Born on the Fourth of July
Dead Poets Society
Driving Miss Daisy (winner)
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot
What’s Missing
Looking at 1989 objectively, it’s a hell of a good year for movies. There are lots of fantastic movies from this year, and the five listed aren’t even close to my favorite five from this year. Let’s get rid of the movies I like that really aren’t legitimate “Best Picture” contenders. These include Heathers, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Say Anything..., Major League, UHF, and Parenthood. Documentaries don’t get love for Best Picture, but Roger & Me deserves a mention here. Many would pimp for sex, lies and videotape, but it’s not one I like enough. At this point, I’ve mentioned a lot of movies I really like, but I haven’t touched movies I think could really swing a nomination. Of these, Shirley Valentine is probably the least followed by Crimes and Misdemeanors. Batman is in the wrong genre and When Harry Met Sally… probably wasn’t serious enough for contention. The Fabulous Baker Boys is sadly forgotten. The two that really deserved nominations in my opinion are Henry V, Branagh’s wonderful reworking of Shakespeare’s best history play and Do the Right Thing, which was criminally overlooked in this category.
Weeding through the Nominees
5: Dead Poets Society, of all the nominees, is the one that I think deserves to be here the least. It’s not half the movie Henry V or Do the Right Thing is. Not half. I get why people like it, but it comes across to me as maudlin and overly sentimental. It’s too predictable and not nearly enough reins were put on Robin Williams. No teacher is really this inspiring, and if one is, he or she is not nearly this annoying and shouldn’t rely so damned heavily on Walt Whitman. Dead Poets Society has no place in this company.
4: Eventual winner Driving Miss Daisy was the easy, safe choice for the Academy. The Academy loves “issues” movies, and a safe movie about racism was the natural choice. Of course Do the Right Thing was an intense movie about racism that addressed real issues head on, but it wasn’t safe and wasn’t nominated. I don’t have anything against Driving Miss Daisy; it’s a fine film with some very good performances. But Best Picture? Only in the tamest of years, and as I’ve shown above, 1989 was hardly a tame year.
3: I could see a lot of people stumping for My Left Foot, and it’s the first of these nominees that I’m okay with on the nomination. There’s a lot here that’s really great. However, the greatest thing in My Left Foot is the astonishing performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, and he won for Best Actor. Even more, I agree with him winning for Best Actor. Because the best part of the movie won (and should have) the appropriate award, what’s left here is still good, even great, but not the Best Picture of 1989.
2: I am frequently of the opinion that Oliver Stone directs his movies with a mallet in terms of his use of symbolism. Born on the Fourth of July is the exception to that—he really stuck with the real story of Ron Kovic, perhaps out of respect to the material. For whatever reason he gave deference to the material, it was the right choice. This isn’t my second-favorite movie of 1989, but I think it’s the second-best of the nominees, and with the possible exception of JFK, I think it’s the Oliver Stone film I’m most likely to watch again.
My Choice
1: Field of Dreams hits on all cylinders for me. It does everything right and while there’s a scene or two I could live without, it doesn’t do much wrong. The story is great and, more than any other film I can think of, really gets to the heart of the American connection with baseball. Maybe that connection has slipped a little in recent years, but when it was made, there was still a love affair between America and its national pastime and Field of Dreams gets that magic and magical realism right. I could easily pull for Do the Right Thing and Henry V for this—these three movies would be numbered 1-3 for me in some order depending on the day. But of those, only Field of Dreams was nominated, and so only Field of Dreams is the winner.
Final Analysis
"Oliver Stone directs his movies with a mallet" is a spot on observation, although I do like Born on the 4th of July and it would be my pick for this year (if Do The Right Thing isn't on the table). Driving Miss Daisy is completely unremarkable. I'm thinking I may need to really watch Field of Dreams.. it's one of those movies that are on TV a lot but I haven't watched it from start to finish.
ReplyDeleteFor me, and your mileage may vary on this, Field of Dreams has a couple of genuine "chill up the back" moments of real wonder and beauty. Not much beats the speech James Earl Jones gives near the end.
DeleteBorn on the Fourth of July is like the anti-Stone movie, or the Stone biopic he actually got right. He's not a bad director, but he's often overdone, but this is his finest hour and a beautiful one at that...powerful without ever feeling manipulative.
ReplyDeleteIt would be my clear choice of the nominated five.
I don't have a huge problem with that. I think any of the top three could be argued for pretty successfully. Of them, Field of Dreams is the one I like the best.
DeleteAs you know, I love Field of Dreams and it especially hit home for me in regards to the ending.
ReplyDeleteI think Cruise gave one hell of a performance in Born on the Fourth of July - the best of his career - but he had the misfortune to bump up against Daniel Day Lewis also playing a crippled man. Both movies are great.
I feel Driving Miss Daisy, while there's nothing wrong with it, is one of the weaker Best Picture winners. And while I liked Dead Poet's Society more than you I agree it's kind of puzzling to find it nominated for Best Picture. I'd replace it with Henry V.
I know you disagree with me on Do the Right Thing, and I've come to terms with that. I would have loved to have seen Henry V nominated. I think it's my favorite straight adaptation of Shakespeare (straight in that it keeps all of the characters and details and doesn't just strip out the juicy plot bits into new clothing) and I love that Branagh kept it honest to the script but still really made a movie out of it.
DeleteTom Cruise has the absolute worst luck with his nominations and there are a number of times he should have been nominated and was passed over.
I'd agree with your lineup of the nominees even though I didn't like Born on the 4th of July much. That's just my personal preference but of these contenders it's the second most worthy film. Dead Poet's makes my teeth hurt and without Jessica Tandy & Morgan Freeman Driving Miss Daisy would be completely forgettable. I wouldn't say that about My Left Foot but DDL's performance is so all-encompassing it really pushes the rest of the picture out of the way. That Brenda Fricker managed to make so much of her role against the force of his performance really speaks to her skill.
ReplyDeleteField of Dreams weaves such a spell, one that most films can't come close to matching. It helps that it has such a perfectly cast group of players in support. James Earl Jones is great, and that speak is a killer, but it's Burt Lancaster's performance that's always stayed with me the most. And Amy Madigan is just right as Costner's supportive but spunky wife too.
As for what's missing I'd agree Henry V's omission is strange and Crimes and Misdemeanors certainly should have been chosen before either Daisy or Poet's. Do the Right Thing is a terrible blind spot for me, its near the top of my queue so soon but for now it's an unknown. My choice however would be Glory which seems sadly neglected today, if its mentioned at all it's Denzel Washington's performance that is talked about but it's a strong film.
Glory is a great call, and I really wish I had mentioned it above, because it seems like a natural nomination. It's an epic, it's beautifully filmed and produced, it's got a social issue angle...it's everything Oscar seems to love in one movie.
DeleteWhen I think of Field of Dreams, I think of that speech about baseball first. And then I think of Burt Lancaster and that beautiful scene in the doctor's office that is really nothing but the magic of listening to Lancaster talk about a sky so blue it hurts to look at it.
Damn, but it makes my eyes get all leaky. I sometimes forget just how truly great Field of Dreams is. It doesn't have the social impact of Do the Right Thing or the literary weight of Henry V. It just does what it does with perfection, beauty, and grace.
There were so many great movies that were better than Driving Miss Daisy. It's not just the films that were nominated for Best Picture but also the following: Do the Right Thing, Drugstore Cowboy, Batman, sex, lies, & videotape, Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Glory, Crimes & Misdemeanors, UHF, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, & Major League. Who can argue with those classics?
ReplyDeleteSo, so, so many good films in 1989. I'm actually a little offended that Driving Miss Daisy won.
DeleteI'd go for Glory as the best film of this year. The scale,issues,and cast are great for Oscar, it amazed me that it was largely overlooked. Denzel withstanding. Of those nominated, I'd also have preferred Field of Dreams.
ReplyDeleteI admit, Glory is a hole in the list above, and it's one I easily could have mentioned.
DeleteWhen I listed my favorite film of 1989, I had a tie: John Woo's The Killer and Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.
ReplyDeleteGeez, I saw a lot movies in 1989! I'm scrolling through and looking at all the suggestions and the only two I haven't seen are UHF and Major League. And I saw them all in the theater when they came out (except for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I saw on cable a year or two later.)
You're the second person to mention Drugstore Cowboy, and it's another I could have mentioned above. When I did Best Actor from this year, I said that Matt Dillon was the biggest miss, and in retrospect, Drugstore Cowboy deserves a mention as well. The Killer is a dandy film, too.
DeleteThere's no desperate need to see UHF or Major League except that both are a lot of fun. They aren't "great" films in the Oscar sense, but they are completely entertaining for their entire running time.
I would go with Henry V, but like you mentioned, for some reason it wasn't nominated. Good analysis as always.
ReplyDeleteI do love Henry V, and specifically, I like Branagh's version.
Delete