Everyone loves Steve Carrell, and if you don’t, you’re wrong and we don’t like you.
While he obviously makes for a brilliant comedian – Anchorman, The 40 Year Old Virgin, The Office – he has also proved himself to be an exceptional dramatic actor, thanks to the likes of Little Miss Sunshine, The Big Short, Battle Of The Sexes, and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his incredibly creepy turn in Foxcatcher.
Over the next few months, Carrell has what looks like two big Oscar magnets hitting cinemas, so we’ve decided to pit them head-to-head, for other reason than the fact they both star Steven Carrell.
BEAUTIFUL BOY (18 January 2019)
Is It Based On A True Story? You betcha.
Oscar-y Plot? “Based on the memoirs by David Sheff and his son, Nic Sheff, Beautiful Boy chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years.” Fatherly love, drug addiction and big, long speeches about pain and heartbreak. Yes. This smells Oscar-y to us.
Oscar-y Co-Stars? Current Hollywood hot-thing Oscar-nominated Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name, Ladybird), Golden Globe nominee Maura Tierney (The Affair, E.R.), and Oscar-nominee Amy Ryan (Birdman, Gone Baby Gone).
Oscar-y Director? Felix Van Groenigen was nominated for Best Foreign Language Oscar for his 2012 movie The Broken Circle Breakdown, and he also co-wrote the adaptation with the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Lion.
Clip via Amazon Studios
WELCOME TO MARWEN (11 January 2019)
Is It Based On A True Story? It sure is.
Oscar-y Plot? “A victim of a brutal attack finds a unique and beautiful therapeutic outlet to help him through his recovery process.” Tragedy. Overcoming an ailment. Community coming together. Quirky but accessible. Or, in a word, Oscar-y.
Oscar-y Co-Stars? Actually, no, but they are all incredibly cool: Janelle Monae (Hidden Figures, Moonlight), Leslie Mann (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Blockers), Gwendoline Christie (Game Of Thrones, The Force Awakens), and Diane Kruger (Inglorious Basterds, Troy).
Oscar-y Director? Robert Zemekis won the Best Director Oscar for Forrest Gump, but he’s also directed the Back To The Future trilogy, Cast Away, Flight, Contact, Death Becomes Her, What Lies Beneath and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Clip via Universal Pictures
VERDICT: Obviously it depends a lot on how good both movies actually are, but Beautiful Boy seems like the kind of movie that might actually bag Carrell an acting Oscar, whereas Marwen is more likely to be nominated for Best Picture.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
