How ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and ‘Hell or High Water’ Could Find Oscar Success With…

How ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and ‘Hell or High Water’ Could Find Oscar Success With Male Voters

Oscars likes to put up an intellectual front, but there’s a certain breed of filmmaking that lures male voters who love big movies.

Anne Thompson

January 4, 2017 5:16 pm

When it comes to the Academy Awards, voters tend to think highbrow. They like to represent the best, most humane, classiest version of themselves.

The Academy is full of them. They’re red-blooded males (not just American) — often directors, writers, and craftspeople. They’re the guys who voted for Oscar-winners “Argo,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Braveheart,” “Gladiator,” “Avatar,” and yes, “Crash” over “Brokeback Mountain.”

“They vote for big movies that make big money, good solid moviemaking with great actors and good storytelling,” one veteran Oscar campaigner told me. In recent years, this faction of the Academy voted for mainstream hits such as Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi,” Alfonso Cuaron’s “Gravity,” Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and A.G. Inarritu’s “The Revenant.”

This year, several movies could get a boost from the Steak Eater vote. Despite concerted efforts in recent years to invite more women and diverse Academy members, Oscar voters are still predominantly male. (The dominant actors’ branch comes closest to a 50/50 male/female split.) It’s about recognizing the nuts and bolts of crafting eye-popping cinematic spectacle.

“Arrival”

Global Box Office: 152 million

Strengths: Paramount won the brainy sci-fi thriller in a Cannes 2014 bidding war, plunking down a record 20 million for North America and other territories — after Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps financed and packaged the 47-million film with Oscar-nominated Denis Villeneuve (“Incendies”), Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner. The studio took the well-wrought movie to fall festivals and turned it into a box office hit. This movie about human/alien interaction was also about pan-global communication, and it hit the zeitgeist, proving that not talking down to the mass audience via formula studio conventions can yield box office rewards.

Adams ably carries the movie as Dr. Louise Banks, a brave top-of-her-field linguist whose empathetic and intuitive ability to parse the complex language of sophisticated alien visitors could save the human race from extinction. Along the way, she bonds with her fellow scientist, played by Renner, Adams’ co-star on “American Hustle,” who was willing to take a supporting role.

Weaknesses: The twisty hybrid sci-fi/mother-daughter drama leaves some audiences in tears and others completely confused. It’s not a space opera — our human heroes never leave the ground — nor is it a standard family drama. And Villeneuve hasn’t been able to do much glad-handing with Academy voters as he completes “Blade Runner 2049.”

Likely Nominations: It’s a competitive year for the Best Actress Oscar, but Adams has already earned Critics Choice, SAG and Globe nominations. Oscar voters will also appreciate the film’s craft: the editors guild nominated the film, which could also be recognized for production design and cinematography: Bradford Young would be the first African-American Oscar nominee in that category. The WGA nominated-script by Eric Heisserer infuses Ted Chiang’s 2002 non-linear, cerebral, and emotional short story “Story of Your Life” with a dramatic narrative.

Video Interview with Amy Adams:

“Hacksaw Ridge”

Global Box Office: 134 million

Strengths: Lionsgate gave the 40-million World War II action drama a classy European launch at the Venice Film Festival, where good reviews started rolling out, followed by a robust November 4 commercial release.

Weaknesses: While the film played well for critics and audiences and it’s Gibson’s return to the director’s chair after “Apocalypto” 10 years ago, its Oscar chances are tainted by a gifted filmmaker with a sticky scandal. Gibson is seeking redemption for his sins, and only some were willing to give it. (He won over the THR directors’ roundtable.) The movie is also oddly structured, with a long lead-up to the young pacifist enlisting to go to the front lines for his country, not to fight as a soldier but to save lives as a medic. The second half is devoted to the brutal cliffside onslaught during the Battle of Okinawa where he proves his valor, saving more than 50 soldiers, hoisting them down that cliff, for which he wins the Medal of Honor. That sequence is also, in typical Gibson fashion, so bloody violent that some Oscar voters will not watch it. But the steak eaters will.

Likely Nominations: Garfield is a strong Best Actor contender, with nominations from Critics Choice, Golden Globes and SAG (only helped by another athletic and spiritual performance in “Silence”). But the film did not get land a SAG ensemble nod. It was Oscar shortlisted for makeup and hairstyling, and landed an editors guild nomination, but no WGA nod. That suggests strength among the crafts: As a well-mounted war film, it could get votes for cinematography, production design, score, sound mixing, and sound editing. With enough passionate supporters, the movie could land on the Producers Guild Top 10 and even a Best Picture slot. But while Gibson, who won two Oscars for “Braveheart” back in 1996, nabbed Critics Choice and Golden Globe nominations, that does not necessarily translate to the Directors Guild or the Academy directors branch. Many are not ready to welcome him back.

Video Interview: Mel Gibson and Andrew Garfield

“Hell or High Water”

Domestic Box Office: 27 million

Strengths: With Chris Pine and Ben Foster as bank-robbing brothers and Jeff Bridges as the Texas Ranger on their tail, David Mackenzie’s “Hell or High Water” (Lionsgate/CBS Films) debuted at Cannes to critics’ raves. CBS carefully nurtured the hybrid movie, which as it slowly rolled out, played well for both arthouse and mainstream crowds, from New York to Texas. Sure enough, the contemporary heist western passed “The Witch” to become the highest-grossing independent film of the year. “Hell or High Water” is the result of that increasingly rare invention: an original screenplay, written with depth by actor-writer Taylor Sheridan (“Sicario”), who’s writing about “the modern-day American frontier,” he told me, “about how much has changed in 100 years, and how much things haven’t. What are the consequences of decisions and actions that are a century old and today? I was exploring the death of a way of life, and the acute consequences of the mortgage crisis in East Texas.”

Weaknesses: Genre films have a tougher time with the Academy crowd. Breakthroughs like Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winner “Unforgiven” and the Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” also starring Jeff Bridges, are rare.

Likely Nominations: Bridges is scoring Supporting Actor nominations across the board and won the National Board of Review. Original Screenplay should go to WGA-nominated Taylor Sheridan. The idiosyncratic directors branch could decide that Scotsman David Mackenzie did a great job on this. But that’s a long shot. The editors guild gave “Hell or High Water” a drama nomination, which is an upbeat sign, and it landed one of 15 Art Directors Guild slots, in the contemporary category.

Video Interview: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine and Ben Foster

“Sully”

Worldwide Box Office: 228 million

Strengths: Warner Bros. launched this true adventure at Telluride and it went on to be a hugely popular September hit. An accomplished Oscar perennial, octogenarian Clint Eastwood boasts 11 nominations and three wins as producer, director, or actor, plus an honorary Oscar. “Sully” is a taut, fact-based, well-orchestrated aerial thriller powered by impeccable performances from Tom Hanks and Aaron Eckhart (who also shines as a coach in fight picture “Bleed for This”). The movie is naturalistic without turning Hollywood glossy, and like Best-Picture-winner “Argo,” celebrates American heroes and ingenuity. Captain Sully saved 155 souls. That’s worth rooting for.

Weaknesses: The movie is deceptively straightforward. The script dips back and forth in time, and Eastwood doesn’t feel the need to heighten and embellish. Where others hammer the nail, he taps lightly. Sometimes restraint doesn’t earn awards.

Likely Nominations: And Hanks always makes it look so easy. While he landed a Critics Choice nomination, the Globes and SAG passed him by — and the Oscar acting branch didn’t reward his other Captain, “Phillips,” which was a much showier performance than the buttoned-down Sully. Having won twice (“Philadelphia,” “Forrest Gump”), the acting branch may take Hanks for granted; he hasn’t earned an Oscar nomination since 2001, for “Castaway.” Maybe he’s due again. The movie may have opened too early; there isn’t much buzz. But never discount Eastwood and the steak eaters.

Now you can see Oscar-nominated films ‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ ‘Manchester’ on DVD

Two Oscar nominees and a film with an Oscar-nominated acting nomination are the highlights of the week.

Mel Gibson has always been a crafty moviemaker, combining spectacle, entertainment value and, yes, heart. His latest, “Hacksaw Ridge,” is a case in point. It’s the story of Desmond Doss (played with sincerity by Andrew Garfield), a conscientious objector who was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat during World War II.

Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who refused to carry a gun, served as an Army medic in the Battle of Okinawa, and what he did was extraordinary by any standard. Instead of leading up to the heroics, Gibson opens with a graphic war scene. This is not “Sergeant York,” the Howard Hawks 1941 film about another Army Hero who started out as a pacifist before picking up a rifle.

So before given a taste of the sleepy Virginia burg that Doss is from, Gibson gives us a taste of blood. We see the boy (played by Darcy Bryce) grow up to be a man. His father, a World War I veteran (Hugo Weaving), hates war, but is an alcoholic and aggressive toward his son. His mother (Rachel Griffiths), though, helps steer her son toward religion and a peaceful life. Doss even chastely courts a young woman (Teresa Palmer) and marries.

War happens and despite refusing to pick up a gun, he goes through basic training. There everyone is suspicious of him, including his drill sergeant (Vince Vaughn) and commanding officer (Sam Worthington). Soon enough, Gibson has us back in combat.

“Hacksaw Ridge” is one of those war films that tries to have it both ways. While it shows the brutality in the trenches and Doss’s moral dilemma, the vividness in the way it is depicted dulls the effect.

‘Manchester by the Sea’

Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” is a reference to the town of that name north of Boston. The area is often gray and the people are reluctant to show emotion, at least in this film. Casey Affleck plays a Boston janitor named Lee Chandler, who we see early on has issues, getting into fights for no reason. When his brother (Kyle Chandler) dies, he returns home for the funeral, and he finds he has been made guardian for his 16-year-old nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). It’s a role he doesn’t want but reluctantly takes, planning to take Patrick back to Boston but the teen rebels. He has a life in the town, hockey, girlfriend and plays in a Band. As the two battle and haltingly deal with grief and the logistics of death, flashbacks tell how Lee became so beaten down. Not surprisingly, his tragedy is of his own making.

“Manchester by the Sea” isn’t a grim as it sounds. Lonergan has an ability to wring humor out of darkness. Affleck’s performance is commendable, but for a man as tamped down as Lee is, it’s easy to read too much into every little moment. Hedges, though, shines.

‘Nocturnal Animals’

Amy Adams could have easily gotten an Oscar nomination for Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals” and “Arrival.” In Ford’s complicated, atmospheric mystery, Adams plays Susan, who runs a trendy L.A. art gallery.

One day, a novel written by her ex-husband arrives at her door. After dealing with her current husband, Hutton (Armie Hammer), she reads the novel, which is dedicated to her.

The film then moves into the story in the novel about a family driving through West Texas one evening when they are set upon by a gang, led by a sadist named Ray (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). They beat up the father (Jake Gyllenhaal) and make off with the mother and daughter (Isla Fisher and Ellie Bamber).

The violence upsets Susan; so she stops reading. Then she finds life just as daunting, and returns to the book, which his filled with twists and turns. One dark episode features Michael Shannon, who did pick up an Oscar nomination as best-supporting actor.

“Nocturnal Animals” has a lot in it to be admired — certainly the acting and many of the scenes. However, it ends up being more of a sprawl than fitting together.

Rob Lowman | reporter

Rob Lowman began at the L.A. Daily News working in editing positions on the news side, including working on Page 1 the day the L.A. Riots began in 1992. In 1993, he made the move to features, and in 1995 became the Entertainment Editor for 15 years. He returned to writing full time in 2010. Throughout his career he has interviewed a wide range of celebrities in the arts. The list includes the likes of Denzel Washington and Clint Eastwood to Kristin Stewart and Emma Stone in Hollywood; classical figures like Yo Yo Ma and Gustavo Dudamel to pop stars like Norah Jones, Milly Cyrus and Madonna; and authors such as Joseph Heller, John Irving and Lee Child. Rob has covered theater, dance and the fine arts as well as reviewing film, TV and stage. He has also covered award shows and written news stories related to the entertainment business. A longtime resident of Santa Clarita, Rob is still working on his first more-than-30-year marriage, has three grown children (all with master’s degrees) and five guitars.

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Oscars 2017: Hacksaw Ridge

The Pitch: The Passion of the Sergeant York

Number of Nominations: 6

Which Categories? Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

Will it Win? Welcome Home, Mel Gibson … it’s been too long. Sure, you had a few problems, what with your drunken rants about Jews and the whole sugar-tits thing and your general air of awfulness and bigotry, but this is Hollywood, and we have a short memory, and we just love comeback stories, and you’ve been in the wilderness for so many years now, none of us can quite remember what you were doing there, and we hate to see your talents wasted in shitty B movies, and we love war movies and simplistic tales of heroism, and frankly, things are getting a little too diverse this year, if you know what I mean, so to keep things equal it’s only fair we nominate your old-fashioned God, Guts n’ Glory Epic for a few Oscars.

HACKSAW RIDGE OR HELL OR HIGHWATER?! Come get it!!!

You’re not going to win, you understand. There’s this song and dance thing called La La Land and the kids just love it, but we’d sure love to see you on the red carpet. It’s up to you to decide if you want to shave the beard or not; maybe you’re all good looking like a hobo. Who are we to judge?

Okay, let’s make a deal, Mel. We were very impressed with how your movie sounds, with all those bullets whizzing and grenades exploding and men screaming in agony, so we might just give you the Oscar for Sound Mixing or Sound Editing … and no, we don’t really understand the difference either.

Synopsis: Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who endured a troubled childhood in rural Virginia, enlists in the army during World War II despite his pacifist beliefs. After Desmond’s desire to serve as an unarmed medic is approved by military officials, he is sent to the Pacific arena, where he saves dozens of lives during the Battle of Okinawa.

There’s something distinctly odd about a film that supposedly venerates the principles of pacifism that is so violent and glories in every gory detail of the battlefield. Hacksaw Ridge mixes intense Saving Private Ryan-type battle scenes (arguably the film enjoys these scenes a little too much: the film opens with a slow-motion sequence of carnage that’s like a gun-nut’s wet dream) with strict moralising about how wrong it is to kill someone. While I was watching the film I was reminded of those old moralistic exploitation anti-drug flicks like Reefer Madness and Marihuana: The Devil’s Weed!, movies that lecture you about one thing but show you something else.

Hacksaw Ridge is a throwback in many ways, not least in the depiction of the army platoon, filled with boisterous 1940s types with names like Teach, Hollywood, Grease and Smitty, who all look and talk like they just stepped out of an Van Johnson movie. It’s not an anti-war movie or a film that has misgivings about the military mindset, but a film that could have sprung from the mind of a patriotic Golden Age screenwriter.

If there’s a template that Gibson and screenwriters Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight follow, it’s the Gary Cooper classic, Sergeant York. The two films have a lot in common: religious Deep South background, a struggle with conscience, simple folks aw shucksing and doin’ what’s right. Of course, there’s one crucial difference: Sergeant York was famous because he was very, very good at killing people, but Desmond Doss refuses to even touch a gun, which causes all sorts of trouble for him when he enlists. His commanding officer (Sam Worthington) wants him thrown out of the Army, and his drill sergeant (Vince Vaughn) does his best to make the kid’s life hell. There’s a court martial, and Doss is facing years in prison, but gosh darn it, he’s so damn plucky and he won’t give up or compromise, not even when his sweetheart (Teresa Palmer) begs him to play along with the rules.

Interestingly, Andrew Garfield also stars in another film centered around faith: Martin Scorcese’s epic Silence, and with the exception of the cinematography, that film has been ignored by the Academy. Garfield is rather good in Hacksaw Ridge, capturing the conflicted emotions of someone caught between his faith and his flag. He’s in his mid-thirties but still looks boyish, which plays well here. Plus he doesn’t look like he could lift a bag of sugar, let alone an injured man, making Doss’s achievements more remarkable.

Hacksaw Ridge is simplistic in its storytelling and in its message: Stick to Your Principles. The first half plays like a sentimental Hallmark romantic drama that somehow has ended up in the cinema. Which is not to say it’s bad (truth be told, I quite like Hallmark movies). Parts of it are very good, and there mostly the parts with Hugo Weaving as Desmond Doss’s father, a bitter alcoholic filled with guilt because he survived WWI and all his buddies didn’t.

The second half of Hacksaw Ridge is where Gibson lets loose all his macho gung-ho tendencies as a director, and it’s a gory melange of limbs blown off, bullets to the head, men on fire, and guts spilling out everywhere. It’s intense and loud and confusing, but then, so is war, right? Men die in horrible ways or are saved in miraculous ones by Doss – he even helps a couple of Japanese soldiers, and each of the men who tormented him back in the US gets to apologise for misjudging him, and humble Doss just keeps on thanking God for letting him do His work. Gibson doesn’t go quite as far as depicting Doss as Christ-like, but this is still a religiose piece of Sunday School filmmaking.

Verdict: Three Bloodstained Medics out of Five

This ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ Actor Is Sitting Out the Oscars

As this year’s Academy Award nominees spend the weekend pre-partying and primping for Sunday night’s ceremony, at least one actor from a film up for Best Picture has different plans than suiting up for the red carpet.

“I don’t really get involved in any of that stuff — I hang out with my kid, making a sand castle with my son is a bit more interesting to me, to be honest,” said “Hacksaw Ridge” actor Sam Worthington, who also stars in “The Shack” out March 3. “It’s weird, some people have always liked that, I like different things about my job other than the glamour.”

At least a few people from the film are sure to be there, though, hopefully to collect a golden statuette — including Andrew Garfield, who’s in the running for best Actor in a Leading Role, and Mel Gibson, who’s up for an Oscar for Directing. The film picked up additional nominations for Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

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“I’ve got friends who are nominated for stuff, and I’ll probably watch because of them,” offered Worthington, who last attended the Oscars in 2010 as an award presenter alongside Jennifer Lopez. “Because when they get nominated or an award, it’s recognition from your peers, and I think that’s what’s great. And someone might have in a sense needed or have deserved that recognition, and that’s why I watch,” he continued. “Plus, to see ’em all dressed up, looking pretty and getting the recognition they deserve for their work. That, to me, is what the awards are. Because it’s my industry.”

Does he think there will be any surprises during the awards ceremony?

“Well I like Jimmy Kimmel, so hopefully he’ll do a great job.”

All things considered, none of this year’s contenders can say that Worthington didn’t stay neutral.

MORE 2017 OSCARS COVERAGE FROM WWD:

Why WWII drama ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ could be an Oscar contender

‘Hacksaw Ridge’ is directed by Mel Gibson and stars Andrew Garfield as a conscientious objector during World War II. How do movies about the conflict usually do during Oscar season?

The World War II movie “Hacksaw Ridge,” which stars Andrew Garfield and is directed by Mel Gibson, is set to released on Nov. 4 and is being discussed as a possible Oscars contender.

If it gets the Academy votes, it would simply be the latest in a long line of films based on World War II.

“Hacksaw” also stars Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn, and Rachel Griffiths and is based on a true story about a medic, Desmond T. Doss (Garfield), who was a conscientious objector but received the Medal of Honor after he was responsible for saving more than 70 soldiers without ever picking up a gun.

Mr. Garfield is being discussed as a possibility for acting awards during the upcoming awards season, as is Mr. Gibson for directing prizes.

“The supporting cast is excellent, but it is Garfield who again impresses in a performance that will bring tears to even the most stone-faced in the audience,” writes Deadline.com’s Pete Hammond.

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The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts gave out its list of “Oscar” nominations this week and the “pacifist World War II action drama scored 13 nods including Best Film, Best Director, and a mention in each of the acting categories,” notes Deadline.com.

World War II is a frequent theme at the Oscars, with recent films such as 2014’s “The Imitation Game,” 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds,” and 2008’s “The Reader” all receiving nominations for Best Picture at the Oscars. The 1998 movie “Saving Private Ryan” was widely viewed as a strong contender for Best Picture, though it lost to “Shakespeare in Love,” while the 2010 movie “The King’s Speech,” which tells the true story of how King George VI sought help for a stammer ahead of an important wartime speech, won the Best Picture award.

Los Angeles Times writer Randee Dawn writes about why Hollywood loves WWII stories: “For sheer drama and emotional resonance, nothing compares to World War II … One appeal for WWII is that it is familiar to nearly all audiences. Studied, taught and dramatized over and again, the war’s intricacies are familiar to most. That gives audiences a default story framework few other real-life events can approach, and it makes it possible for storytellers and filmmakers to jump right into the meat of things.”

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Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge & Hell or High Water. Carcast Episode 14

And Andrew Pulver of the Guardian writes, “The war itself, a gigantic conflict that played itself out in a myriad of theatres across the globe, that traumatised entire societies and triggered seismic political, technological and ethical upheavals, has almost endless potential for storytelling.”

Frank Cottrell Boyce, who co-wrote the screenplay for the 2013 World War II movie “The Railway Man,” told the Guardian, “We’re attracted to it because of its moral certainties. Try explaining the cold war to kids: it was about a metaphysical geography of Europe that has completely vanished. But they have no problem grasping what the Normandy landings were about.”

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How ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and ‘Hell or High Water’ Could Find Oscar Success With…