With the delayed Oscars rapidly approaching, it seemed timely to catch up on a few of the contenders. I usually like to see all of the nominees in the main categories before the ceremony but Nomadland, the film that I expect to take the top gong, and The Father are not available to see in the UK yet.
There are always some movies that I am puzzled to see on the short list, and this year that includes Minari. Set in the 80s, a Korean family move to a static caravan in Arkansas to fulfil their dream of owning a farm. This is one of those films best described as fine. The story is fine, though very little happens and the acting is fine, with only Oscar nominated Youn Yuh-Jung and Will Patton more than that. Lee Isaac Chung’s direction is, you guessed it, fine but unexceptional. The film meanders along to a pretty unsatisfactory conclusion and I did not really have any emotional connection to it.
One of the more left field contenders is Sound of Metal. In Darius Marder’s drama, Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a drummer in a two piece metal band with his partner Lou (Olivia Cooke). When he suddenly loses his hearing, he has to cope of that massive impact on his life, and decide whether to have an operation to restore his hearing. The main draw here is Ahmed. After his brilliant performance as a rapper in last year’s Mogul Mowgli, he is again exceptional in another musical role.
His initial denial, his determination to get his life back and realisation that he never fully will are all realistically and believably depicted. In fact, Marder avoids the usual clichés that involve someone overcoming insurmountable odds in an impressive way. But there are some flaws in the screenplay he co-wrote with Derek Cianfrance and his brother Abraham. Making Ruben a recovering addict and comparing his current plight to when he took drugs muddies the waters and the final segment of the film, in Paris, did not work for me.
The other outstanding performance comes from Paul Raci as Joe who runs a camp that Ruben attends. Their conversations were the highlights of the film for me, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Raci, who is much better known for his stage roles, pick up the supporting actor award. Finally, I also need to commend the outstanding work by the sound department who skilfully let us hear what Ruben is hearing. They must be certainties for the Best Sound Award.
Minari can be rented on the usual places, The Sound of Metal is free to Amazon Prime subscribers and the last one this week is on Sky Movies.
In Promising Young Woman, the wonderful Carey Mulligan stars as Cassandra. She was in medical school, destined to be a doctor until she dropped out after a traumatic event. Now working in a coffee shop, she spends her evenings going to clubs, pretending to be drunk in order to see what man takes her to his place and tries to take advantage of, before she miraculously sobers up and exposes him. When Ryan, a nice guy, comes into her shop and asks her out, can she change her behaviour, or indeed should she?
This is a pretty unusual premise but director Emerald Fennell and Mulligan pull it off. Mulligan’s natural chemistry with Bo Burnham who plays Ryan enables the film’s tone to shift dramatically when they meet. From then on, the story moves to unexpected places, including one disconcerting and suspenseful scene where Cassandra entices a young girl into her car for reasons that only become clear in a later, chilling, scene.
With a surprising but ultimately satisfying ending, this is one of the more impressive entries on the best film nominees list. Mulligan should have picked up a couple of Oscars by now. This year she is in a three-way tussle in the Best Actress category with Frances McDormand (Nomadland) and Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). Hopefully, it will finally be her time.
Minari: 6 out of 10
Sound of Metal: 7.5 out of 10
Promising Young Woman: 8.5 out of 10