Today I went to a special showing of the Oscar-nominated Live Action films. This was a very unusual year because I don't see any clear winner nor did I see any film I disliked. Oddly, however, I didn't see any I loved either and picking the winner is amazingly difficult.
Of all the nominees, "The Voorman Problem" and "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?" are by far the slightest and least likely to win the Oscar. HOWEVER, both films are very good and I am thrilled they included them. That's because the other three are all super-depressing (one is about child soldiers/rape and murder, another is about domestic violence and the other is about a child who is dying). I and the rest of the audience really NEEDED a film like "Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?" as we might have otherwise just stuck our heads in the oven when we got home! Now I am not being critical of these depressing films--they deserved the nominations. It was just nice to see one a little lighter and more fanciful like "The Voorman Problem".
The film stars Martin Freeman--a very, very familiar face these days. He was a Hobbit in the recent Peter Jackson films and also had very memorable appearances in "Love Actually" (very memorable in this case), "Hot Fuzz" and "Sean of the Dead" (among others).
Freeman plays a psychiatrist, Dr. Williams. Williams has been called to the local prison because one of the inmates believes he's a god--and all the prisoners are now sharing this belief! They worship the man and the prison routine is in shambles. So, not surprisingly, the prison wants to ship this guy off to the looney bin. What happens next? I won't tell you....you've GOT to see it for yourself. Funny, dark and very clever. It probably won't win the Oscar but I a was sure thrilled to see it.
