It Was a Very Good Year--<i> Not!</i> : 81 film critics don’t agree on much--except that 1991 had little to recommend

Never mind those box-office blues--the fact that Hollywood ticket sales plunged about 6.4% in 1991. What kind of movie year was it, artistically speaking?

“Grim,” said David Ansen of Newsweek. “The big studio product, with few exceptions, was timid, unimaginative and dumb. And Hollywood is encouraging the audience to have the same attributes.”

“The worst movie year I can remember,” echoed Tony Lucia of the Reading (Pa.) Eagle. “I had trouble putting together a Top 10.”

No wonder audiences stayed away in droves. If there was any unanimity among the nation’s film critics, it was that 1991 produced one of the all-time worst crop of movies. Real-life, made-for-TV spectacles such as the Gulf War, the Soviet political rises, the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill showdown and the Palm Beach rape trial outstripped Hollywood’s lame and tame output. “Real-life events were simply more compelling than the predictability, the formula-ness, of most movies,” said Stephen Schiff of Vanity Fair.

Although U.S. film critics agree it was a terrible year for discerning moviegoers, they concur on little else. The Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. hailed the gangster saga “Bugsy” as best film of 1991. The New York Film Critics Circle tilted toward the chilling “The Silence of the Lambs.” The National Society of Film Critics, also New York-based, gave its nod to “Life Is Sweet, “ a funny, oddball look at a British working-class family by director Mike Leigh.

To seek a more democratic consensus, we went outside the big-city organizations and conducted a poll of 81 newspaper, magazine and television film critics--a geographic sampling across the country. Critics were asked to vote the best film achievements of 1991--in effect, “critics’ Oscars.” There were some surprising winners--and the least agreement, the most splintered voting, in the 12-year history of this poll.

Certainly, in 1991, there was no certifiable “big picture” for critics to rally around--no auteur-de-force like 1990’s “GoodFellas,” which in last year’s poll of 80 critics rated 34 votes as best picture and another 45 for Martin Scorsese as best director. This year, best picture votes were spread out among 25 candidates, quite a few of them, stubbornly, foreign-language preferences. And the domestic front-runners--”Silence of the Lambs,” “Thelma & Louise,” “JFK,” “Barton Fink,” “Cape Fear” and “My Own Private Idaho”--drew worst picture votes from more than one critic.

No question that “Silence of the Lambs,” which indulged a fascination with the psychotic mind within the taut rhythms of a serial murder mystery, topped the best picture category. But “Silence” received only 19 votes from our film critics, with “Thelma & Louise” a distant second (12), and no other motion picture tallying more than 7.

“Silence”-maestro Jonathan Demme was voted best director--yet with only 20 votes. Some of his supporters minced their admiration for his ability “to take the movie committee process and make it work like a well-oiled medieval torture rack,” in the words of Joan Bunke of the Des Moines Register. Again, the other votes were spread out over 25 directors, and only Barry Levinson for “Bugsy” (8) and Oliver Stone for “JFK” (7) were in any position to threaten Demme’s victory.

There was a backlash against the disturbing subject matter of “Silence.” “It contained an overall ghoulishness that I found mindless and sickening,” complained Jim Delmont of the Omaha World Herald, who named it the year’s worst. To Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Demme directing “Silence, “ as well as Scorsese directing “Cape Fear, “ were pathetic examples of first-rate directors “trying to make ‘arty’ exploitation films--like watching Picasso prove he can paint centerfold art.”

Even so, many of the nation’s film critics admired Anthony Hopkins’ riveting lead performance as psycho killer Hannibal Lecter. Hopkins received a comfortable best actor backing of 27 votes. Close behind was Nick Nolte (20) for his turn as Tom Wingo in “The Prince of Tides,” trailed by River Phoenix (12) in “My Own Private Idaho” and Warren Beatty (11) as “Bugsy.”

Best actress went neck-and-neck between Jodie Foster, the FBI heroine of “Silence,” and the two self-liberated desperadoes of “Thelma & Louise”--Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. Some critics thought the award ought to be shared between Davis and Sarandon. “They were perfect as newly minted fugitives, improvising freedom in a brutally masculine world,” said Douglas Armstrong of the Milwaukee Journal. But Davis (the ditzy one fleeing her husband and dull home life) pulled off an upset with 17 votes, edging Foster (14) and co-star Sarandon (13).

If Australian actress Judy Davis had collected all of her ballots for a single performance--she had scattered votes for playing the female muse of neurotic artists in three well-liked films, “Barton Fink,” “Impromptu” and “Naked Lunch”--she might have caught up. Whatever else the critics thought, they thought it was a very good year for Judy Davis.

Samuel L. Jackson was voted best supporting actor for his harrowing performance as the crack addict of “Jungle Fever,” the only kudo of this poll for that film. Runner-up was Michael Lerner’s quintessentially sleazy studio boss in the Coen brothers’ film of ‘40s Hollywood gone amok, “Barton Fink.”

Best supporting actress is, for some reason, always the most crowded, nip and tuck category. Mercedes Ruehl, who took a small role and made it memorable in “The Fisher King,” tied with nubile newcomer Juliette Lewis, who becomes a linchpin in the horror spun by “Cape Fear” (13 votes each). Kate Nelligan was one vote behind (12) for her domineering matriarch of “The Prince of Tides,” while Jane Horrocks of “Life Is Sweet” (9) and Diane Ladd for “Rambling Rose” (7) had followings.

Best original script was a cinch for James Toback’s witty and incisive screenplay for “Bugsy”(20), although there was healthy competition from novice Callie Khouri’s “Thelma & Louise” (13) and the Coen brothers’ script for “Barton Fink” (11).

In the category of best adapted script, there was a resounding vote here, for Ted Tally’s faithful treatment of the Thomas Harris bestseller that was the basis of “Silence of the Lambs” (20). David Cronenberg’s imaginative rendering of William S. Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch” came in second (10), followed by Calder Willingham’s lucid reworking of his memoir “Rambling Rose” (8).

Best editing: Doubtless Oliver Stone’s “JFK” was the year’s most controversial film, yet there was widespread sentiment to award his audacity . . . something . Many critics admired the movie, others were not so sure. Yet the tabulation was overwhelming for Joe Hutshing and Pietro Scalia’s editing (33 votes). “It was the only thing that really worked about that movie,” according to Robert Denerstein of the Rocky Mountain News (Denver). Finishing a distant second was Thelma Schoonmaker for “Cape Fear” (14).

Best special effects: At last, something almost everyone could agree on: “Terminator 2” vaporized the competition with 59 votes.

Best score (original or adapted): Disney’s animated “Beauty and the Beast” garnered votes in several categories, but here was its natural niche. The 23 votes reflected a general feeling that Disney animation is back, in large part due to the Oscar songwriting team of Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman. Runners-up included the Irish band belting out soul tunes in “The Commitments” (13), and, curiously, Elmer Bernstein’s re-orchestration of Bernard Herrmann’s original score for the remake of “Cape Fear” (10). Herrmann died in 1975.

As bad a year as it was for major studio movies, it was even worse for documentaries. “I’m not even sure I’ve seen a documentary this year,” admitted David Crumpler of the Florida Times Union. Of the two most widely distributed, “Paris Is Burning” and “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse,” Jenny Livingstone’s intimate portrait of Harlem transsexuals won strongly (30) over “Hearts” (19) as best documentary.

Foreign films also put the hinterlands at a disadvantage. “We hardly get them out here at all,” moaned Candice Van Dyke of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle (Cheyenne).

But it was an especially rich year for foreign films, in quality if not quantity. Critics had nothing but praise for “La Belle Noiseuse,” Jacques Rivette’s study of a creative relationship between an artist and his model. Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “The Double Life of Vernonique” (with Cannes’ best actress Irene Jacob in a tale of the disparate destinies of look-alikes with the same name), and director Yves Robert’s companion versions of Marcel Pagnol’s memoirs of his idyllic youth in Provence, “My Father’s Glory”/”My Mother’s Castle.”

But the winner for best foreign-language film, with 21 votes, was “Europa Europa,” a French-Polish co-production directed by Agnieszka Holland--an astonishing true story about a Jewish teen-age boy masquerading as a Nazi in order to survive the horrors of the Third Reich.

What went so terribly wrong in Hollywood this year? What were the worsening trends?

“Glossy treatment of Jewish tough guys,” griped Michael Medved of PBS-TV’s “Sneak Previews,” citing overly familiar characters in “The Marrying Man,” “Mobsters,” “Billy Bathgate,” “Bugsy,” “Homicide” and too many other movies.

For Lloyd Paseman of the Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon), it was “seeing male characters get kicked in the groin. Hopefully this will go the way of an earlier trend, watching characters vomit, which seemed to tail off after ‘The Witches of Eastwick.’ ”

“Length,” noted Richard Schickel of Time. “Too many movies with, at most 90 minutes of material, that go on 2, 2 1/2, 3 hours--the latest status symbol for the self-important directors.”

Let’s end this on an upbeat note. There were a few positive trends--more women directors, more black filmmakers. When the nation’s film critics were asked to cite a Rookie of the Year, there was an outpouring (32 votes) for John Singleton, the director of “Boyz N the Hood,” whose slice of South Central-L.A. life was heralded for its thoughtful depiction of an urban culture too frequently sensationalized.

And it is not every year that a studio or producer award is agreed upon by the critics in this poll, because most years the critics ask, “Are you kidding?”

This annum nearly one-fourth of the respondents nominated 20th Century Fox Chairman Joe Roth, as best producer, for green-lighting movies that bucked the Hollywood tide--risky, creative films with downsized budgets, such as “Barton Fink,” “The Commitments,” “Naked Lunch” and “Grand Canyon.” In this category, at least, the critics set aside differences. “Whatever else Fox has got,” in the words of Jeff Simon of the Buffalo News, “they’ve got guts.”

The Critics in the Survey

David Ansen, Newsweek; Douglas Armstrong, Milwaukee Journal; Gary Arnold, Washington Times; Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee (McClatchy Newspapers); Harper Barnes, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Sheila Benson; Ed Blank, Pittsburgh Press; Joe Bunke, Des Moines Register; Robert W. Butler, Kansas City Star; Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter; Jay Carr, Boston Globe; Mike Clark, USA Today; David Crumpler, Florida Times-Union; Jim Delmont, Omaha World-Herald; Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News; Duane Dudek, Milwaukee Sentinel; Rob Edelman, Schenectady Gazette; David Ehrenstein, the Advocate; David Elliott, San Diego Union; Jim Emerson, Orange County Register; Lawrence Frascella, US; Frank Gabrenya, Columbus Dispatch; Jack Garner, Gannett News Service; Gary Giddins, Village Voice.

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly; John Hartl, Seattle Times; Molly Haskell, author of “From Reverence to Rape”; George Hatza, Reading Eagle-Times; Stephen Hunter, Baltimore Sun; Richard Jameson, Film Comment; Michael Janusonis, Providence Journal-Bulletin; Carole Kass, Richmond Times-Dispatch; Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune; Rita Kempley, Washington Post; Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix; Andy Klein, L.A. Reader; Joe Leydon, Houston Post; Shawn Levy, American Film; Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News; Tony Lucia, Reading Eagle-Times; Rod Lurie, Los Angeles magazine; Mick Martin, Sacramento Union; Jack Mathews, Newsday; Todd McCarthy, Variety; Michael Medved, “Sneak Previews” (PBS-TV); Joe Meyers, Bridgeport Post (Conn.); Howie Movshovitz, Denver Post; Martin Moynihan, Albany Times-Union; Terry Orme, Salt Lake Tribune; Lloyd Paseman, Register (Eugene, Ore.); Danny Peary, author of “Cult Movie Stars”; Gerald Peary, Visions; Michael H. Price, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram; Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times; Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer; Eleanor Ringel, Atlanta Journal-Constitution; Candice Russell, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel; Andrew Sarris, author of “The American Cinema”; Richard Schickel, Time.

Stephen Schiff, Vanity Fair and National Public Radio; Wolf Schneider, American Film; Nat Segaloff, author of “Hurricane Billy”; Merrill Shindler, Cinematractions (Playboy Enterprises); Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Examiner; Jeff Simon, Buffalo News; Michael Sragow, San Francisco Examiner; Susan Stark, Detroit News; David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor; Bob Strauss, L.A. Daily News; Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly; David Thomson, author of “A Biographical Dictionary of Film”; Peter Travers, Rolling Stone; Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times; Joan Vadeboncoeur, Herald-Journal and American (Syracuse, N.Y.); Candice Van Dyke, Wyoming Eagle; James Verniere, Boston Herald; Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times; Josef Woodard, Santa Barbara Independent.