The Envelope has just posted a piece on Oscar bait ’08, beginning with Revolutionary Road (no pressure or anything):
Imagine “Titanic’s” Jack and Rose all “growed up,” married and living in the American burbs in the 1950s.
The winking parallels are unavoidable in Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road,” based on Richard Yates’ 1961 novel and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Frank and April Wheeler (pictured). But rather than two teenage star-crossed lovers, the Wheelers are bored Connecticut parents eager to flee their lives and pursue their artistic ambitions abroad.
In addition to his luminescent cast, Mendes has stacked his production team with Oscar regulars such as cinematographer Roger Deakins, editor Tariq Anwar and production designer Kristi Zea. The film is to be released Dec. 19, at the height of Oscar season.
Anyone looking for a Titanic redux will be sorely disappointed and quite bummed out.
This, like all work by Richard Yates, is no walk in the park. The Envelope also looks at Australia, Benjamin Button (people keep trying to stuff David Fincher into Oscar’s little box but so far to no avail), The Changeling – Eastwood alert! The Duchess with Keira Knightley (who has somehow become Oscar bait – oh yeah, young, pretty and British – that’s Oscar bait, all right), Valkyrie (can Tom Cruise reinvent himself?), Crossing Over (Paul Haggis alert, Wayne Kramer directs, Harrison Ford alert, Weinstein Co alert, Sean Penn alert), Seven Pounds (Will Smith – three Scientologists in a row, oh my), Defiance (Holocaust alert, but Ed Zwick – always a bride’s maid never a bride – third time’s a charm?), Body of Lies (a Scott and Crowe joint, maybe), and Doubt (with Meryl Streep leading a very SAG ensemble-friendly cast).