Woody Allen to be Jacki Weaver's (Third Time) Lucky Charm?
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 at 4:00PM 
Glenn here to discuss one of his favourite topics: the career rejuvination of Jacki Weaver!
When Weaver scored a seemingly improbable Oscar nomination a few years back for Australian crime drama Animal Kingdom (a nomination I predicted an equally improbable year in advance), most expected the diminutive Aussie to crawl off back home with her pride, some glamorous memories and little else. The rest, however, as we all know, went much differently. She hasn't been working anywhere near as much the lady that bested her to the statue - that'd be Melissa Leo who's accepted everything in her path - but she's been afforded the chance to work with some great auteurs and got a second nomination earlier this year to boot. More...
I so frequently hear about how little value the Academy Awards have and how they're little more than Hollywood's self-congratulation instinct carried to extravagant degrees. However, one needs only to point to Weaver for an example of how they can be used for good and not evil. Who outside of Australia had even heard of the sextegenarian actor before Oscar shone a spotlight on her? And I think we can agree she never would have gotten the chance to work with David O. Russell, Chan-wook Park, Marjane Satrapi, or Charlie Kaufman without it. She had a perfectly fine career going on Australian stage and occasionally popping up on screen to remind us plebs who can't afford tickets to Uncle Vanya in Sydney how great she is.
And now she can add the one and only Woody Allen to her list of collaborators for his 2014 (still untitled) picture. Oh, sure, it seems like everybody is getting cast in a Woody Allen ensemble these days - lest we forget that Nicole Kidman thankfully avoided Whatever Works - and his efforts are more and more sporadic in their quality, but doesn't this just sound a teensy bit exciting? Could this new film be Weaver's ticket to not just her third nomination, but a win. "Third time's the charm", and all of that. She's obviously a popular figure in Hollywood with that surprise Silver Linings Playbook nomination to prove it (one, again, I predicted just by the way - she's my lucky charm, I guess) and Woody Allen has one of the best Oscar batting averages with female actors.
The cast is already a full one and appears to be blending older names like Weaver, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, and Eileen Atkins with younger ones like Emma Stone, Hamish Linklater, and Erica Leehrsen. What he's cooking up in the south of France we don't yet know, but the last time Woody ventured there he won a fourth Oscar and his biggest hit yet. Here's hoping Jacki has a role more in step with Dianne Wiest (Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway) than Pauline Collins (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger).
"Sorry officer, I'm just on my way to the south of France to win myself an Oscar."
Tell me, dear readers. Am I dreaming? Do we think Woody Allen's recent Midnight in Paris win was the Academy's way of saying "Sail off into the sunset, Woody" or is their Oscar life in his filmography yet? How many actresses have actually won on their third try?
Reader Comments (21)
The Academy loves Woody Allen. No way is "Midnight in Paris" his last nomination. I am absolutely rooting for Jacki Weaver to get an Oscar, and Woody's definitely a good bet for another nomination.
Also, what a cast! What a strange, exciting cast!
Okay, I can't let an Oscar trivia question go. The following actresses won on their third try:
Best Actress:
1942: Greer Garson
1946: Olivia de Havilland
1973: Glenda Jackson (she had already won before)
1974: Ellen Burstyn
1976: Faye Dunaway
1991: Jodie Foster (she had already won before)
2000: Julia Roberts
2006: Helen Mirren
Best Supporting Actress:
1965: Shelley Winters (she had already won before)
1994: Dianne Wiest (she had already won before)
2003: Renee Zellweger
If you count Bette Davis's write in nomination for Of Human Bondage then she won for her third in Jezebel.
I'm most happy about my fave Eileen Atkins getting cast in this. Criminally underrated even after all of her great cameos in the past decade. But yes, it would be fantastic if Weaver got nominated again. She's such a treasure, even if I still don't "get" why she was nominated for SLP... actually, anything from SLP, for that matter.
Joel-I am never sure if that "counts", but yes, you are right-Davis would be included if she was nominated in 1934.
Kidman backed out of "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" (Not "Whatever Works") and was subsequently replaced by Lucy Punch.
Sincerely
The Nitpicker
I was about to warn you of the Kidman flub before the Nitpicker, but sadly, I was too late. :(
I love Jackie, and I'm really enjoying her late success, but in this case I must say I'm particularly happy for Marcia. She's been doing projects way beneath her talent for too long and when I remember Foster in Carnage, well, that it's even worse!
I absolutely adore her. If she won an Oscar I would be so unbelievably happy.
I am worried for this Woody Allen picture considering he seems to be off and on and if Blue Jasmine is as good as it seems, then I'm worried for this next one. Either way, I'm so glad that she is getting such great offers since she deserves them so much and, well everything you said in the piece ... for a sixty-something (unknown outside of Australia) actress to really be fostering like this from an Oscar nomination is beautiful.
I'm being dramatic but she's just a really great person and actress. :) Here's to hoping she could actually get an Oscar.
"Third time's the charm"
Amy Adams wants a word with you...
I love Jacki Weaver, but did she really deserve her supporting actress nomination this last year?
If Jacki ever wins an Oscar it'll be a sad day for Sigourney Weaver.
3rtful - that's undeservedly harsh.
Par - Third, fourth, fifth, sixth...
Nitpicker/Beau - Really? Hmm. Oh well then! Clearly, she wasn't in it so I don't care. haha.
I'm happy for her, but I'm most happy for Emma Stone. Doesn't it feel like it should have happened two or three years ago? Those two were meant to work together at some point. I think she'd make a really good new muse.
Weaver is terrific, her nomination for SLP notwithstanding. Woody's trend since his generally-agreed-upon comeback (Match Point) is to follow it with 2 less good/less appreciated movies. Though Blue Jasmine looks/sounds very interesting, that suggests that it will also be not-so-great, while his film with Weaver et al could be thought of as far better. Which bodes well for her Oscar chances.
Thank you Jordan for mentioning Eileen Atkins!!! She's every bit as good as Maggie Smith, but criminally underrated. Her scene with Emma Thompson in "Wit" always brings me to a sobbing mess.
If Jacki Weaver wins, I want her to win with a performance as stunning as in "Animal Kingdom", not some fluffy dramedy like SLP.
Don't forget she's playing Marguerite Oswalt -Lee Harvey's Mother- in Parkland alongside Marcia Gay Harden and the supporting turn of Irene in 6 Dance Lessons in 6 Weeks... So she has a great chance.
Maybe Jacki Weaver is our new Judi Dench. A 60s. foreign actress who came with great roles in Hollywood
Glad you highlighted Ms. Weaver. I had the privilege of seeing her in "Uncle Vanya" in Sydney, but as an American I wasn't aware of her excellent film work until I saw Animal Kingdom (later on DVD). I'm happy she is still on a roll in the US.
By the way, it's lazy to say Woody Allen is producing works "more and more sporadic in their quality." Journalists (now bloggers) trot this suggestion out every few years regardless of what he makes. He's always made films worth watching, and the last decade has been no different--they range from good-if-light (most films) to very good (Match Point ('05), Vicky Cristina Barcelona ('08), Midnight in Paris ('11) and from what I've heard, Blue Jasmine this summer). There is a Woody Allen "renaissance" one year, the next he's washed up again, the next it's a renaissance, etc., etc. Once again, it's just lazy writing to me, and not on his part; at the very least, if you don't want to thoroughly analyze his career, say the guy tends to put out a great movie every few years.
I really LOVE Jacki Weaver and hope she will gets more great Roles in the future and finally an oscar, which she really deserved for Animal Kingdom. For me, I had no Problem with her Nomination for Silver Linings Playbook. The Role and the film was okay, but she was great as always.
Jen-- i disagree. I didn't write this piece but i definitely can state, having attended woody allen films faithfully every year for 28 years now that the quality is far more sporadic than it once was.. i'd say it's a reverse in numbers actually of a bunch of great films and then a weak one and now it's a bunch of weak ones and then a great one. or even worse it's a bunch of weak films and then a decent one.
For me from the 70s through 94 it's mostly all gold stars. And then in the 90s it gets wobbly and sinks further into weakness in the Aughts with a few highlights here and there. But the problem is he never made a BAD film until the late 90s and now he makes them semi-regularly.
It seems like lately every second film makes seems to do well with the academy. VCB got supporting actress win then he scored big with MIP (I know two films were released within that time). TRWL was a failure and it looks like BJ will be a success getting Blanchett oscar glory since reviews are calling it one of his best dramas. Then there is this film which could either be another MIP or TRWL. Jacki has two oscar noms and I think she deserved neither but I still do not like Weaver as much as most. I'll be excited to see her and Stone especially who is working on a lot of untitled projects lately.