Oscar History: 1999

The 20th century ended on a high note when it came to movies. 1999 marked a year filled with high quality material, including a game changing picture that was only victorious in the technical categories.

Sam Mendes’ American Beauty, the dysfunctional family drama, was the big winner.

It took Best Picture over The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider, and The Sixth Sense. A very solid group of movies, to be sure.

And there’s plenty more that weren’t nominated that should have merited consideration. For starters, how about Spike Jonze’s completely original Being John Malkovich? 

Or Pixar’s Toy Story 2, which garnered even better reviews than its beloved predecessor?

Then there’s Fight Club, David Fincher’s terrific black comedy that drew mixed reaction upon its release, but has since become a classic.

And there’s that “game changing” movie. That would be the Wachowski’s The Matrix, one of the most influential sci-fi pictures of all time. It upped the bar for all similar genre pictures that have followed since.

Sam Mendes would take director honors for Beauty, over Lasse Hallstrom for Cider House, Spike Jonze for Malkovich, Michael Mann for The Insider, and M. Night Shyamalan for Sixth Sense. The odd man out: Frank Darabont, whose Green Mile got the Picture nomination. Certainly, the Wachowskis and Fincher should have been given a look. And there’s Paul Thomas Anderson, whose challenging yet often remarkable Magnolia marked his follow-up to 1997’s Boogie Nights. 1999 also saw legendary director Stanley Kubrick’s final film, the Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman sexual drama Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick died in March ’99 and his swan song was released four months later. It received mixed critical and audience reaction (personally, I thought it was pretty great).

The American Beauty love fest would continue in the Best Actor race, with Kevin Spacey picking up the trophy just four years after he won Supporting Actor for The Usual Suspects. Other nominees: Russell Crowe for his excellent work in The Insider, Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story, Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown, and Denzel Washington in The Hurricane. I probably would have given the edge to Mr. Crowe, but certainly Spacey gave a fine performance.

While The Sixth Sense was honored in the supporting categories, Bruce Willis’s understated performance that anchored the film was not recognized. And in keeping with my common theme in these posts, I would’ve honored comedy here and nominated Eddie Murphy’s work in Bowfinger.

In 1999, Hilary Swank was mostly known for starring as The Next Karate Kid in a badly received 1994 sequel. This would all change by fall of ’99 when Swank starred in Boys Don’t Cry, an independent feature casting the actress as a transgender character who is brutally raped and beaten.

Swank would win Best Actress, beating out frontrunner Annette Bening in American Beauty, as well as Janet McTeer in Tumbleweeds, Julianne Moore in The End of the Affair, and Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart. 

Again, my feeling that comedy should be recognized would’ve extended to Reese Witherspoon’s fantastic performance in Alexander Payne’s Election.

The Supporting Actress race would recognize Angelina Jolie for her role in Girl, Interrupted. Other nominees: Toni Collette for The Sixth Sense, Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich, Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown, and Chloe Sevigny for Boys Don’t Cry.

Others that should have been considered: Cameron Diaz in Malkovich, Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club, and Thora Birch, surprisingly shut out for American Beauty.

The Supporting Actor race was a close competition between Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules and Tom Cruise in Magnolia. Caine would take home the gold. Other nominees: Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile, Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley, and young Haley Joel Osment in Sixth Sense.

I definitely would have included John Malkovich for his work in (you guessed it!) Being John Malkovich. And on the subject of including comedic roles… um…. yeaaaaaah…. how about this guy (Gary Cole):

On a side note, the film that was expected to pick up all the technical categories in 1999 was the breathlessly awaited Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. And then The Matrix came out with its mind boggling special effects work. The Matrix would earn awards for Editing, Visual Effects, Sound Editing, and Sound Mixing. Star Wars? Zero.