part. I think of how much better it would have been if Glenn was matched with one of her former co-stars, Kevin Kline, Jeremy Irons or Michael Douglas, for example. Alas.

[Jarethan]

ChgoTheatreGuy said: "The first time she was nominated of "The World According to Garp", I wanted her to tie at the Oscars with Lesley Ann Warren for "Victor, Victoria"..."

 

To this day, I think her performance in Garp is one of the greatest female supporting performances ever, along with Lansbury in Manchurian Candidate, Judith Anderson in Rebecca, Juliette Binoche in English Patient, Vanessa Redgrave in Julia, and just maybe M'onique in Precious.

[javero]

Mister Matt wrote: "The only flaw in the film [The Wife] is Jonathan Pryce, who has been playing the same character for about 30 years."

I think it's safe to suggest that you'll likely be writing the same of Christian Slater 10 years from now if we're all still in the realm of the living.  During the bar scene with Glenn and Christian I kept waiting for "Lestat" to make a surprise appearance.  And I felt that Max Irons was either miscast or just not up to the task.  The man-child act was annoying.

I hope Glenn gets that Oscar for elevating a soap opera-like movie whose appeal is perhaps limited to viewers of a certain age. 

 

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Early in the marriage, Glenn's character was most plausibly reviled by many in academia and society alike, for being a home wrecker.  That character had a snowball's chance in hell of being taken seriously as a writer by the literary world, despite having talent in spades.  The wife-mom combo was her lot in life period.

Just think of how ho hum the movie could have been with a less capable actress playing the lead.  Hell, with some script alterations, the son recast, and Patrick Stewart as her husband, we could be talking about The Wife as Best Picture because this year's nominees leave something to be desired.

[John Adams]

Mister Matt said: "I loved The Wife and Close's performance in it. Wouldn't be surprised in the least if she won. It's a subtle, nuanced and highly skilled performance of a lifetime of repressed resentment and rage. The only flaw in the film is Jonathan Pryce, who has been playing the same character for about 30 years."

I disagree. Her character in The Wife (IMO) is much more akin to Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons. 

After her encounter with Elaine Mozell, and the advice Elaine gives her regarding being read, it seems implied that Joan Castleman makes a decision to deliberately choose to take the on a life of being the invisible ghost to her husband's name on her work.

She is no saint, or martyr. We see that she, for the sake of her work, puts her children (at least the male child) on a back burner. (It's not clear to me why her daughter is so unscathed, as an adult).

She uses her husband as a superficial tool (in name only) to succeed. She takes claim for her work when she tells him "I won a Pulitzer Prize". 

She does not acknowledge the accomplishments of her husband in regards to his role in raising their children and keeping the house, and who, for his own (prideful?) reasons, knowingly allows her to continue the masquerade.

In the end, his dying words to her are, "I never can tell when you're acting". Very telling about her character.

As to whether/not she should win the Oscar, my gut reaction is, "no". Yes, it's true that "acting is reacting", but this is a film where the director has made a decision to keep the camera on Close for most of the picture. I presume for the purpose of capturing her reactions, as so much of her screen time is in silence, and captured in subtle facial expressions. 

I don't feel this is her strongest performance only because the script didn't allow her enough opportunity to truly act; only to react in silence. How much can an actress do in that situation without crossing a line into facial melodrama?

Not her fault, but compared to other roles like Dangerous Liaisons and Fatal Attraction - where in that film, she literally created a socially iconic character, and more than one meme: boiling bunnies and  "I won't be ignored, Dan!) - this role takes a back seat.

RE: Jonathan Pryce. I think you may be underestimating how well he played the beta, emasculated male, and how important his silence was when dealing with his son, and why he behaved that way.... I think his performance shows ALL of that. And, because of that, the audience is not as sympathetic to his character.

[John Adams]

PS: After writing the above, I want to admit that I'm still chawing on the possibility that both were truly happy with their relationship, and each other, in spite of the detriment of their son's bitterness.

Both were trapped by restrictions of societal expectations, but both got what they needed.

[javero]

John Adams wrote: "After her encounter with Elaine Mozell, and the advice Elaine gives her regarding being read, it seems implied that Joan Castleman makes a decision to deliberately choose to take the on a life of being the invisible ghost to her husband's name on her work."

I can't respond on Mister Matt's behalf, but will suggest that context is everything.  The encounter with Elaine Mozell would not have been her Joan Castleman's first not so friendly reminder to stay in her place.  Her husband was an academic and author of note prior to Joan's foray into home-wrecking which in polite society was still verboten.  

"She is no saint, or martyr. We see that she, for the sake of her work, puts her children (at least the male child) on a back burner. (It's not clear to me why her daughter is so unscathed, as an adult)."

I couldn't imagine any viewer's take-away being that she's somehow a saint or martyr.  Becoming her husband's ghost writer was the price she had to pay for being both a home-wrecker and a woman.  In 1958 Joan was enrolled in Smith College when many of elite liberal art colleges were glorified finishing schools to which wealthy families sent their daughters to prospect for husbands first, gain access to a career second.  Glenn was boxed in because the character Joan Castleman was boxed in by the strictures of the times and her social class.

I'll have to re-watch the movie.  But, as I recall the daughter was her husband's from his previous marriage.  If that's the case then Joan was forced to play surrogate grandma to her husband's grandchild while her own man-child son needed more time to grow a pair.  The screenwriter could have gotten a bit more mileage out of the dynamic between Joan and the two adult children.

It's not the apex of Glenn Close's stellar acting career.  But, her performance in the 'The Wife' is arguably Oscar-worthy on its own merits.

[John Adams]

javero said: "I can't respond on Mister Matt's behalf, but will suggest that context is everything. The encounter with Elaine Mozell would not have been her Joan Castleman's first not so friendly reminder to stay in her place. Her husband was an academic and author of note prior to Joan's foray into home-wrecking which in polite society was still verboten."

I didn't see Mozell's comments as an admonition to Joan to "stay in her place". I saw it as Mozell demonstrating the kind of truthfulness that would normally remain unsaid, but comes out when some people drink (as Mozell was doing). If there was an admonition, I think it was Mozell admonishing Joan's naiveté in response to Joan's comment about writers. I can't remember Joan's line exactly, but it was something to the effect of "a writer needs to write". Mozell's correction to Joan is that, "a writer needs to be read". She pulls one of her own books off the shelf and asks Joan to open it, then tells Joan, "that's the sound of a book that's never been opened" (or something to that effect).

"I couldn't imagine any viewer's take-away being that she's somehow a saint or martyr. "

I was responding to Mr. Matt's comment that, "It's a subtle, nuanced and highly skilled performance of a lifetime of repressed resentment and rage." Similar to you, I don't feel that Joan was harboring resentment or rage. I think she took control of what her needs were, and her choices were influenced by Mozell's admonition that a writer needs to be read.

"I'll have to re-watch the movie. But, as I recall the daughter was her husband's from hisprevious marriage."

Oh, yeah...! Didn't put that together, but I think you might be right. She ended up babysitting his and his first wife's child on what she thought might have been their first date... Although Joan does have a line about "my baby's baby" early on in the film...(?)

Still, even if the daughter may not have been her own, why was the son so much more neurotic? ...and why were we only shown his early childhood "Mommy! Mommy!" tears in the film. I assumed the daughter hadn't been born yet (hence her absence from the scene). 

It's notthe apex of Glenn Close's stellar acting career. But, her performance in the 'The Wife' is arguably Oscar-worthy on its own merits."

I think the nomination is worthy, but when I compare this performance to her previous work, and the work of the other nominated actresses, I would not be surprised if another actress was awarded. I'd be happy if she won, though. 

 

[javero]

"Still, even if the daughter may not have been her own, why was the son so much more neurotic?..."

I can think of two reasons.  First, the son was not as gifted a writer as the dad/Joan duo.  And, the dad, who willingly played his part in keeping up the charade, was not about to allow his son to steal any of his thunder.  Some form of an oediphus complex is playing out in a family near you and me right now.  It's particularly pernicious when sons follow their father's footsteps career-wise.  It was the key factor that lead me personally to seek out a line of work different from my father's and his father's.

[John Adams]

javero said: "First, the son was not as gifted a writer as the dad/Joan duo. "

Not according to Joan (who is the Pulitzer Prize winning writer). Technically, the duo consisted of a real writer and her editor. Joe Castleman is a hack writer - perhaps the example of 'those who can't, teach'?

And, the dad, who willingly played his part in keeping up the charade, was not about to allow his son to steal any of his thunder. Some form of an oediphus complex is playing out in a family near you and me right now. It's particularly pernicious when sons follow their father's footsteps career-wise. It was the key factor that lead me personally to seek out a line of work different from my father's and his father's."

The movie makes a point that David (the son) is resentful that his father kept him from his mother (David even has a line specifically stating this). Also, Joan has lines at various points in the movie where she tells Joe that David needs to hear the praise from him, specifically.

...and I get why that happened, but if the daughter were also present, wasn't she subjected to the same abandoned treatment (although she was in no competition with any of them regarding writing)?

[javero]

"...but if the daughter were also present, wasn't she subjected to the same abandoned treatment (although she was in no competition with any of them regarding writing)?

The fact that she opted out of competing with the dynamic duo career-wise makes all the difference, to me at least.  Plus, the dynamic between dads and daughters is different.  There's a persistent albeit outdated notion that she'll always be her daddy's lil girl, but the son (David) will have to make his own way in the world starting with getting off mommy's tit.  Joan seemed to race to comfort her man-child son after his father rebuffed him.

There's a particularly insightful scene that took place in the limousine en route to the awards ceremony.  In that scene, the dad reminded the son of the hard life that he experienced while growing up.  It was a buckle up buttercup trope that partly sent the son over the edge.  You'll probably recall as well the earlier scene in which the dad introduced his son David to their hosts as a writer with promise who hadn't quite discovered his voice.  That shaite was WAR!!! 

[7thbighero]

well, that answers that

[javero]

Glenn Close and Annette Bening remain my fave two actresses who've never won a muthafuggin Oscar.  Congrats to Olivia Colman who put on a master class in my fave Best Pic nominee that also lost, The Favourite.

[Miles2Go2]

Maybe people can turn their wrath from their belief that Close’s supposed predetermined win was undeserved to the fact that Green Book did win. Poor Spike. Movies about racist white people overcoming their racism in cars always trump his superior movies. Glad he at least won best adapted screenplay. 

https://www.gq.com/story/lets-unpack-all-this-green-book-drama?utm_brand=gq&utm_mailing=gq_daily_011118&bxid=5bda48a324c17c0f6545231e&user_id=29618850&hasha=7b60159793ca379b00ad0e99437918de&hashb=5395b1a09b395fca03f356a48fd75d990989991c&hashc=1d62d875b3905bc8cd5704a621da3c2b52a78c099b2f8ec2bf7ab1f300381109&verso=true

[Mister Matt]

Super happy for Coleman. I adore her.

[Miles2Go2]

I was pulling for Close (haven’t seen The Favourite, yet), but I have to admit Colman’s speech was infectious.

[John Adams]

Unfortunately, someone wins and others look forward to next season. Close was very gracious regarding the win for Coleman, and that was very heartwarming to view.

Coleman has been one of my favorite actors for a LONG time. She is always working (see her Wikipedia page), and she consistently works in both television and film, although her more featured roles are in television.

Both are superb actors, but IMO, the difference between Close and Coleman is that Coleman is superb in both comedy and drama (Close - not so much. Better in dramatic roles than comedy).

My favorite examples of Coleman's work are both from TV roles. She was AMAZING in Broadchurch (drama), and hysterically funny in Fleabag (comedy). I also loved her in Greenwing, Rev and Beautiful People.

I am never disappointed or unaffected by her work; the opposite actually. The thing about her work that I respect so much is that in every role I've ever seen her do, I see some unexpected acting choice, or spot-on characterization detail (and God truly is in the details of her work).

I hope that US viewers who aren't familiar with her work will seek out her former roles on Netflix, or wherever they subscribe. If anyone is unfamiliar with her work, I recommend beginning with Broadchurch and Fleabag.