Film Review: Another Year

I really didn't put in enough effort to see this movie before writing up my "Best of 2010" list in January. There are only a few films that really deserve that sort of extra effort, or that warrant an extensive trip to see. I haven't exactly been a follower of director Mike Leigh, having ditched out of an attempt to see Happy-Go-Lucky at the last minute. He certainly isn't a household name, even if he has earned it with a track record more flawless than Christopher Nolan's. I've been saying before that the only reason Another Year wasn't nominated for Best Picture this year was because it missed out on the final rush of nominations voting, given its late release date. I can't quite say that to be true now, because in a society that is currently inexorably rotating around The King's Speech, it baffles me that this could go unnoticed.

I can see why audiences don't find immediate appeal in it. That can be summed up in a simple synopsis: It's about old people. In each of the Best Picture nominated films this year, the protagonist is of reasonable age. The closest we get to old is with Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right, and they don't quite milk that for all that it's worth, do they? Even more than the characters, the central theme of Another Year is being old or growing older. The opening scene of the film, which could strike some viewers as being peculiar, shows a hopelessly depressed female insomniac, not ready to tell a psychiatrist about her family life. On a scale from 1 to 10, she's at a 1.

You see this character in very stark contrast to the other characters in the film at this time. There's Tom and Geri, two very happily married people, their positive son Joe, and their seemingly perky-as-bright-sunshine friend Mary. What could there possibly be to be so upset and depressed about. The film takes place in four acts, and the first act ends with a reveal of what kind of person Mary is. She drinks a lot, is very much in denial about her level of happiness, and her emotions are wild in frantic. She's a bit of a slut, thinking of a possibility with nearly every man she meets. You get to thinking, why are Tom and Geri even friends with her? She's that sort of friend that you're stuck with, and you very much don't want to just get rid of them. That would be just too cruel.

What's Next: Best Original & Adapted Screenplay

Since we've already talked about all the actors and actresses nominated for this year's Academy Awards, lets head into the people working behind the camera and what they'll be working on next. Some of them are kind of obvious, since Christopher Nolan is obviously finishing up rewrites on The Dark Knight Rises. What we did not know until just recently, and regard this as merely a possibility at the moment, is that he might be working on his own Howard Hughes biopic after he wraps up his superhero trilogy. Plenty of people have already suggested that he go all meta with it and cast Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. I know I'd certainly be on board for that.

Another Year writer Mike Leigh doesn't have anything lined up yet, so while were waiting you might want to actually see the film he's nominated for. None of the writers of The Fighter have anything in the works yet, so there's no point in mentioning all their names. For that matter, Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right), David Seidler (The King's Speech), Debra Granik (Winter's Bone), and Joel & Ethan Coen (True Grit) have nothing slated for next year. This is a field that doesn't really demand that you get back to work immediately, so there's bound to be a few people taking a break.

Simon Beaufoy is breaking off of his alliance with Danny Boyle for a bit so he can work on Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. After working on Toy Story 3, Michael Arndt is taking on Rock of Ages for director Adam Shankman. The director has never made anything truly great, but I trust the integrity of the writer to bring us something worthwhile. Finally, and this is the one people are going to want to hear about, Aaron Sorkin did some revisions on the screenplay for this year's Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, so that will definitely be on our radar. He also bought the rights to The Politician, a book about John Edwards, with hopes of writing and directing it himself for his directorial debut.

Oscar 2010 Predictions: Original Screenplay

Here is yet another case of determining what should win in opposition to what actually will win. The only film nominated for Best Original Screenplay that I haven't seen is Another Year, and as things are right now, most people haven't gotten around to it. That's probably the main reason it didn't get any more nominations than this, and that's clearly a shame. However, we can't really do anything about that now, so we can only deal with what we've been given. The film that's undoubtedly going to win is The King's Speech, which is prepping to tie with Inception and The Social Network for most wins next Sunday. Going over the film again, things are rather predictable, and the dialogue a bit forced. It has the touch of experience from a former stammerer, but not much more than that.

There is a chance that Inception could come in for the win here, seeing as it already won the WGA award about two weeks ago. That was the greatest glimmer of light in this predictable awards season, and if anything's going to upset The King's Speech, it will be Nolan's film. That's something I'm desperately hoping for. If the world were to go by my own specific plan, as I sometime imagine it should, The Kids Are All Right would walk away with this specific prize. Across the past several months, the one thing that has stayed a constant is Lisa Cholodenko's suburban comedy, and I remain steadfastly in love with the film. The only lacking bit of the script is Julianne Moore's still heart-rendering confession to the family at the end of the film, but everything other than that is gold.

The only other contender in this race, and the one that doesn't stand a single chance in hell, is The Fighter. Since seeing the film, I have greatly lightened up on it, and it's been making its way up the ranks over the past few weeks, but the predictable story remains predictable. I would much rather have had Black Swan be nominated here, because there are some wonderfully original ideas employed in Aronofsky's latest work of art. It's a pity that isn't nominated.

1. The Kids Are All Right
2. Inception
3. Another Year
4. The King's Speech
5. The Fighter

Will Win: The King's Speech
Should Win: The Kids Are All Right
Potential Upset: Inception
Should Have Been Nominated: Black Swan

International Trailer: Another Year

Of the big films that came out of Cannes this year, and there weren't many, the one that caught the most attention concerning Oscar potential was Mike Leigh's Another Year. With the international trailer now out for the film, we get a brief glimpse of what people were talking about, but if you want to get a better idea of what's in store for you, check out the clips that premiered online during Cannes. I have them posted below, and you can follow this link to the trailer. Enjoy!