Pattinson, Sandler lead contenders at Cannes
By Jake Coyle
AP Film Writer
CANNES, France
It’s a long way from May in France to February in Los Angeles, but the Cannes Film Festival has often been a breeding ground for Academy Awards campaigns.
The Oscars aren’t much on the minds of the filmmakers or attendees in Cannes; the festival is its own achievement, with nearly as much spectacle and prestige as the Academy Awards. Oscar potential, though, is often born in Cannes, and some early handshaking with the Hollywood Foreign Press, which puts on the Golden Globes, is sometimes sneaked into busy schedules.
This year’s festival concludes Sunday with the Palme d’Or presentation. Standing ovations on the Croisette appear likely to lead to awards consideration for a number of big names – some of whom aren’t the usual suspects.
ADAM SANDLER: When Sandler has waded into drama, he’s often won raves. But even more than his turns in “Punch Drunk Love” and “Spanglish,” Sandler’s tender, rumpled performance as a recently divorced father in Noah Baumbach’s “The Meyerowitz Stories [New and Selected]” was hailed as a new high point for the Sand Man.
NICOLE KIDMAN: It’s less a question of whether Kidman will be back in the Oscar hunt than for which film. She had two in competition in Cannes: Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Lobster” follow-up “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” and Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled,” a remake of Don Siegel’s 1971 Civil War thriller.
ROBERT PATTINSON: Pattinson’s scruffy, scuzzy performance as a Queens bank robber in Benny and Josh Safdie’s “Good Time” was immediately hailed at a career-best for the 31-year-old actor.
“WIND RIVER”: As the writer of “Hell or High Water” and “Sicario,” Taylor Sheridan’s Texas tales already have earned him a reputation for intense and weighty crime dramas. “Wind River,” which first premiered at Sundance in January, makes it three in a row for Sheridan, now making his directorial debut. The film is about a murder investigation on an Indian Reservation and its lead, Jeremy Renner, is also a standout.
“THE FLORIDA PROJECT”: Sean Baker’s film is about a pair of poor 6-year-old girls living in Orlando budget motels and in the shadow of Walt Disney World. It was one of the few runaway hits of the festival.