The Oscar Project #61: Rain Man (1988)

by Chris Marshall:

Rain Man is one of that handful of Best Picture winners I’ve seen multiple times, so there was a nice sense of familiarity when I watched it again. Like Forrest Gump, which I’ve seen probably more times than any of the others, it’s one of those that’s always on TV, so even if I haven’t seen it from start to finish more than once or twice, I’ve still seen all the scenes on several occasions.

I don’t think there’s anything particularly great about this movie, but it’s perfectly enjoyable. Tom Cruise hadn’t quite reached his peak yet, and Dustin Hoffman was already a well-established fixture in Hollywood. I think they work very well together here. Hoffman, of course, won Best Actor for his portrayal of the titular Rain Man, the autistic savant Raymond Babbitt, putting him in the elite group of actors who have won multiple Best Actor awards.

Cruise’s performance was effective, if not spectacular, and at least he made up for Valeria Golino’s terrible acting job as his girlfriend. Granted, I only know her from this and the Hot Shots! films, but I’m just completely unimpressed by her talents.

The Oscar Project #52: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

by Chris Marshall:

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that Kramer vs. Kramer far exceeded my expectations, but I’m afraid that’s understating it a bit, as I had very low expectations. Perhaps a more glowing endorsement would be to say that it is a very good film by any measure.

I should have known that a collaboration between Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in their primes would be decent at worst, but sometimes I forget that the plot of a movie isn’t its defining element. I expected to be bored, and that wasn’t the case at all. Part of the problem was that it simply didn’t have the same reputation as the other winners in the 1970s, so I judged it unfairly based on the level of competition. Whatever excuse I could use, I was wrong.

This isn’t a movie about plot. It’s about characters. You could almost view Kramer vs. Kramer as the dramatic/tragic counterpart to Annie Hall, as they are both about the deterioration of a relationship. The difference is that in the former, a child is involved, which adds an extra level of complication to the whole deal.

The Oscar Project #42: Midnight Cowboy (1969)

by Chris Marshall:

As hard as it is to believe, we are now halfway through The Oscar Project. 42 down, 42 to go. Midnight Cowboy is as good a film as any to be at the halfway point, if only because it is also the first post-Hays Code Best Picture winner. And man, they used their newfound freedom to go all out. The difference between this and previous winners is almost impossible to describe.

But that’s my job, so I’ll do the best I can. The film starts out with Joe Buck (Jon Voight), Fox’s A-team football and baseball announcer a Texan who’s dumb as a rock, packing his bag and moving to New York City, convinced he can make a living by dressing up like a cowboy and being a “hustler.”

As you might imagine, this plan is not as successful as Buck would have hoped. He’s soon broke, and he’s kicked out of the room he was staying in. As an added bonus, he can’t get into his room to get his stuff back until he can pay his back rent. With no money and no source of income, he finds himself out on the street, his only possession being his cowboy outfit.