Steve Martin: 2015 AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree
Monday, October 6, 2014 at 10:38AM
Manuel here with some Steve Martin news.
Did you all hear? Not content with having been pegged for an Honorary Oscar just last year (and a Kennedy Center Honors back in 2007 as well as an American Cinematheque honor in 2004), our favorite silver-haired comedian slash banjo enthusiast has been named the 43rd recipient of the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award. This past June, they feted Jane Fonda, only the eighth woman to receive the honor, a statistic that would look surprising if it only it weren’t so familiar. Did you know women comprised 16% of all directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, and editors working on the top 250 (domestic) grossing films of 2013 while females accounted for 15% of protagonists, 29% of major characters, and 30% of all speaking characters of said films? No wonder Reese, Gillian, heck even John Cusack, have been so vocal about this issue lately, following Geena Davis’s example.
But I got side-tracked.
We are here to celebrate Martin’s AFI Life Achievement news which will surely be a raucous affair come June 2015, and a well-deserved one at that. From The Jerk (1979) to Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), from Parenthood (1989) to It’s Complicated (2009), Martin has been delighting big screen audiences for decades. His silky smooth sense of humor, which can be quietly self-deprecating or explosively excoriating, is one of a kind. I’m personally attached to the Father of the Bride films, and while lately Martin has been playing it quite broad (Cheaper by the Dozen, Pink Panther), I can’t be the only one who hopes he has another Shopgirl in him, for those furrowed brows can definitely sell pathos as much as they can barter laughs. That wisp of a film is much too fragile (ever since I first saw it and was enamored by it I’ve been afraid to see it again lest it turn to salt) but it’s the type of small-scale human examination that so much of Martin’s humor can seamlessly tap into.
What’s your favorite Martin performance? Who are you hoping will be tapped to host; may it be frequent AFIer Mary Louise Streep? And who would you suggest AFI look into for next year?
Reader Comments (16)
In terms of female candidates for the honour, the most obvious candidate seems to be Diane Keaton. I think it's a good bet she'll be a recipient before this decade is over. Being his 'Father of the Bride' co-star, she'd also be a good choice to host next year's event, especially considering that the AFI has recently begun honoring former hosts more and more often (with Michael Douglas, Mike Nichols, Shirley MacLaine, Jane Fonda and now Steve Martin, five out of the seven most recent honorees have hosted the event before).
(Talking about Keaton: Among male candidates, Woody Allen would be a shoe-in and probably would have been honored years ago already, if the willingness to attend the honour wasn't one of the requirements for its consideration...)
As for Steve Martin: Is it boring to say that his greatest performances on the big screen were in 'All of Me', 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles' and 'Roxanne'? It probably is, but it remains true. I'd probably pick 'Planes...' as my favorite performance - in my universe, he'd be an Oscar nominee for that, losing out to Bruno Ganz in 'Wings of Desire', (or, if that one was uneligible back than, to his own co-star John Candy).
Martin's small role in Baby Mama with Tina Fey I found utterly hilarious. He also makes me laugh in All Of Me and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He plays the Father of the Bride beautifully.
I haven't seen all his movies, so it's not that I don't love other ones. Who should present his award? Lily Tomlin perhaps.
Yeah, I love Steve Martin.
I thought he and Meryl had wonderful chemisty in "It's Complicated".
Seeing them getting "high" at a party was THE highlight for me.
I also love Roxanne (the Nose Jokes are genius), All of Me or Father of the Bride (including the sequel, I think it was really cute)
I'm sure Meryl will be there to speak about him, but presenting the award I think it will be someone else.
She's still the "youngest" actress having recieved that award (was she 54 or 55 already?).
I don't blame male actors that the film industry is a man's world mainly.
But I feel things are starting to change. Slowly, but with quite a number of female leading films being BIG at the BO, they do.
Fav Martin roles: Roxanne, Parenthood, All of Me. His BFF, Martin Short, should present.
I may be one of the outliers, but a Lifetime Achievement Award should be given to someone who has had a long career in the field, and to someone of a certain age (older than 65 at least). Streep was too young when she received it in 2004; she has made 20 movies since.
If AFI is looking for an American actress to bestow the honor, they will definitely have to look VERY HARD to find someone with same kind of LENGTHY filmography (through no fault of their own) as say, British actresses with a fine body of work, like Dench, Mirren, Andrews, Smith, Redgrave, Duncan, and Christie. My vote would be either Field, Close, Wiest, Sarandon, Weaver, or Bates. Special love for Tomlin, Channing, and Danner. Keaton would be last on my list of choices, only because I admire the others more. That said, I believe we're in the beginning of a a renaissance of sorts, and we'll start to see more women in their 50s and 60s in leading roles in TV and film. The dollars are behind them. We're already seeing them more in ads in print and on TV.
My favorite Steve Martin movie is LA Story. It has the sweet underpinnings of a charming rom-com, combined with a wicked sense of humor about LA.. No coincidence it was written by Mr. Martin
Pennies from Heaven
I hope all his fabulous co-stars show up (Lily Tomlin, Sarah Jessica, Bernadette and The Turner)
Julie Andrews
Mine was "Bringing Down the House", he was sooo funny, especially when he went to the nightclub to catch that drug dealer!!
I'm fourteen, and I think Steve Martin is soooo talented and handsome, and he can do LOTS of things!!
I was surprised by this choice but I can't argue that it's not deserved.
Woody Allen seems like the best choice, though I assume he won't show up and, therefore, won't be receiving it. How cool would it be to see all of his leading ladies talking about how great he is at writing female roles.
I sort of expected Robert Redford would be chosen and I'm putting my money on his for next year. I also foresee the honor going to Francis Ford Coppola, Diane Keaton, and maybe George Clooney in the next few years.
I think Cinderella, Tiana or Anna and Elsa should present the award because they are my fave Princesses, and it would be so MAGICAL!! I'm watching it, too! 😀👑🌌
I'm with Peggy Sue.
"Roxanne", "All of Me" "Dead Men Wear Plaid"
I'll second Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, love how they incorporated classic Hollywood film clips into the plot.
OMG, YES!
"Dead Men don't wear Plaid" is hilarious to no end.
"Cleaning Woman! Cleaning Woman!"
"I give you twenty bucks if you follow that car!"
*cab drives off without him*
*another cab arrives*
*he climbes in*
"Follow that cab!"
More so than the films of any other actor, I grew up on Steve Martin films. As a kid I watched Roxanne, Three Amigos and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels over and over again, and to this day I still love all three. Since then I've watched almost every single one of his movies, and have discovered that he is an actor/writer that Hollywood was lucky to have. I think that LA Story is a masterpiece, The Jerk is laugh-out-loud funny and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a surreal (in a great way) experiment in film history.
I know that he doesn't act as much as he used to (he's really more into his music right now), but I would love it if he had one more Roxanne in him.
So many wonderful movies. I want to vote for a tiny little gem: Shop Girl.
Lily Tomlin should totally host.
Here are some women and people of color who AFI might consider for next year:
Sigourney Weaver
Danny Glover
Spike Lee
Julie Christie
Diane Lane
Jane Campion
Penny Marshall
I think they should make a doll of him with a litte banjo, that would be so cute, I'm buying it! It's STUPID they don't make anything Steve Martin for us girls (dolls, makeup, clothing, perfume, birthday cards)!!