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Things I do with words - Denzel Washington is the male Meryl Streep

Every year there are one or two Oscar nominations where someone is up for an award because everyone generally likes them rather than because they did anything particularly impressive in their most recent performance.

Every year there are one or two Oscar nominations where someone is up for an award because everyone generally likes them rather than because they did anything particularly impressive in their most recent performance. This year, that nomination goes to Denzel Washington for Roman J. Israel, Esq.

I don’t know if Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a good movie, but reviews were bad. I’m sure Washington gives a good performance, he generally does, though it also seems to be one of those performances defined by the hair department. But after the “Oscars so white” controversy from a few years ago, it’s actually important that Washington has ascended to the Meryl Streep plateau, where an actor can get a nomination no matter what they do.

Every awards show has their head scratching nominations, but the Oscars are often pretty predictable when they go safe. Beyond Streep, Tom Hanks is usually a reliable nomination, though this year he has been succeeded by Washington, and Daniel Day-Lewis pretty much has a nomination as soon as he signs a contract. The Academy also has an inexplicable love of the films of Stephen Daldry - even Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was up for best picture and nobody liked that. Given that there are a limited number of nominations in each category, it can seem strange that there are people who are nominated no matter what, even if they’re not actually doing anything all that special.

It’s unlikely Washington will actually win the award. Daniel Day-Lewis might be retiring – I will believe it’s his last performance if he’s dead, of course, as entertainers are notorious for short-lived retirements – and that’s the kind of thing the Oscars love giving awards to, the statuette could go to Day-Lewis at least partially to recognize a career filled with great performances, beyond the one in Phantom Thread.
Washington also isn’t the biggest long-shot in the category. Daniel Kaluuya put in great work in Get Out, but it’s a horror movie, and those don’t typically get Oscars. I’d also be very surprised if Gary Oldman’s makeup gets it for Darkest Hour, but then I was very surprised to see Darkest Hour get any attention at all.

Given all of the racial animosity that exists south of the border, cynically stoked by the people leading the country, it’s still good to see that the Oscars’ safe choices have become more diverse. Washington is a fine actor who generally gives a good performance. He even tends to be the best part of the bad movies he’s in. He really is the male version of Meryl Streep. Now, like Streep, he will get award nominations just because he’s on screen. Because of what’s happening in America right now, that has suddenly become important.