[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtIN1tycGgY[/youtube]
If this isn’t Viggo Mortensen’s year then I don’t know whose year it is, well, unless it’s Wall-E’s.
Thanks to reader Jo for giving me the heads up to this Oscartastic trailer of the divine Mr. Mortensen in Good. Pic is adapted from a famous play by C.P. Taylor that:
…examines the life of everyman John Halder (Mortensen), a good and decent individual with family problems: a neurotic wife, two demanding children and a mother suffering from senile dementia. A literary professor, Halder explores his personal circumstances in a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. Seemingly inconsequential decisions lead to choices, which lead to more choices – with eventually devastating effect.
“Powerful political figures,” aka Nazis. Although he’s playing a German, Viggo’s accent seems to be British. Film also stars Jason Isaacs and, as far as I can tell, is directed by Vicente Amorim.
Well… At least, I don’t see this doing anything in getting Mortensen a second nomination. There doesn’t seem to be a single “Oscar” scene in it for him. No shouting, no crying, no outburst of emotion. His performance seems to be very, very quiet in a film that very, very few people will see – and that combination is a big Oscar no-no…
is that THE DARK KNIGHT music in the back of the trailer at the begining or im just too psyched about that fucking movie???
Alison “Chaplin” is out on DVD and has been for a very long time…I’ve had my copy since 2004…Amazon has them available….and I agree his comback was nothing short of a miracle…still I have to go with Viggo on this one….for I am a #1 Viggo fan and am looking forward to his being nominated for his performance in “Good” and winning this time around…
Oooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Bryan Singer and Tom Cruise, please take note of Viggo’s vaguely British-sounding accent in this trailer. Here, we have a period piece where the filmmakers have recognized that while it’s not necessary to assign the accent of the setting’s country to the actors, what is important is that the accents are consistent. Mortenson, Isaacs and the supporting players all spoke in the same dialect, not some freakish mixture of British, American and German twangs like the Valkyrie trailer displayed.
I actually liked Jason Isaacs better in the trailer… his role looks more Oscar-y to me, as well. I’m not a particularly big fan of Vicente Amorim, though. we’ll see how this plays out.
Agreed, elessar. Not only did he catapult from near-obscurity to blockbuster status, he also catapulted out of one of the worst tragic downward spirals that we’ve seen. Everyone loves a success story, including the members of the Academy. That could definitely make them vote with their hearts for him. And he certainly has the talent.
I’ve been trying to borrow Chaplin to see him in that again (it’s not on DVD yet) and every branch of the library has it checked out. I was able to reserve one when it comes back in. Looks like everyone is going back and revisiting his wonderful performance (or catching up on it).
That said, I do love Viggo Mortensen. I was thrilled that he finally got his first, well-deserved nomination for Eastern Promises. He was fantastic in it. And I look forward to his next nom – and a win. 🙂
While Viggo is obviously set to have a good year, I would argue that 2008 belongs to Robert Downey Jr. He catapulted from near-obscurity to blockbuster status with IRON MAN (creating the best Marvel movie thus far) and looks set to continue his success with TROPIC THUNDER and THE SOLOIST, possibly netting himself an Oscar nod for the latter.