Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 1998

The Contenders:

Nick Nolte: Affliction
Edward Norton: American History X
Ian McKellen: Gods and Monsters
Roberto Benigni: Life is Beautiful (winner)
Tom Hanks: Saving Private Ryan

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Film: Affliction
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on laptop.

I watched Affliction when it became evident that a good proportion of the films on my streaming queue were about to vanish. I’m not sure why I picked this one over all of the others that were about to leave streaming. One seemed as good as another, basically. I went into this cold, knowing only that Nick Nolte appeared on the cover art, and thus assuming that he would be the focus of the movie. What I found was a film with a deep vein of darkness. I used to watch the television show Hoarders. In one episode, the head of the clean-up crew, in reference to a homeless man living on the property of a hoarder, said something to the effect that we’re all five bad decisions away from shitting in a bucket. Affliction is the cinematic version of this, a life that starts on the edge and spirals into the abyss inside of two hours.

Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) is the policeman in a small New Hampshire town. We learn that he is divorced and that his time with his daughter Jill (Brigid Tierney) is uncomfortable. Wade wants to sue for full custody, a move that virtually no one but he supports. Wade’s unpleasant relationship with his daughter and his custody battle is something that pops up from time to time in the film, and is something that perhaps serves as the catalyst to Wade’s downward spiral. Soon after this, a hunting accident occurs. Hunting guide Jack (Jim True-Frost) reports that his customer Evan Twombley (Sean McCann) tripped and shot himself with his rifle.