Maybe it's not 'The Year of George Clooney,' after all
Forget George Clooney getting an acting nom for "Syriana."
Since the headstrong superstar pooh-poohed the expert advice of his Oscar campaigners and declared that he's aiming for the best actor category, he'll miss the race entirely. Sure, he has a lot of pluses that might inspire hope. The pretty boy pulls a regular Charlize Theron and dares to uglify himself, even packing on 30 pounds that moviegoers get to see too much of during a torture scene so horrifying that Diane Sawyer buried her head in hubby Mike Nichols' lap at a screening I attended in Manhattan. Oh, yeah, George even gives a good performance as a CIA agent caught up in U.S. intrigue over Middle East oil, but he doesn't have the screen time he needs to nab a nom.
Oh, puh-lease — don't give me that Oscar lecture about Anthony Hopkins' 24 minutes in "Silence of the Lambs" or Nicole Kidman's one hambone scene in a plastic nose at a train station in "The Hours." Yeah, yeah, there are exceptions to every rule, but there are also too many big boys giving massive perfs in this year's best actor race.
Seven chaps already seem like solid contenders for a race with only five slots: Eric Bana ("Munich"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote"), Tommy Lee Jones ("Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada"), Heath Ledger ("Brokeback Mountain"), Viggo Mortensen ("A History of Violence") Joaquin Phoenix ("Walk the Line") and Clooney's own costar from "Good Night, and Good Luck," David Strathairn.
So let's face it. There ain't room on that bench for Fat George, especially considering that lots of other lean, mean players are also angling for a spot, like Johnny Depp ("The Libertine"), Terrence Howard ("Hustle and Flow") and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers ("Match Point").
It looks like there may be no acting noms at all for "Syriana." Christopher Plummer has creepy impact, and could score a bid — he's certainly overdue and just the kind of veteran who often claims the supporting category — but he may not have enough wallop. Let's see how that race shapes up. And as good as Matt Damon is, well, he's just doing a good Matt Damon up on the screen. The academy hasn't bestowed many Oscars for that lately.
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