Oscar History: 1998

In 1989, Driving Miss Daisy was a surprise Best Picture winner over the frontrunner, Oliver Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July. In the 90s decade that followed, it could be said that every winner of the category was not a surprise at all:

Dances with Wolves in 1990. The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. Unforgiven in 1992. Schindler’s List in 1993. Forrest Gump in 1994 and Braveheart in 1995. The English Patient in 1996. Titanic in 1997.

This streak of non-surprises would end in 1998. Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, his World War II epic, was the clear favorite to take home the gold. It didn’t turn out that way, however, when John Madden’s period drama Shakespeare in Love took Best Picture.

1998 was a rather weak year for films, not holding a candle to the great year that was 1997… or a really impressive year that would follow in 1999 (more on that year very soon). Besides Ryan, the other three nominees were Elizabeth, Life is Beautiful, and another World War II epic, Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line.

As always, I have my own thoughts about movies that could have been included. Peter Weir’s The Truman Show represented Jim Carrey’s first (and best) foray into drama. Steven Soderbergh’s Out of Sight was a terrific crime caper that proved George Clooney was a true movie star and represents Jennifer Lopez’s best performance to date. And there’s the Coen Brothers brilliant comedy The Big Lebowski, which wouldn’t gain its deserved following until a little later on.

While Saving Private Ryan was not honored with Best Picture, Spielberg would win his second Best Director honor, beating out Madden, Peter Weir, Terence Malick, and Robert Benigni for Life is Beautiful.

Mr. Benigni, though, would provide two surprises in another major category. The Italian actor took home the Best Actor prize. His win was not expected at all, especially over frontrunners Ian McKellen for his wonderful performance in Gods and Monsters and Nick Nolte for his fine performance in Paul Schrader’s Affliction. Other nominees: Tom Hanks for Ryan and Edward Norton for his memorable role in American History X. The other surprise with Benigni’s win: his very exuberant acceptance of the award.

Other actors deserving of a nomination: well, there’s the aforementioned Jim Carrey for The Truman Show, George Clooney in Out of Sight, and, of course, Jeff Bridges for The Big Lebowski.

Gwyneth Paltrow would win Best Actress, as expected, for Shakespeare in Love. The four other nominees: Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth, Fernanda Montenegro for Central Station, Meryl Streep for One True Thing, and Emily Watson for Hilary and Jackie.

I mentioned J-Lo for her performance in Out of Sight. Others that could have been considered: Emma Thompson in Primary Colors and Kristin Scott Thomas in The Horse Whisperer. Once again, though, the Academy missed a golden chance to honor comedy and nominate Cameron Diaz for her hilarious turn in the Farrelly Brothers hit There’s Something About Mary.

Ed Harris was the frontrunner for the Supporting Actor race for his work in The Truman Show, but he would lose out to James Coburn for Affliction. The other nominees: Robert Duvall in A Civil Action, Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love, and Billy Bob Thornton for A Simple Plan.

Keeping with the Lebowski love, why not John Goodman’s uproarious turn as The Dude’s buddy? Also – Bill Murray for Rushmore and Don Cheadle for Out of Sight would’ve been high on my list.

A little history was made in the Supporting Actress race with its surprise winner, Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love. She beat out frontrunners Kathy Bates in Primary Colors and Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters, as well as Brenda Blethyn for Little Voice and Rachel Griffiths in Hilary and Jackie. The history? Dench had the least amount of screen time for any performer that won an Academy Award. Dench was on screen in Shakespeare for less than eight minutes!

Two more names that deserved consideration: Joan Allen (always wonderful) in Pleasantville and… of course, Julianne Moore for Lebowski.

All in all, 1998 represented a weak year at the Oscars that produced some truly surprising winners. Stay tuned for 1999!