Sydney Sweeney’s work in Christy is being praised in a way that makes me think she has a shot at actually winning Best Actress. On the one hand, Owen Gleiberman writes:
Sydney Sweeney shows you how Christy is acting out a role she needs to make real for herself, and how she gets in deeper and deeper, until she’s drowning. The movie, fashioned with straightforward skill by director David Michôd (“The King”), starts out as “Girlfight” only to turn into the sports-biopic version of “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” It’s a wrenching portrait of abuse, enabling, gaslighting, and just how far domestic violence can go. Yet part of the force of it is that Michôd has not contorted Christy Martin’s life into some false arc; what was going on beneath her triumph is portrayed with a desperate and idiosyncratic honesty. Boxing movies have a way of feeling mythological, but what’s so effective about “Christy” is that it simply tells her story, allowing the heroism to rise up out of it. Sydney Sweeney is already well on her way to becoming a movie star, but this may go down as the film in which she fully expresses the soul of a movie star, which is this: She completely becomes the character, and in doing so becomes us.
On the other hand, some other critics are not so fully on board as to give the film a 65% so far on RT. Why am I not surprised? Can any of them be trusted? I don’t know. I don’t actually trust any critic, so don’t ask me. When I see the movie, I’ll give it to you straight.
One Battle After Another Early Hype
Jordan Ruimy has reported on one of those truly annoying aspects of awards season when “select tastemakers” are given an early look at an Awards contender and, of course, always report back glowingly. In this case, it’s Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which will screen for the Proles on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Looks like they’re going big for an Oscars play, perhaps hoping to undo the early buzz about how much the movie cost and whether they can make back enough for it not to lose money.
As Ruimy points out, PTA can do no wrong with critics. I’ve always joked that he could take a crap on a plate and they would call it a masterpiece. It is just how it is. He is as beloved as a filmmaker can be. They seem to see something in his work that I never have. I think Magnolia is his best. I appreciate There Will Be Blood. He is more or less overdue for an Oscar, the same way David Lynch and other auteurs are, though they don’t make “Oscar-friendly” movies.
That these critics are so passionate about the movie, with the NY Times’ Kyle Buchanan saying “it can win,” remains sus to me, simply because of the conditions under which they’ve seen the film, as the first to deflower it. I find that when you see movies in a vacuum like that, it’s hard to tell what the perception will be. But we’ll find out more on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
I moved the film and PTA into my predictions yesterday, not because of these reactions (I had not yet seen them) but because of the Vistavision dedication and various formats on display. That, along with his stature in the business, along with the racism/social justice aspect (even if they are downplaying that part of it) makes it seem like a contender.
Paul Greengrass’ The Lost Bus from Apple is getting decent notices, though it’s hard to tell where this lands ultimately, at least from what I’ve seen. And again, I never trust critics, and neither should you. Always see the film for yourself.
The Venice Film Festival Awards will be announced this weekend. We’ll get them to you as soon as we can.
