Reel Critics: Why only a single Best Picture?

After watching the Academy Awards show, it’s clear that this was a year with a great many worthy Oscar nominees. But a few glaring omissions cry out for further recognition.

The Best Actor category was missing two exceptional performances: David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King in “Selma” and Ralph Fiennes as the quirky concierge of the magnificent “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Both men were the heart and soul of those respective Best Picture nominees.

Academy voters have a median age of 62. So it makes perfect sense that Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her fine portrayal of an early-onset Alzheimer’s victim. But the most complex and demanding role for a woman this year was Rosamund Pike’s stunning portrayal of a beautiful, multifarious psychopath in “Gone Girl.”

Above all, I think the Academy really needs to separate Best Picture into three categories: Best Drama, Best Comedy and Best Action/Adventure. If that were so, the high-grossing “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” would have had a shot at truly popular representation in the awards.

“The Hundred Foot Journey” might have made the comedy cut, as “The Hangover” and “Bridesmaids” might have done in previous years. More eligible films demand more categories for equal consideration of their wide-ranging achievements.

—John Depko

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Costner at top of his game

Kevin Costner seems to be at his most confident and reassuring when he’s in movies about sports. In his better films, such as “Bull Durham” and “Tin Cup,” he’s flawed but always wryly self-aware.

“McFarland, USA” is no different and has Costner playing real-life coach Jim White. In Idaho in 1987, his temper has once again cost him his position as football coach. The only job he can find, and house he can afford, is in a mostly Latino, Central California farming town. As they pull up to their new home and see chickens in the neighbor’s yard, the White family is in for a cultural shock.

Jim’s stint lasts only a day before he ticks someone off, but he notices some boys are very fast long-distance runners, particularly Thomas Valles (Carlos Pratts). They inspire him to form a cross-country team, even though he can barely run and has only a kitchen timer for a stopwatch.

What follows is a variation on “Stand and Deliver” with running shoes. Predictable as the movie is, it doesn’t pander to stereotypes. The McFarland team loves to run and is not above teasing the coach about his name. The members also work twice as hard as any on the more elite teams, working at dawn as pickers alongside their families to put food on the table.

McFarland really is an all-American town: strong family values and gracious, caring neighbors who struggle with prejudice but aren’t jaded. And how refreshing that instead of portraying Jim as the “white savior,” it’s the coach himself who is saved.

Costner is solid and shares the screen equally with the charming, mostly unknown cast. The movie ends with a heartwarming coda featuring the real-life original team and its coach. This is a great American success story.

—Susanne Perez

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.