The
contest for Best Adapted Screenplay is stuffed with the four leading
Best Picture contenders, which makes it rather tricky to anticipate
this year. We have a difficult literary adaptation from a popular
potential sweeper, a quirky screwball comedy that a lot of pundits
seem to be underestimating, a verbose historical drama that glows
with eloquent language, and a zingy crowd-pleaser that appears first
in line to win Best Picture. Joining them is a scrappy indie whose
best shot at winning anything may come in this category (not that
it's a great shot).
Chris Terrio may have taken lots of creative license in fashioning the script for Argo from a lengthy article on the CIA's involvement in rescuing American hostages from Iran, but that's part of what makes the film such a memorable and satisfying piece. Witty one-liners and a precise attention to narrative construct make a very reasonable winner in this field. Logically, if the film wins Best Picture, it should win some other major award, and this seems to be the natural choice.
I
was unsure before nominations that Beasts of the Southern Wild
would be able to garner enough Academy love to break through in Best
Picture, but one branch that I could believe would stick up for it
was the writers branch. And stick up for it they did, making nominees
of director Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar, author of the play Juicy
and Delicious on which the film is based. It's possible that
Beast's passionate fan base rallies around it in this
category, knowing that it stands little chance at winning any of its
three other nominations, but it's still probably too small and
unusual to pull off an upset.
Life
of Pi is shaping up to win lots of Oscars, and may even ride a
sweep of the craft categories on to Best Director and Best Picture
triumphs, but I think the buck stops at Best Adapted Screenplay. The
film is more revered as a directorial feat than a feat of writing,
even though it presented many adaptation challenges to David Magee.
Challenges that some may feel weren't overcome, as several people
have complained about its framing device and cop-out ending. The
absence of dialogue for long segments of the film will inevitably
hinder it further.
Still
considered the frontrunner in many circles is Tony Kushner for his
brilliant paring down of the dense historical nonfiction Team of
Rivals into the beautifully theatrical Lincoln. There's no
denying that his screenplay is the most “writerly” of the bunch,
and that could help secure for him a much deserved win, even if Argo
ultimately takes Best Picture. Truth is, there's no reason not to
predict Lincoln for the win here, but Argo's presence
on this ballot is enough to give me pause. It just seems like a
category that Argo will take if it turns out to be our Best
Picture winner.
Finally,
the true dark horse in this race is David O. Russell for Silver
Linings Playbook. The Academy as a whole is much kinder to
comedies in the writing categories than they are in Best Picture and
Director, and many may see this as the perfect place to reward
Russell for penning and directing what is undoubtedly one of the
Academy's most beloved films of the year. I still think his
competition is just too stiff, but an upset is certainly not out of
the picture. And even though I think he hardly deserves it for this
particular movie, how cool would it to see an odd duck like Russell
win an Oscar!
Will
win: Argo
Runner-up:
Lincoln
Should
win: Lincoln
Should
have been nominated: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
