“THE MEXICAN” | |
Starring | Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and James Gandolfini |
Directed by | Gore Verbinski |
Running Time | 123 minutes |
Rated | R (violence and strong language) |
I am a huge fan of Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt. Roberts is funny and warm. Pitt is sexy and smart.
But in the new box office release “The Mexican,” I found few of those traits in the characters played by Roberts and Pitt. I was disappointed from the start, because I was expecting non-stop comedy and romance.
So, let’s see who leads the pack in the six main categories.
In the Best Picture category, “Gladiator” is almost a sure win. I’d have to say that even with all the great reviews that “Traffic” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” have received, they still do not have much of a chance against “Gladiator.”
“Gladiator” won the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture. Seven out of the last 10 times the Golden Globes have called the Best Picture at the Oscars. With odds like that, I almost want to go to Vegas.
The Best Director category is an interesting one because there are only four directors nominated. Steven Soderbergh has double nominations for “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic,” but he did not win the Golden Globe.
That honor went to Ang Lee for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” In my opinion, Lee might want to prepare his speech because eight out of the last 10 Golden Globe winners have gone on to win an Oscar.
The actors who are nominated against Tom Hanks should be prepared to lose because not only did he win a Golden Globe for his amazing performance in “Cast Away,” but he is also an Oscar darling. A win by anyone else would be a big shock.
The Best Actress category has to be the most obvious of all. Julia Roberts has won every award under the sun for her performance in “Erin Brockovich” and the likelihood of her losing is slim to none.
The categories for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress are going to be the two to watch.
The front-runner for supporting actor has to be Benicio Del Toro for “Traffic.” He has already won the Golden Globe and SAG awards, but