Less than a month after his Best Actor in a Comedy triumph at Hollywood's other big award show, Carrey joins The Hurricane as the biggest snubs in the Y2K Oscar race.
For the second year in a row, the rubber-faced comedian was ignored in the Academy Award's Best Actor category, in spite of victory at the Golden Globes. This year, he was snubbed for his comic portrayal of Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon. Last year, it was for his dramatic turn in The Truman Show.
So what gives?
According to Los Angeles Times writer Richard Natale, "The omission illustrates the Academy's long bias against comic performers who try their hands at drama." Adds Time film critic Richard Schickel, "It was a mistake not to nominate Jim Carrey. His was a wonderful performance. But he will have his day eventually. It was a singular performance...People probably thought that Andy Kaufman was too weird."
Carrey's online fans were a bit more blunt. "Screw the Academy," writes one irate participant on a celebrity newsgroup. "Are you kidding me? They actually snubbed him twice in a row? You'd think after back-to-back Golden Globes, they would have realized, plus he plays Kaufman brilliantly. No one else could have done it."
Along with fan support, Carrey can take consolation from the fact that he's not alone. Aside from Golden Globe winner Denzel Washington's Best Actor nod, the much-hyped story of falsely accused boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was noticeably absent from the Academy Awards ballot as well.
Veteran director Norman Jewison missed out on a Best Director nod, and the film itself was pushed aside in favor of American Beauty, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider and The Sixth Sense in the Best Picture category.
Many believe the controversy over the accuracy of The Hurricane, which has been dogging the film for months, is to blame for the Oscar snub. In articles in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, the filmmakers were accused of distorting history and falsifying Carter's legal battles. And though they vehemently denied the allegations, even taking out ads in the trades and publishing Websites to make their case, the damage had been done.
There are also those who think The Hurricane was passed over for other reasons. "I don't think the controversy had any impact on the nominations," says Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. "The reason it didn't get nominated is because the Academy of voters was not as impressed with the film [as the public]. Even critics are saying the main point of the film is Washington. The rest of the film is great, just not great enough to be chosen as one of the top five films."
But that doesn't placate fans of the film. "I think the Oscars did a horrible job this year, just horrible," rants one Netizen about The Hurricane's lone nomination. "I thought last year was bad, but this is the worst. I'm only gonna watch because of [Billy] Crystal, but every award will rip away at my heart because no one will get what they deserve."
Other disses? Despite multiple nominations, neither The Talented Mr. Ripley nor Being John Malkovich snagged the Best Picture props many had predicted for them. Such marquee stars as Tom Hanks (The Green Mile) and Mr. Ripley's Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow were also shut out, as were The Insider's Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer and Being John Malkovich's John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and John Malkovich himself. And Toy Story 2, the Golden Globe winner for Best Film (Comedy or Musical) and a fixture on many critics' year-end Top 10 lists, only snagged one nod, for Best Song.
The awards will be presented March 26 in a live ABC telecast hosted by Billy Crystal.
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