Academy Voters Deliver the Unexpected

Apart from best picture recognition for “American Beauty” and “The Insider,” surprises were about the only things that seemed inevitable in this year’s wide-open Oscar race, and the nominations announced Tuesday didn’t disappoint on that account.

Perhaps the biggest shock was the strong showing (seven nominations) of “The Cider House Rules,” which came on like a minor league player who hits a grand slam his first time at bat in the majors.

No less surprising was “The Sixth Sense,” which tallied six nominations with five in the top categories (picture, director, screenplay, supporting actor and supporting actress). Oscar chances for the wildly popular sleeper hit had been thought to be diminished by its genre (suspense) as well as its blockbuster popularity--although it was not a preordained hit like “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” (which was the only film that did more business last year and received only technical nominations).

In the acting ranks Jim Carrey (“Man on the Moon”) has to be the biggest snub. That makes two years in a row--last year for his performance in “The Truman Show”--that Carrey has impressed critics and won a Golden Globe and still come up empty-handed at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The omission illustrates the academy’s long bias against comic performers who try their hands at drama--Robin Williams being the main exception. Also among the missing for best actor was Matt Damon (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”) and the perennial Tom Hanks (“Green Mile”).

Although the relentless Miramax marketing machine was a bit more subdued this year, perhaps in response to criticism of its pull-out-the-stops campaigns last year for “Shakespeare in Love” and “Life Is Beautiful,” the Disney-owned company’s Oscar push was very effective on “Cider House” and the real kicker, a best actress nomination for Meryl Streep in the not-too-well-reviewed “Music of the Heart.”

Miramax head Harvey Weinstein had reportedly promised Streep a nomination if she agreed to do the film (after first-choice Madonna abruptly left the project over “creative differences”) and he’s clearly a man who delivers. One wonders if Miramax had spearheaded the “Ripley” Oscar campaign (co-production partner Paramount released it domestically and Miramax is handling the film overseas), if that picture might have fared better in the top categories.

Before Tuesday, most best picture bets were on “Beauty” and “Insider,” but the three remaining spots for best picture were up for grabs. “Ripley” and “Being John Malkovich” apparently proved too “weird” for the older-skewing overall membership of the academy, although they were recognized by voters in individual branches (directors, writers, actors).

“The Hurricane” seemed to be plagued by one too many stories attacking its veracity and landed only a single nomination for the film’s one undisputed strength, Denzel Washington’s performance as the title character, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter.

First Honor for ‘Cider’ Director Hallstrom

The final best picture nominee, “The Green Mile,” is practically green from the seesaw effect, going from shoo-in months before it was released to dark horse afterward and back again.

“Cider House” director Lasse Hallstrom was probably the biggest surprise among the directing nominees, not having been previously honored. So was first-time feature director Spike Jonze (“Malkovich”), although he also made the Directors Guild list.

Aced out in the directing category were previous Oscar winner Anthony Minghella (“Ripley”) and veteran Norman Jewison (“The Hurricane”) as well as “Green Mile” director Frank Darabont, the only one of the directors of the five best picture nominees who was not also nominated for his work behind the camera. Both Minghella and Darabont were cited for their screenplay adaptations, however.

Mike Leigh (“Topsy-Turvy”) also pulled down an unexpected nomination here (his New York critics recognition notwithstanding), but again, not for his directing.

In an admittedly weak year for best actress, Reese Witherspoon (“Election”) and Sigourney Weaver (“A Map of the World”) were thought to have a fighting chance, but neither picture was widely seen.

In the supporting categories, Christopher Plummer (“The Insider”) stands out as probably the most glaring omission. Chris Cooper and Wes Bentley (“American Beauty”), and Cameron Diaz and John Malkovich (“Being John Malkovich”) also seemed like good bets as nominees, while Philip Seymour Hoffman obviously split voting with three different turns in “Magnolia,” “Ripley” and “Flawless.”

Surprise inclusions were dark-horse candidates Sean Penn and British actress Samantha Morton for Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown,” a largely overlooked film that once again attests to the academy’s fondness for Allen’s work. Despite a downturn in his popularity with audiences, Allen’s films seem to make an impression on academy voters, although this year the writer-director wasn’t nominated for his screenplay.

The only surprises in the adapted screenplay category were the inclusion of the critically acclaimed but little seen “Election” and the absence of Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair.”

Among original screenplays, curiously Paul Thomas Anderson was nominated for “Magnolia” in this category, which critics had singled out as one of the weaker elements of the film, and not for his directing, for which he had received generally high marks for the performances he got from his actors.