Movies
My Rankings & Thoughts On Five Nominees For Best Adapted Screenplay For The 96th Academy Awards
My Rankings & Thoughts On Five Nominees For Best Adapted Screenplay For The 96th Academy Awards
Holy Shit, what a loaded category. Having seen all the films, I mean holy shit, how am I supposed to pick out a favorite from this list. I’ll admit that in the screenplay categories, I have trouble distinguishing the screenplay from the quality of the picture. I am also learning how much of a film’s silence is written into a screenplay, and how important that is to a film’s success. It’s easy to credit a screenplay when the dialogue is snappy and the conversations are fast and fluid, but what praise do you give when there are moments of silence that are more powerful than anything with words?
It’s time for the Best Adapted Screenplay nominees.
No. 5
“Barbie” – Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
Barbie got royally fucked being placed in Adapted Screenplay rather than Original. Sometimes common sense is the better path than legal language. But we can’t change that now.
Barbie has the delicate job of being blunt for comedic sake, but subtle for story and themes. Greta Gerwig and Noam Baumbach create a world that is vibrant, utterly its own, and immediately understandable. You know everything about it. You know all the rules and all the odds and ends. The differences between Barbieland and the real world are stark, and it’s once we leave the pink fairy tale land that my trust in the script waivers.
The Mattel corporation and part of the story is not closed nearly as well as other arcs. The fine delineation between subtle on and on-the-nose becomes gray which lessens what are meant to be big moments. In the end it’s a bit too much of a kumbaya party for my liking, but one can’t deny that the framework from which this was created from nothing and made it universally palatable.
It’s the writing that makes people care about Barbie, and while I don’t care about it as much as many, one has to see its impact.
This power couple or Gerwig and Baumbach is not shy when it comes to Academy Gold. Gerwig has been nominated for four Oscars, as has Baumbach. Gerwig has been nominated three times for writing, twice for adapted with Barbie (2023), and Little Women (2019), and once for original with Lady Bird (2017). Baumbach has two writing nominations not including Barbie; in 2019 there was Marriage Story and in 2005 there was The Squid And The Whale (2005), both of which were original.
Barbie was nominated for a total of eight Academy Awards and the winner of one: Best Original Song (2x), Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
This screenplay is adapted from the Mattel doll line.
No. 4
“Poor Things” – Tony McNamara
I have a newfound appreciation for the Poor Things script after having written about it just a few days ago. Being able to flesh out the different inspirational stories and the way they were woven together makes the Poor Things viewing experience an even more memorable one.
Beauty And The Best, Alice And Wonderland, Frankenstein and additional classic tales help form the story for Emma Stone’s second Oscar-winning performance. Bella Baxter as a character is a Roald Dahl version of Benjamin Button. McNamara’s ability to play with the concept of age, maturity, sexual exploration and societal norms while also micro-dosing the audience with familiar yet lavishly overdone settings is a pristine achievement.
Tony McNamara now has two Oscar nominations to his name. In 2019 he was nominated for Best Original SCreenplay for The Favourite, and this year for Adapted Screenplay for Poor Things. Safe to say that McNamara enjoys collaborating with Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone.
If I had one question for Tony McNamara, I would ask how he collaborates with the behind-the-scenes cast and crew when writing. Does he do it at all? Poor Things was nominated for Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling and Production Design. All of these components need to be in sync, so how does it happen?
Poor Things won four Oscars, the second highest total, trailing only Oppenheimer. It took home the golden statute for Best Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup And Hairstyling, and Best Production Design. All in all, Poor Things was nominated for 11 awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematographer, Best Directing, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Picture, and Best Supporting Actor.
Poor Things is adapted from a 1992 book Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer by Alasdair Gray.
No. 3
“The Zone Of Interest” – Jonathan Glazer
One of the big questions I would have for accomplished screenwriters is how do you write silence into a script. How do you write in the sound effects that make a story like The Zone Of Interest so horrific and heartbreaking? How do you emphasize the subtle moments without drawing too much attention?
If I could, I would ask these questions to Jonathan Glazer.
There are very few scenes in The Zone Of Interest where voices are raised. Everything about it is mellow, and that’s what makes it so tragic.
One of the biggest hallmarks for a good script in my mind is if it leaves you thinking after the fact, and what is the big question it’s trying to ask. After watching The Zone Of Interest, I was left with such a burning query.
What is scarier?
Being part of a society or culture that is knowingly doing something horrific and choosing not to stop, or living amongst tragedy and terror but thinking it’s totally normal and acceptable?
Jonathan Glazer and his masterpiece of The Zone Of Interest earned him his first two Oscar nominations for Best Directing and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Zone Of Interest was nominated for five Academy Awards this past year, winning Best International Feature and Best Sound. It was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Zone Of Interest was adopted loosely from a 2014 novel by Martin Amis of the same name.
No. 2
“American Fiction” – Cord Jefferson
The story of American Fiction coming to be is perhaps the most unique of any of the nominees. First time movie screenwriter Cord Jefferson met with author Percival Everett, the author of Erasure. Perceival had been approached by Hollywood before, but he never wanted to let go of the reins. That is until Cord Jefferson talked to him.
And what a time to go on the Hollywood ride.
Jefferson sharpened his pen on TV, starting off primarily on The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore and progressions to HBO’s acclaimed and award-winning TV Mini Series, Watchmen. Then comes American Fiction, and now Jefferson can call himself an Oscar winner for the rest of his career.
Doing meta, self-referential comedy while still keeping both feet on the ground is a challenging task that Jefferson accomplishes. So much of American Fiction seems like it could never happen, but the script prescribes the perfect amount of absurdity to the proper characters. The members of the book critic club besides Monk and Sintara are perfect one-lane characters and the big book publishers are perfect pushovers.
To show how strong this script is, just look at the stage play that breakouts when Monk starts writing FUCK. That scene has no right to work as well as it does, but once you realize what’s happening, it’s an absolute blast.
This is Cord Jefferson’s first Oscar nomination.
American Fiction was nominated for five Oscars in total: Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor. Writer (and director) Cord Jefferson took home the gold for best Adapted Screenplay.
No, 1
“Oppenheimer” – Christopher Nolan
Some may call me a shill for Oppenheimer, but in terms of a movie script, there are few that are able to accomplish what Christopher Nolan has done so well. Oppenheimer is three different movies, combined into one movie, with themes and visual motifs that are woven throughout.
Nolan is able to combine many of his favorite story inspirations into this one tale. He gets to play with different time tables and literally countdown clocks. He also gets to play with ego and power. Oppenheimer is literally about the man who changed world power dynamics forever when the countdown ticks down to zero.
One’s appreciation for the screenplay depends on the third act. Do you like it, or do you hate it? It is the most divisive part of the viewing audience. It is asking a lot because it does evolve into a fast-talking, political, backroom loyalty test. While Oppenheimer is getting quizzed on his love for the Stars and Stripes, Nolan is asking us how long he can drag us along.
For me, I am on that leash the entire way lapping up all the drama that’s unfolding. All of it is so satisfying. So, so, satisfying.
Christopher Nolan won his first two Academy Awards for Best Directing and Best Picture with Oppenheimer. Nolan has been nominated for eight Oscars in his career, three of which are for writing. Oppenheimer in Adapted, and then both Memento (2001) and Inception (2010) for Best Original.
All in all, Oppenheimer was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and winners of seven: Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Sound, Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
Oppenheimer is Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
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