CATCH A BUZZ
Jessica Chastain is one of many TIFF favourites expected to be in the Oscar conversation,
People rather than pictures are likely to receive the most Oscar attention coming out of TIFF 2017.
That’s my read of the current Toronto International Film Festival, which has now screened many of its prestige movies as it heads toward its final weekend.
TIFF’s reputation as a showcase for potential winners of Oscars and other awards remains intact, but this year there were fewer obvious Best Picture candidates among the festival offerings.
Some heavily touted Oscar aspirants failed to light a fire in Toronto. Among them were George Clooney’s Suburbicon, Alexander Payne’s Downsizing, Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game and Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s The Current War, which all suffered from muddled scripts, unclear intentions and unsatisfying narratives.
Other films arrived with their Oscar campaigns already underway. Of the six films I’ve identified as potential Best Picture nominees out of TIFF, just one had its world premiere here: Dan Gilroy’s late-arriving character study Roman J. Israel, Esq., starring Denzel Washington as an eccentric activist attorney.
The other Best Picture wannabes on my list premiered at other festivals — Sundance, Venice, Telluride — or, in the unique case of war epic Dunkirk, as a current commercial multiplex offering. ( Dunkirk was brought to TIFF to help showcase the restored Cinesphere big screen at Ontario Place.)
But there was a wealth of Oscarbuzzed performances that helped make up for the paucity of potential offerings in the top category.
It’s been a good year for great acting, from Gary Oldman’s towering portrayal of British lion Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour to Saoirse Ronan’s amusing title rebel in the coming-of-ager Lady Bird.
Many performances were better than the movies they were in, among them Jessica Chastain’s powerful title role as a poker game purveyor in the otherwise disappointing Molly’s Game.
In no particular order and with the caveat that early Oscar bets don’t always pay off, here’s my list of the Oscar bait coming out of TIFF: Best Picture Dunkirk The Shape of Water Call Me by Your Name Darkest Hour Roman J. Israel, Esq. Lady Bird Best Director Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name Joe Wright, Darkest Hour Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird Best Actor Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Jake Gyllenhaal, Stronger Idris Elba, The Mountain Between Us Liam Neeson, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name Best Actress Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game Kate Winslet, The Mountain Between Us Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Best Supporting Actor Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name Colin Farrell, Roman J. Israel, Esq. Best Supporting Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, Darkest Hour Melissa Leo, Novitiate Tatiana Maslany, Stronger Peter Howell is the Star’s movie critic. His column usually runs Fridays.