Judi Dench's Oscar Win - WTF?

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 2:56pm

What was so amazingly EPIC about her eight minutes of screen time in Shakespeare in Love that deserved not only an Oscar nomination but an Oscar WIN ... Must have been a crazy year, since she didn't win the Globe a few weeks beforehand - it went to Lynn Redgrave... Was this another 'lifetime achievement' thing like Christopher Plummer and Jessica Tandy?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 3:00pm

That's why I said in the other thread that we need a "Best Performance By A Senior Citizen" Award (otherwise known as the Best Supporting Actor/Actress award).

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 3:51pm

This is one of the few times I think they got it right. Dench did more with those 8 minutes than anyone else in the cast will do in their entire careers, and yeah, that includes Colin Firth.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 4:07pm

I just watched a clip of one her scenes on YouTube, and have to say I was bored throughout all 3 minutes. I admire Dench as an actress, and think her performance in Notes on a Scandal, for instance, is outstanding, but I don't see why she needed an Oscar for this performance in S in Love.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 4:10pm

Ok

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 4:19pm

Oh and FYI I adored Dench in this film and thought her last scene with Gwyneth was worth an Oscar all by itself.

[dreaming]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 4:54pm

I adore Dench and thought she was great in Shakespeare in Love. That said, Lynne Redgrave should've walked away with her Academy Award for her brilliant performance in Gods and Monsters. She really was terrific in the film-almost unrecognizable and gave a truly beautiful performance. (She would go on to say she was most proud of this role because it stretched her range.)

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 5:15pm

I'll take Dame Judi's brief turn as an unforgettable Elizabeth I over Lynn Redgrave's mugging in GODS AND MONSTERS -- Redgrave came off like she was auditioning for a reboot of MAMA'S FAMILY.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 6:03pm

This was a consolation prize because the year before she should have won Best Actress for Mrs. Brown. Instead the Oscar went to Helen Hunt for As Good As It Gets.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 6:05pm

Judi Dench is one of those actors for whom they should award a goddamn Nobel Prize for Acting.

Updated On: 1/6/13 at 06:05 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 6:15pm

Dench deserved her win.

A picture can paint a thousand words, and Dench "said a mouthful" with her expressions, her look, her walk ... and she got more mileage out of that single line about "knowing what it's like to be a woman doing a man's job" ... Oh, yes, by God, she knows it.

There was so much history and "backstory" and character in that moment on screen. It was an entire "leading lady" performance in a handful of words.

I remember thinking she just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I actually said it to the person I was with, and they laughed and agreed.

Her win wasn't a surprise at all.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 6:48pm

It certainly was not a surprise, at all. It was one of the most widely predicted wins ever, you really just can't imagine it if you weren't there. Best12's experience of predicting the win immediately upon seeing the performance was damn near universal.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 7:00pm

The Golden Globes are also not always a great predictor of the Oscars. Dench won the BAFTA and the film picked up the SAG award.

[Musicaldudepeter]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 7:28pm

The Globes are a good prediction, the BAFTAs are not since they honor British films a lot of the time, e.g. S in Love picked up a s***load of acting nominations for its English actors, as did other films like Love Actually, The Iron Lady, Vera Drake, etc.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 7:32pm

Ok

[Wynbish]

Posted: 1/6/13 at 7:50pm

So, Christopher Plummer should not have won for Beginners?

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/7/13 at 9:18am

Yeah, I'll disagree with the OP -- there was nothing merely "Lifetime Achievement" about Jessica Tandy's win for DRIVING MISS DAISY. She was magnificent in the role, there's no two ways about it, few Oscars have been as absolutely deserved as that one.

If we're talking "Lifetime Achievement" Oscars, otherwise known as the Old Fogey Prize, we're talking Don Ameche winning for COCCOON, or Alan Arkin in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.

Posted: 1/7/13 at 10:17am

As Dame Dench and our own Dame Phyllis have demonstrated, sometimes one can make a huge impact with a few moments and a well-delivered word or two.

[D2]

Posted: 1/7/13 at 10:20am

Since when does an Oscar-winning performance have to be EPIC? What's wrong with awarding an intelligent, commanding performance that infuses an entire film despite limited screen time?

And it could hardly be called a "Lifetime Achievement" as Dame Dench was a relative newcomer to Hollywood and little known in the states prior to "Mrs Brown."

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/7/13 at 10:27am

Plummer was magnificent in BEGINNERS. Heartbreaking.

Dench was wonderful in Shakespeare in Love...and I probably would have given her the win over the other actresses nominated (though Kathy Bates was fan-F*CKing-tastic in Primary Colors).

I still contend, however, that the best supporting actress of 1998 wasn't even nominated...and that would be Lisa Kudrow for her beautiful work in The Opposite of Sex.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/7/13 at 11:26am

I agree about Christopher Plummer in Beginners. The way he played the curiosity and the delight that old man took in his new life was startling and beautiful to watch.

[AC126748]

Posted: 1/8/13 at 9:59am

Hermione Baddeley was nominated in 1959 with 2 minutes and 30 seconds of screen time. Beatrice Straight won with under 6. As others have said, the length of a performance does not matter, especially when we're talking supporting roles.

I thought Kathy Bates was going to win that year--she gave the kind of big, brassy performance (with a lot of heart too, especially in her wrenching final scene) that often gets rewarded. And with Bates winning the SAG and Redgrave taking the Golden Globe, I'd say there was no clear front-runner. Personally, I thought Lisa Kudrow was Oscar-worthy in THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, but she wasn't even nominated.

ETA: Robbie, I didn't read your post before posting, but we seem to be in agreement.

Updated On: 1/8/13 at 09:59 AM

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/8/13 at 10:30am

Dench's Oscar win was no crime.

But Beatrice Straight? THAT WAS INSANE! When I finally saw Network, I was like, 'Jigga WHAT? Over Piper Laurie AND Jodie Foster?!?!?'

[OrdinaryJukebox]

Posted: 1/10/13 at 1:07pm

Oh, please, if we were to discuss every undeserved win, we'd be writing a huge novel.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 1/10/13 at 2:11pm

She wasn't given the award for her performance. She was given the award as a "Sorry you had to work with the incompetence of Gwyneth Paltrow" gesture.