The 5 Most Vulnerable Best Picture Candidates
The Last Station
Tomatometer: 68%
The Odds Against It: Every year, a routine period drama is thrown in the Oscar mix and treated like a potential frontrunner, but The Last Station lacks an A-level director or many ardent partisans. Sure, there's a certain amount of Oscar-friendly historical pedigree to this story about Tolstoy's last days, but the preponderance of British-accented actors playing Russian icons is hard to take.
In Its Favor: Helen Mirren has a shot at a nomination in the weak Best Actress category, ensuring that the film will at least be seen. No one really loved Frost/Nixon last year, but that still got nominated, and there were only five slots.
Final Prognosis: Will need to start drawing buzz when it opens wider next month.
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Comments
Thank you for alerting me to The Last Station's existence.
Except for the trio of performances in Up in the Air, I'm expecting those in The Education (father-daughter-boyfriend) to impress me most as well-written and well-acted parts. Maybe New Years' Eve...