It’s only the beginning of August, but it’s time to start looking ahead to Awards Season. More and more contending films will be released over the coming weeks and months. Three Lead Actor performances have already become legitimate contenders in the usually crowded category:
Tom Hardy is riveting as the title character in “Locke”, the little-seen indie drama about a man attempting to keep his life in order with a series of phone conversations during a 90 minute car trip. Andy Serkis‘ second go-around as Caesar the Ape in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is even stronger than his work in 2011’s “Rise”. And Chadwick Boseman, who hit a home run as Jackie Robinson in last year’s “42”, shines as “The Godfather of Soul”, James Brown, in “Get On Up”.
I can see Hardy and Boseman locking-up two of the five spots by the end of the year, as long as their films and performances get seen and recognized by enough voters. Both films have struggled at the box office. It’ll be interesting if 20th Century Fox has the guts to put Serkis up for the Lead Actor category or if they play it safe with Supporting Actor, even though he is clearly the star of “Dawn”.
It’s still far too early to pick another a lock, with any of these dozen actors primed to grab a spot in the competition:
James McAvoy – “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” (Limited – Sept. 12)
Ben Affleck – “Gone Girl” (Oct. 3)
Robert Downey, Jr. – “The Judge” (Oct. 10)
Jeremy Renner – “Kill the Messenger” (Limited – Oct. 10)
Michael Keaton – “Birdman” (Limited – Oct. 17)
Bill Murray – “St. Vincent” (Oct. 24)
Matthew McConaughey – “Interstellar” (Nov. 7)
Steve Carell and/or Channing Tatum – “Foxcatcher” (Limited – Nov. 14)
Christian Bale – “Exodus: Gods and Kings” (Dec. 12)
Joaquin Phoenix – “Inherent Vice” (Limited – Dec. 12)
Jack O’Connell – “Unbroken” (Dec. 25)
And there are several others in the running as well, and always a few surprise contenders. It should be a heck of a race.