Twitter was a-flutter with reactions from a test screening of the Meryl Streep/Julia Roberts film August: Osage County. I never trust test screenings where Oscar is concerned because they are almost always wrong. Moreover, they can sometimes set expectations too high for a film to then meet those expectations. I hate it when that happens. But you can’t put the genie back in the bottle once it’s out and so August: Osage County is not quite getting the Les Mis treatment yet but it might be headed in that direction. Remember: you need critics to see a movie to know if it’s going to be a Best Picture contender at the very least. Over the years test screening reactions have almost always turned out to be misleading.
Here’s what we know before we ever even go read those: Streep brings it. She brings it in bad movies (The Iron Lady) and brings it in great movies (Adaptation) — so there isn’t likely going to be anything disappointing about Streep in this film. Therefore, it isn’t that surprising that the early word from the screening is a sploogegasm on the order of MERYL STREEP WILL WIN HER FOURTH OSCAR. And she very well might. Since Hollywood, and the industry, really really really doesn’t like movies with strong female leads in them, and that there are barely enough of them to go around at all, it seems plausible that Streep’s tour de force could blow out any potential competition.
But enough of my empty, pointless speculation — on to the tweets. A reader named Daniel sent this in (I hope he doesn’t mind if I post it):
You can read some twitter reactions over at the Awards Circuit. A reaction review after the cut.
Over at Broadway World’s message board the following was posted:
And I have to tell everyone that I loved it.
I was very nervous about this adaptation because I loved the play so much. I saw it 6 times on Broadway, and was really worried about Julia Roberts taking on the Amy Morton role.
Julia Roberts, while no Amy Morton, acquits herself nicely, and does some of her best acting in years. However, this is Streep’s movie, and she really sinks her teeth in to the part. The dinner scene stands out as a really strong moment (and always was one of my favorites in the play). She is totally unrecognizable in the first few scenes, and tears threw them brilliantly.
Tracy Letts does a nice job adapting his work for the screen. Everything is very faithful to the original material, but more opened up for the big screen. There is an addition to the end that i didnt’t care for, but overall I thought everything worked really nicely.
The biggest surprise for me was Benedict Cumberbatch. He took a very minor character who was never someone I liked onstage, and made me care about him.
Margo Matindale was the casting I was most excited about for this film and she totally delivered. She is an excellent Mattie Fae, and i hope that she can score a supporting nod.
Overall, I think this is easily one of the best films of the year, and I can’t wait to see this again.
One of the most anticipated films of the year. Think will score a few nominations, hopefully McGregor (finally!) score a supporting nod for this. Streep will definitely make it into the Top 5. Agree that most of the Oscar voters believe that Streep is worthy of four Oscars.
Can’t wait to see Cooper, Cumberbatch (as Charles Aiken), Breslin (forever <3) and Roberts on screen. This is going to be the bomb.
Call me stupid if you want, but I will make two points!
1) August: Osage County is a wonderful title. It tells you that the material takes place at a specific time and place but gives you no details on what’s going to happen. It’s tantalizing, alluring and unique. You get the sense when walking into the theater that it will be a singular experience. And it is.
2) I think the vast majority of Oscar voters will be of the belief that Streep is worthy of four Oscars. And at the rate they are handing out third Oscars (2 in 2 years) it seems that much of the branch is willing to be generous with those that are truly deserving. Sometimes things are just too big to ignore.
Sorry Vince. And by the way, I’m not a fanatic (of Meryl Streep or any other actress or actor).
I will watch anything with Meryl Streep in it.
And I am glad that Juliette Lewis’ name has been mentioned in the selected tweet. I love her performances in some other films. To me, she is underappreciated more or less. Good for her to have become part of something promising like this. Not to steal Streep’s thunder but in my book Juliette Lewis, for now, is one of two main reasons other than Streep herself […] to check this out. : )
I am also interested in how the chem Between Streep and Roberts could turn out despite what sounds like a safe bet (fig of speech; never gambled in my life) already.
http://www.headoverfeels.com/2013/03/19/youre-both-monsters-an-early-review-of-august-osage-county/
Another review fangirling on AOC.
Letts borrowed the title from a poem by Howard Starks and had very personal meaning to him. Unfortunately, I agree with you: it’s not the most marketable.
Terrible title – August: Osage County – but sounds very intriguing, especially Streep.
Armando > There was also a but after that quote. And, I said I perceived her as the frontrunner twice in this thread. Learn to read. Fanatic.
“Listen, Streep winning so soon again seems unlikely”
And a movie cannot win without a best director nom or an actor win again within a five year period or a director win but not the film he directed.
Fun fact: Margo Martindale played Truvy (Dolly Parton) in the original off Broadway production.
Robert,
There is a WORLD of difference between a towering American masterwork (on the order of the best of Tennessee Williams) like August and the mawkish pablum of Steel Magnolias.
No comparison between Field and Streep in terms of substance in the material.
This is an awards site. If we don’t talk about her winning or losing, then what?
I don’t think Meryl will campaign again because she doesn’t seem like the person who would. She wanted a 3rd Oscar and got it after all the campaigning. From her winning speech, she treated it almost as a career capper so I don’t think she cares very much about getting a 4th one. But if her performance in August is spectacular, then maybe she will get without working for it at all.
So much discussion if she will win or not. Get a life. I hope it’s a good performance, a great performance. Her last amazing performances for me were in The Iron Lady, The Devil Wears Prada, Adaptation and The Hours. Can’t stand Mamma Mia, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Julie & Julia, Hope Springs, Prime, The Manchurian Candidate, Rendition, Dark Matter, Lions for Lambs, Evening, etc…
It’s a very showy role with just the right amount of damaged bravura the Academy cozies to. I will post this on Damien’s wall. I wish he was here to school me.
And while it’s way too early to be thinking about this coming year’s Oscar races, it already sounds like a much stronger year for women than the shit show we just saw. Hopefully Naomi Watts will be back and maybe Nicole Kidman. Kate Winslet could be there and Jennifer Lawrence again. Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts would at least add star power.
I have very little *doubt* that Meryl will win another Academy Award in her lifetime. She’s just too damn good (and only 63 and still looking great) not to, barring any illness or, I don’t know, Mel Gibsonesque breakdown.
@Smetana: Oh, I´m sorry. I must have read too fast. But I can assure you I´m not a fanatic. I´m just a (normal) fan and I´m really happy she won last year.
But as I said, I´m wondering why they start so early with this Oscar discussion.
Hi Rebecca, if you are addressing me, then, I suggest you reread the words “some may assume” written in my last comment. And also pay attention to the fact that I’ve been making the case that Streep’s the frontrunner so far this year. Thanks. Otherwise, you come off like a fanatic.
Don´t say that she has plenty of other roles ahead to “show her acting talent”. What on earth should she do to win an other Oscar? If Jennifer Lawrence gets an Oscar for that role…..
Christopher Waltz is one example, who won his second Oscar very fast after his first win.
But what we are talking about? It´s too early.
Certainly, it matters that a quickie win for Streep would be a fourth statue verses Hepburn going on her third. That’s obviously something to consider.
But, I guess it absolutely positively doesn’t matter that Streep lost TWELVE or so times between her second and third wins. No, that absolutely doesn’t matter at all. Because it happens ALL the time … an actor losing twelve times in a row.
Listen, Streep winning so soon again seems unlikely. But, that role she’s playing just isn’t any role.
And, um, hello, are we all forgetting that Hilary Swank … HILARY SWANK … won a second Oscar only five years after her first. Take that for what you will, but the fact that she has a second, even if it had been won decades later might still be a point of contention for some.
But, considering Streep’s commercial powers as of late, some may assume there will be plenty of juicy roles ahead for her and there will be other opportunities down the line like perhaps playing a part where she can point out the loons (the loons!) to her eighty-something year old husband.
If Streep’s Violet Weston ends up being as effective as her one in Doubt, then, as Robert A alluded, she just may end up like Streep this year instead of Hepburn for our comparative purposes. But, I wouldn’t write her off just because she has just won (although it seems easy to do).
LOVE that Martindale got a call out, she was all sorts of brilliant in Justified and I’ve been waiting to see her get a big baity part!
@Sonja: Consider her age: Streep will definitely not have to wait the next 10, 20 or 30 years.
If the movie is good and Streep is good in it than I think she has a good chance to win.
The quite huge difference between Meryl and Katharine Hepburn is that Hepburn had to wait 34 years to win a SECOND Oscar and Meryl 29 years to win a THIRD (but second in lead after all).
Meryl still has 17 noms in only 33 years, Hepburn got 12 in 48 years overall, plus all of them in lead.
Since Meryl has overcome that third barrier, she might very well win a fourth. Just not in the next years, I think.
“meryl/julia/dinner party IS EVERYTHING”
is this how the kids are talking these days?
“If it took 29 years for her 2nd Leading Oscar, i doubt she will win it twice in 3 years. Doesn’t matter how good she is, and Streep is always good. There will be a narrative for somebody else, as there always is. It is way too early in the season to be sure of anything.”
To continue with the Katharine Hepburn comparison, Hepburn had to wait 34 years for her second leading Oscar, and then she won her 3rd the very next year. I think that’s the question here: can Streep win a third leading Oscar in a similar way as Hepburn won her third (LONG wait between one and two, then a quickie third). But I agree that it’s way too early for anyone to be certain about anything.
I’ll be curious to see if Streep will end up being Katharine Hepburn (quick third win), if Streep will be Sally Field in Steel Magnolias (following up lead Oscar #2 with a showy performance in a popular play that doesn’t even land her a nomination), or if Streep will be Meryl Streep (gets a nomination and doesn’t land the win).
I have nothing against Naomi Watts and Princess Diana, but I´m feeling quite uncomfortable with this movie and her portrait. If it´s not Streep I think Kidman has a big chance. And I hope that the biopic movies will stop!
By the way, will Streep (if she gets a nom) be nominated for Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress? I think that is the big question.
Yeah, it sadly happens more than enough that Meryl was very early the frontrunner of a win and then lost against someone else. Until last year of course.
I don’t get my hopes way up high, but at least this role is too baity to NOT being nominated. She might win some critic awards and this kind of movie could do very well with SAG.
The Oscar will go to one of the biopic ladies. My guess is Watts as Diana. Even if the movie’s terrible, when she gets raves, wins Drama Globe and BAFTA, it’s done.
It’s still March, though. We’ll never know what happens in the next months.
Maybe they can arrange to make this an annual segment on the Oscars – the part where DDL and Meryl exchange trophies every year. It would save oodles of campaigning and everybody knows they are the best, anyway.
It could be presented in the same way they used to introduce the guys from Price-Waterhouse. The two walk out from opposite sides of the stage, do the hand-off, wave at the audience and head off. Next category…
@Luke: Why won´t she campaign? Why are you so sure? Of course I hope Streep gets her 4th Oscar. From Day-Lewis, that would be funny. But I mean, it is now march. The last Oscars are only a month ago. It´s too early.
Streep won’t win because she won’t campaign again this year. But there’s still a chance that hers is so good that it doesn’t need campaigning.
Wouldn’t it be great to see Daniel Day Lewis announce Meryl Streep as the winner?
She is definitely worthy of a 4th Oscar.
Isn´t it a bit early for speculations? I´m a fan of Meryl Streep and I love her, but I think we should wait. Look at the year, when Streep was the frontrunner for Julia&Julie and in the end it was suddenly Sandra Bullock.
O.K., I don´t know August:Osage County. It is completely unknown her in Germany. So, I don´t have a clue what the movie is all about (I will google after it!) and how Streep is acting. After “The Iron Lady” I thought she couldn´t be better.
And what about Julia Roberts? Maybe she will get a Best Actress nom?
Just want to point out that you spell her name Katha*rine Hepburn, with an A* she herself has corrected people frequently. Let’s respect that.
Thanks 🙂
If it took 29 years for her 2nd Leading Oscar, i doubt she will win it twice in 3 years. Doesn’t matter how good she is, and Streep is always good. There will be a narrative for somebody else, as there always is. It is way too early in the season to be sure of anything.
Robert A > LOL. Yes. But, to continue the comparison, who is this generation’s Babs? (Like we have one.) Jennifer Aniston did that photo spread that was homage to her a few years ago! But, I jest.
Well, if we’re going to use Katherine Hepburn as a model for a potential Sreep win next year, then I demand complete fidelity to the Hepburn comparison–we should have another tie in Best Actress!
well, DDL just won back to back so why not Meryl Streep?
Give me a break.
@Vince,
That’s also what I’m anticipating how Weinstein will campain her, Maybe they would say Katharine Hepburn won back to back Oscars in 1967-68 why not Streep? She won two years ago for TIL lol! She deserves to win again for her knock-out performance in A:OC!
It’s ballsy to do a test screening in March for a November release. Puts the movie into consciousness early as a major box office and awards contender (and now they have months to clean it up and make it better). Streep is golden right now.
This movie sounds really interesting, I’ve never seen the play but I’ll see anything with Streep and Cumberbatch in it! But test screening reactions aren’t much to go on, there is always the excitement level of seeing something before anyone else which can affect how the person views the film.
Hmm. I don’t mean to be cynical but anyone who paid to see the play six times is possibly, well, manic. Meaning prone to excess and its excitable cousin, hyperbole.
But kudos to the Weinsteins for already plotting their revenge after this year’s failure to win!
August will be nominated for Best Picture.
Streep will be nominated for lead. She may even win.
Martindale will be nominated for supporting. She may even win.
Roberts will likely score a nod and I’d err on the side of lead (for now).
Tracy Letts will be nominated for adapted his play. He might even win.
John Wells stands a good chance at a nomination.
Lewis and Nicholson have outside remote longshots at supporting nods, along with perhaps one of the male castmembers like Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan MacGregor, or even Chris Cooper.
Stephen Mirrione is editing, so he might have a shot.
Six nominations minimum. And perhaps a couple of wins.
That’s my call.
@Vince
do I?
@ Akumax,
Thanks. Chicago.
@ Bryce Forestieri.
“14 in 85 years. Is it sexist if I say that’s plenty??”
We might well ask is 71 plenty?
She’s not winning a fourth so soon. It’s not happening. Doesn’t matter how good she is. And the movie itself ain’t winning Best Picture. Just not the kind of story the Academy goes for.
Yes, definitely wait for the critics reviews. Test screenings, beware them. It’s telling no one is saying anything about the direction of the film. It would be nice if Wells brings it and the film (not just the performances) is great, though I severely doubt this will be the best picture winner. Clooney and Heslov are not winning back to back, nope. Also, I hope Meryl only gets another nomination if it’s an incredible performance; I love her, but other actresses need that recognition and exposure much more than her, and 17 is really too much all things considered. In the past, sometimes a film will come out of nowhere, that no one is expecting anything of and will just blow us away….Prediction: We were spoiled last year, I think we’ll see some of the most hyped projects disappoint this year (gasp!).
Bryce, you answer your own questions before you even get to the first of a series of question marks at the end of each of your sentences.
It will be interesting how they craft the narrative for Streep’s campaign. Ever since I heard of the casting two years ago and then Streep won for The Iron Lady, I couldn’t get Katharine Hepburn’s one-two punch in her 60s out of my head. Now, granted, they were back to back, and, if Streep were to win again, there would be Jennifer Lawrence in between her two wins. But, the idea is the same.
Streep will most certainly be nominated, as well as a frontrunner like she has been for several of the last races she has been in. There are many baity films that will challenge her odds, and if one or more (like Watts or Saldana) create a strong enough argument, it will be interesting to see how Streep’s narrative will develop and how Weinstein will combat the “too soon” critiques (as they will surely happen, for better or worse).
Violet Weston is really an amazing role. And if Streep nails it, she will have stepped outside of herself once again to produce yet another unique and breathtaking performance. And, if that’s the case, there’s no really stopping her.
But, at the end of the day, it does appear that Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman (in TWC’s Grace of Monaco) will be taking a backseat to Streep, and they don’t seem to have a choice in the matter.
http://cinesnatch.blogspot.com/2013/03/best-actress-2013-march-predictions.html
14 in 85 years
Is it sexist if I say that’s plenty??
You guys? Meryl’s 4th Oscar in the works??????
@the Pope
Chicago
I think what would be a more fruitful discussion would be Best Pictures about women. Sasha makes this point deep in paragraph 2. Of course, there are films that have had a woman in a lead (shared with a man), but the movie was hardly about her: The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Kramer vs. Kramer, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest… You get my point.
Here are the titles. And if I have left anything out, please, sincerely, add to the list.
Million Dollar Baby. Titanic. Silence of the Lambs. Driving Miss Daisy. Out of Africa. Terms of Endearment. Annie Hall. The Sound of Music. My Fair Lady. Gigi. All About Eve. Mrs. Miniver. Rebecca. Gone with the Wind.
14 in 85 years. Curiously, the 80s and 90s figure well: Lambs, Daisy, Africa, Endearment.
I’ll hold my judgement for myself. I’d hope these tweets are from legit fans and not TWC plants…
Whoa whoa whoa AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY frontrunner as of now you guys!!!
You are dead on about test screenings Sasha. Cracking up about the Facebook post though because the dinner scene? Well, it really is EVERYTHING on stage. Very excited for this one.