2000: "The Contender" and Three Varying Oscar Journeys
Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 1:30PM In preparation for the next Smackdown Team Experience is traveling back to 2000.
By Ben Miller
Revisiting Rod Lurie’s The Contender, the three primary performances of Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges and Gary Oldman still pop off the screen. All three had been critically lauded before the political drama and earned rave reviews for their performances. Oddly, the film serves as the unintentional catalyst for the Oscar trajectory of all three actors. In the next 20 years, two would win Oscars, while the other has yet to be nominated again...
Jeff Bridges
If you tell people Jeff Bridges has seven Oscar nominations, they might look at you with incredulous confusion. Two of his nods came before he even turned 30 (The Last Picture Show and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot) which is unusual for male stars. His first lead actor nomination was also an atypical Oscar situation, as he was nominated for John Carpenter sci-fi romance (Starman). Bridges’ nomination for The Contender came at a critical revival for the actor, right on the heels of his cult favorite performance in The Big Lebowski, and sixteen years since his previous nod. With four nominations to his credit after The Contender, a long history of quality work and a family history entrenched in Hollywood, Bridges felt overdue.
He continued working and gaining critical raves from smaller indies like The Door in the Floor, to Best Picture nominees like Seabiscuit, to being the MCU’s first villain in Iron Man. When Crazy Heart came along in 2009, Bridges’ victory was like a foregone conclusion. Following his win, Bridges is now cemented as a bonafide Oscar darling, getting two follow-up nominations playing nearly the same character (True Grit and Hell or High Water).
Gary Oldman
There was a time when Gary Oldman couldn’t get arrested by the Academy. From Sid & Nancy, Prick Up Your Ears, JFK, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Leon: The Professional, Oldman stood as the best actor the Oscars never gave the time of day to. When The Contender rolled around, Oldman received a SAG nomination, the first major Hollywood nomination of his career, but he was still given the cold shoulder by the Academy.
It took another decade of mainstream success for Oldman to finally enter Oscar’s good graces. Following well received roles in two franchises (Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan's Batman films) Oldman finally broke through with the Academy via 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Much like Bridges, Oldman immediately felt overdue; we all knew when the right role came around, Oldman would steamroll to the award. That's just what happened when Oldman portrayed Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Oscar voters show no sign of ignoring Oldman now as he just received another Best Actor nomination for his lead role in Mank.
Joan Allen
The fact that Joan Allen hasn’t been nominated since The Contender was hard to imagine at the time. Allen had an almost unprecedented run of awards success in the late 90s. Following a pair of Best Supporting Actress nominations (1995’s Nixon and 1996’s The Crucible), she regularly received critical kudos, but was snubbed by Oscar for 1997’s The Ice Storm and 1998’s Pleasantville. The Contender earned her her first Best Lead Actress citation. But Allen was basically in the conversation for five of a consecutive six years.
While The Contender sent the two actors hurtling towards Oscar, Allen stepped into smaller roles in larger films, like the Bourne Identity films and The Notebook. Did this come about at Allen’s own volition, or is it an unfortunate byproduct of Hollywood’s unwillingness to give women of a certain age quality roles?
Allen’s costar in The Contender, Mike Binder, was apparently annoyed by this very prospect and wrote and directed The Upside of Anger specifically for Allen to have a juicy role. Binder has claimed most major studios rejected the film due to Allen’s casting and was forced to be financed independently. Despite critical raves for her performance, Allen didn't return to the Academy’s lineup.
Allen hasn’t resurfaced in feature films since her supporting role in 2015 Best Picture nominee Room. She is focused more on TV lately, with an upcoming role in Pablo Larrian’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Lisey’s Story on AppleTV+.
Allen, Bridges, and Oldman are all of the same generation, separated only by nine years of age. Despite Bridges being already well-liked by Oscar and Oldman completely ignored at the time of The Contender, the two actors continued to work steadily and were given great roles which eventually led them towards runaway Oscar victories. Allen had six years of near constant awards attention, but hit her mid-40s and was promptly ignored by Hollywood.
As is often the case, men in Hollywood are allowed to age and continue to work, while the women, even if they have a near-unblemished track record, will be swiftly ignored or shuffled away. We can look back at The Contender, marvel at Allen’s craft and the restrained ferocity of her performance, and wonder how we ever allowed this to happen.
2000, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, The Contender
Reader Comments (32)
She (and Sigourney) were so so good in the Ice Storm. Imagine if they were our 1997 winners instead of Helen Hunt and Kim Basinger. Miles better!
It's criminal that Joan Allen has all been discarded by Hollywood.
Joan Allen absolutely should have been nominated for “The Upside of Anger” (and so should Kevin Costner for his supporting work in the movie).
Gary Oldman should have won for Best Supporting Actor for The Contender. And even though Joan Allen's nomination seemed like a "just be happy you were nominated," especially next to Roberts, Burstyn, and Linney, she was just deserving as those four gals. The definition of smart and lucid underplaying without any histrionics.
So, the 'best actor the Oscars never give the time of day to' title is held by John Goodman now, right? And the equivalent for our beloved ladies is probably Jamie Lee Curtis?
It's weird to me that it took so long for Oldman to get a nomination, and it is a crime that Joan Allen hasn't received one since.
Joan Allen is an amazing actress regardless of Oscar validation - but it sure would be nice.
This was a good read. Film Twitter better get used to the fact that Mank is not Oldman's last nomination.
PoliVamp — Those are good picks for most overdue (for a nomination at least) actor and actress. I think Mia Farrow has to be up there too if we’re counting entire careers and not just recent work (since she hasn’t even had a nomination-worthy role in like 30 years). For male actors, there was a time when Steve Martin was in the conversation regularly (particularly in 1981, 1984, 1986, and 1987), but again, he hasn’t done award-worthy work in a long time. I was going to suggest Paul Giamatti, but then I remembered he actually WAS nominated for Cinderella Man (still doesn’t take away from the sting for his snub the previous year, IMO).
So yeah, there are others who feel overdue as well, but John Goodman and Jamie Lee Curtis are definitely up there.
Joan Allen ruined her career when she decided to ruin her own face
Never seen The Contender, but Allen was marvelous in The Ice Storm, Pleasantville and The Crucible.
PoliVamp and Edwin: I'd say John Cusack is another good one.
Joan Allen should already have two Best Supporting Actress Oscars: The Crucible and Pleasantville. And her snubbed by The Upside of Anger still hurts.
I would reward Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and not for Darkest Hour.
I am satisfied with Bridges' victory for Crazy Heart.
Best actor the Oscars never give the time of day to? Donald Sutherland. (And John Goodman and Jamie Lee).
By the way, speaking of Oldman and Sutherland, they both deserved more to be nominated by JFK than Tommy Lee Jones.
I really love Joan Allen, and I think it's unfortunate we don't get more of her. I suspect she didn't get more opportunities because she basically broke out right when she turned 40. She also never got a chance to have a big hit as a lead during her run, and when she was a lead, the films were quickly shelved or did poorly (e.g., the Ice Storm, the Contender, etc.). I imagine we'd think about Glenn Close in much the same way if she didn't score big hits with Jagged Edge and Fatal Attraction given that she didn't break out until she was 35.
I tend to think of 2005 as a pretty blah Best Actress year. I was really behind Felicity Huffman at the time, and I think Reese is one of the weaker Best Actress winners this century. It's a shame Joan Allen didn't rule that season. She was great.
cal roth-
Renee Zelwegger "ruined" her face and they gave her a 2nd Oscar, so your (incredibly sexist) theory doesn't hold up.
Joan Allen deserves better.
Like Joan Allen's performance in the film, but I never really cared for The Contender. Seems like it was quickly made to excuse away the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewisky scandal on the late 90s.
^It's Renée Zellweger.
The Ice Storm is such a great movie!
I like Joan Allen in The Contender and as Pamela Landy in Jason Bourne.
Well if you fuck up your face with surgery, that will most def turn off some directors and casting agents for sure. Hopefully she will survive that and get som juicy roles soon
I miss Joan Allen,I have to agree that I was a bit startled when I first saw her in TUOA her face did seem differently shaped from her Nixon/Face Off days but it didn't ditract from her superior to every nominee in the 2005 Best Actress field work.
I thought she might have got a surprise Supporting nod for Room and that category outside Winslet is a mess too much fraud going on.
Maybe Mike Binder could write her another juicy role.
I don't think that what I said was sexist. Actors should know better before trying to stop time. They work with their faces, their expressions, their eyes, mouth, voice. It's not wise to do what Allen did. Audiences should believe in her as a person when they look at her face, but when an actor's face screams fake, an actor can't get his or her job done.
Joan Allen is amazing and should've had a lot of nods. The Upside of Anger isn't one of them as the reveal in the end just ruined the film for me.
Other great living actors the Academy barely (or never) had time for:
Alfre Woodard (single nod, 1984)
Elliott Gould (single nod, 1970)
John Savage
Guy Pearce
Derek Jacobi
Eileen Atkins
Hugh Grant
I do think Allen in 2000 is similar to Close in 1988 - because they were in the conversation so frequently, it was hard to imagine them out of the conversation. Then it happened.
She would've been my winning 1995 easily. In 2005, I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about The Upside of Anger (totally prefer Yes that year)
Oldman being "ignored" for this movie responds to the fact that he hated the final cut of the movie and accused Rod Lurie of turning his character into something completely different from what he was initially offered, so he asked Dreamworks to not be campaigned for it whatsoever
Her face is back to normal.
Donald Sutherland
Delroy Lindo
Steve Buscemi
John Goodman
Jeff Daniels
Brendan Gleeson
Kurt Russell
Mandy Patinkin
Alfred Molina
John Turturro
Kevin Bacon
Jeffrey Wright
All of them would already have at least one nomination in a fair world. Fortunately, Jonathan Pryce left that list last year.
It is great to see that some people still put in an effort into managing their websites.
I love seeing blog that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free.
A shame Allen had to contend with Burstyn in '00, as she'd be my winner in most years (including '99 and '01).
The young Gary Oldman looks and acts like Sam Rockwell.
Joan was so fantastic in Pleasantville! That snub stings.
In terms in criminally snubbed actors, I think Mia Farrow takes the cake. How did she never manage a single nod? Not even Rosemary's Baby?