Oscars: The Case of Jodie Foster in Nyad

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It began with the ten BP contenders and now it alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the other five big races. Today we arrive at our fourth performer in Best Supporting Actress and that’s Jodie Foster in Nyad. Let’s get to it!

Previous Oscar Acting Nominations:

Taxi Driver (Supporting Actress, 1976); The Accused (Actress, 1988, WON); The Silence of the Lambs (Actress, 1991, WON); Nell (Actress, 1994)

The Case for Jodie Foster:

The legendary actress hit the Globes/SAG/Critics Choice trifecta of precursors. Foster’s fifth Oscar nod comes nearly 40 years after her initial supporting try and almost 30 years since her last leading nomination. It may not hurt that she’s just coming off an acclaimed TV role on HBO’s True Detective: Night Country.

The Case Against Jodie Foster:

In addition to Foster missing BAFTA, Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) has won everywhere and appears easily headed toward the victory. While costar Annette Bening is up for lead actress, Nyad showed up nowhere else in the Academy’s mentions.

The Verdict:

This is Randolph’s prize.

My Case Of posts will continue with Ryan Gosling in Barbie…

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.