Monday Morning Quarterback Part II
By BOP Staff
November 22, 2011
Brett Beach: Alexander Payne's pair of previous "caustic but curiously Oscar attracting comedies" (About Schmidt, Sideways) were limited release marvels that then platform released to a lot of nominations and solid numbers ($65 milion for Schmidt and $71 million for Sideways). This sounds like another film in the neighborhood of those and with George Clooney's performance being hailed as career-defining in the early reviews, I would expect this to come closer to $100 million than either of those, if not indeed topping the century mark, and become another Academy favorite.
Reagen Sulewski: The Oscar race has been itching for some contenders to go up against The Help (oh, it's getting nominated), and this is a big flashy entry into the race for Payne and Co. Things can still go wrong from here, but this is a big audience pleaser and has Clooney playing a little against type, so it should be clear sailing ahead.
Edwin Davies: I think this has very strong potential to be a break out hit not only because it boasts Clooney, who is in very good form, Alexander Payne, who hasn't made a film in seven years, during which the cult of Sideways has only continued to grow, but also Hawaii as a backdrop, which is just the right side of exotic to draw people in who might not have been so taken with a family drama set in, I dunno, Michigan or somewhere. Whilst it is a small contributing factor to the quality of the film, there's something very distinct about the location that I think makes people take notice.
As far as the Oscars go, this has now gone from a potential nominee to a front runner, for me. I figured that it would get some nominations (possible for the screenplay, which is where Payne has always done well in the past, and, since the screenplay was co-written by Jim Rash, would mean that Dean Pelton from Community gets to be an Oscar nominee) but the strong critical response and genuinely surprising performance on so few screens has really raised its profile overall. I know quality is meant to be the determining factor where awards are concerned, but buzz and press are more of a factor when it comes to getting nominated, and The Descendants just got a huge shot in the arm.
However, that doesn't mean that I think that it will win, since we still have a couple of heavy hitters coming up over the next few months and it is a little too early to judge, but I fully expect it to get a raft of nominations in the major categories.
Samuel Hoelker: Having seen it last night, I cannot sing its praises enough. The word-of-mouth, coupled with its expansion, makes me think that it's going to stick around for months. While serious, it offers up something more light-hearted than the typical array of depressing Oscar-bait, and I'm sure more people are willing to see George Clooney in Hawaii than Michael Fassbender as a sex addict. I fully see this being able to break the $100 million mark.
Unless Alexander Payne starts making Brett Ratner-esque comments, I'm going to find it hard to believe that it won't be one of the most nominated films at the Oscars this year (and then I'm going to curse the Academy when it only gets a token screenplay nomination). Payne, despite not having made a film for seven years, may be the most consistent filmmaker today (well, consistently good filmmaker. Uwe Boll is consistent too, I suppose).
David Mumpower: I echo Reagen's comment that there is a real void in the list of Oscars contenders right now. The pedigree of The Descendants alone makes this a title worth watching. The jaw dropping box office performance only enhances its profile. I am not ready to cede it several nominations just yet, but it has moved to the forefront of the conversation. If it does wind up being the $100 million performer Samuel projects, I expect it to be on the shortlist of three or four films that have a real chance at winning Best Picture.
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