Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Tim Robbins as Dave Boyle in Mystic River.

(also known as "the performance which had thr 5th greatest impact on my life.)

This is part of the prelude to my Performance that Changed My Life blogathon that I shall start on Saturday and be keeping open through the weekend. To all those who expressed an interest in participating – brilliant – you’re up. All ya gotta do is write your article (however long/short as you like, about any performance and for any reason that you so choose.) When your article is posted on your blog, just poke me with an e-mal or by replying on the master post, which (with any luck) I shall release at 8.00 am, GMT. I will the update the master post. A huge thanks to everyone participating!

So, Robbins in Mystic River. One of the finest supporting turns of recent years, he brilliantly conveys how someone so tall can feel so small, with his body and facial expressions conveying far more than words ever could, and adds to the urgency of the film. And what about the impact this performance had on my life? Pure and simple, when I saw it in 2003, it got me interested in the Oscars. It was my love and respect for Robbins after viewing Mystic River, that, coupled with recent viewings of Dead Man Walking (which he directed) and The Shawshank Redemption, that got me supporting Timmy. I stayed up all night to watch my Timmy collect his award, and 2004 was indeed the year in which I lost my Oscar virginity. That said, as delirious as I was for Tim that night (by the way, at 6’5”, he’s only 2 inches shorter than another talented cutie), I also left the Academy Awards that Monday morning feeling terribly cold. This can, of course, be attributed to the awards that I didn’t agree with, and, frick, there were a lot of them. Surprisingly, I completely agreed with all 4 acting awards, and in one of my old issues of Empire resides an image of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Charlize Theron and Renee Zellweger all standing together prettily with their statues, and it’s an image I’m extremely fond of, because I feel all 4 fully deserved their awards. But that’s really where my agreement ended. I had been rooting for Mystic River deeply through the Oscar season (I’d been equally wary of LOTR and Coppola fanboys) so much so that in the end, it hadn’t even been about Mystico wining, but neither of the other two winning. But, alas, they did, and the opportunity cost for their wins was one of my favourite films, Finding Nemo, being robbed of the two categories that I thought it truly excelled in – Best Original Score and Best Original Screenplay. Still, it was an incredible night, I was proud as Hell of Tim, and I still chuckle when I think of a grumpy (and undeserving) Bill Murray, refusing to stand up for Penn.

The following year, my favourite mainstream film of the year, Million Dollar Baby (sorry, but I do love it) won, and instead of Timmy, it was his Shawshank co-star Morgan Freeman I was rooting for, in the same category, and still under the direction of Clint Eastwood. I loved Freeman’s portrayal of Eddie Dupris, thought his voice-over a delight, and deeply enjoyed the rambling rapport between him and Eastwood, but there is not a single doubt in my mind that a lot of my support for him was also based on the tradition that I had set up the previous year, for supporting Tim.

The following year came Brokeback, and my obsessions for the Oscars heightened. Still, it didn’t win, and, that ranks up there as one of the gravest disappointments I’ve ever suffered in my life. It was ‘orrible! I still cry thinking about it, and I swore that I would never watch the Oscars again. Yet not only did I watch them in 2007, but I watched them avidly, predicting, analysing and blogging about the Oscars like I was some kind of a madman. I do this because, I remember that, at times, the Oscars can get it right, and performances that I like – like Morgan and Tim, do actually get rewarded.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Emma, guessing the top 4:
1. Brando (Streetcar)
2. Hepburn (Roman Holiday)
3. Robbins (Shawshank)
4. Freeman (Shawshank)

Anyone care to match me?

Anonymous said...

Robbins at no.1. Of course!

Anonymous said...

Seeing as you did those Keira and Sienna pictures, at least give me some avatars, of flowers please.

Kayleigh said...

Freeman was ROBBED for Shawshank...actually the entire film was robbed by the patronising Forrest Gump..

Anonymous said...

Drama Script – Last Scene

Scarlett DeLonge sits on he bed, flicking through the channels on the TV. She hears her name several times, and finally switches off. She feels for a bottle nearby, downs it, and sluggishly calls room service.

Scarlett: Erm. Hi. Could I have another bottle of wine sent up please?
She pauses, frowning, as the person on the other end says something.
Scarlett: Look, just do it, OK?!
Angrily, she slams the phone down, and slumps onto her bed. A few seconds later, the door knocks.
Scarlett: It’s open.
In walks a man wearing a neat suit, looking annoyed. No smile. He is the hotel manager
Scarlett: Where’s my drink? I ordered a drink.
Manager: I told you on the phone, Miss DeLonge, I think you’ve had quite enough.
Scarlett: I can have as much as I want. It’s my money. (hiccups) Go and get me some.
Manager: (staring at her pathetic body pityingly) Erm, sorry, Miss DeLonge, but that’s the other thing. Your past three cheques have bounced. (pause) You owe us over three thousand pounds now.
Scarlett pretends not to hear, and suddenly gets up and starts applying make-up.
Manager: Miss DeLonge? (pause) Perhaps this suite is getting too expensive for you. We can move you to one of the economy sets while you decide how you’re going to pay us back-
Scarlett: (snapping finally) ALRIGHT! I heard you, OK? You want to kick me out.
Manager: Well, we do have a business to run, I’m afraid, and-
Scarlett: So what if I’ve been a bit late with my payments? You know I’m going to pay you back, of course I am, I’m Scarlett DeLonge, I can get a film role anytime…
Manager: (with a trace of a snigger) That’s certainly not what I’ve heard.
Scarlett: I can! I just choose not to, ‘cos I hate the biz not.
Manager: Hmm. Well. I do happen to watch the news, you know, and I’ve noticed that, for the past few months, things haven’t been too good for you.
Scarlett: It’s not me, it’s not me. It isn’t, It’s them. The media. They make this stuff up.
Manager: Oh, so you didn’t really have your child taken away from you because you were such a bad mother?
Scarlett blushes, looks down, but then regains her composure and looks him in the eye steadily.
Scarlett: No. I did (hiccup) not. I did not. I loved my baby. (hiccup) I was a good mother.
Manager: (sarcastic) Hmm, yes, I can see that. (pause) I suppose you’re going to say there never was that drunken incident with Edie Rogers, where your husband left you?
Scarlett: That was… one…
Manager: Let’s be honest Miss DeLonge, fame’s gotten to you. And now that your 5 minutes are up and everyone’s bored of you. (pause) Scarlett, why don’t you just go back home? To your family?
Scarlett: (quiet) My… my family don’t want me… my sister hates what fame’s done to me.
The manager rolls his eyes.
Manager: Well, I’m sorry to have heard your little sob story, but if you’re not paying, you’re not staying here. That’s final.
Scarlett: (tears in her eyes) But PLEASE! If I go out there… the newspapers will get me!

Anonymous said...

mystic river analysis dave boyle

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