"Mystic River" Gets in Oscar Flow

This year, the Oscar race begins at Mystic River, and, in a surprise, all but bypasses Middle Earth.

Mystic River, the Clint Eastwood-directed thriller about old friends, old scars and new tragedy, was named Best Film of 2003 Wednesday by the National Board of Review.

The highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, meanwhile, was shut out of the top categories, with the fantasy franchise's final installment rating but one mention for Best Ensemble performance.

The New York-based National Board of Review traditionally is first out of the multiplex with its year-end picks. (On Wednesday, it shared the early-bird title with the Independent Spirit Awards, which announced its nominations.)

Others getting early jumps on their Oscar buzz, courtesy the NBR: Sean Penn, named Best Actor for his roles in Mystic River and 21 Grams; and Diane Keaton, named Best Actress for the comedy Something's Gotta Give.

The famously persnickety Penn, who probably doesn't keep track of such things, is a three-time Oscar nominee. The more personable Keaton also is a three-time Oscar nominee, as well as a one-time winner, for 1977's Annie Hall.

In the supporting categories, board voters opted for Alec Baldwin, currently lauded for his hot-head performance in the casino flick, The Cooler, and Patricia Clarkson, cited for Pieces of April and The Station Agent.

While Eastwood's film was named best overall, it was Edward Zwick who took Best Director honors for the Tom Cruise epic, The Last Samurai.

Oscar historian Damien Bona said he was surprised by Samurai's showing. "I don't think [Zwick is] a director people have ever considered top-drawer," he said. "I think the advance attitude [on Samurai] was that it was a bit of a joke--Tom Cruise is playing dress up again."

Still, Mystic River and Last Samurai were one and two on the National Board of Review's rundown of the year's 10 best. The others (in order): The Station Agent, 21 Grams, House of Sand and Fog, Lost in Translation, Cold Mountain, In America, Seabiscuit and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Notably not on that list: The Return of the King. Peter Jackson's three-hour-plus opus, which had its world premiere Monday in New Zealand, is widely regarded as the film to beat at next February's Oscars. His previous two Lord of the Rings movies have combined to win six Oscars, and earn 19 nominations, including consecutive Best Picture nods.

It could be argued that the NBR has a distaste for hobbits and elves. Fellowship of the Ring received just one honor from the group; The Two Towers, none. Neither film was voted among their year's best.

Return of the King wasn't the only film to come up short on plaudits Wednesday. Seabiscuit and Master and Commander, two glossy Hollywood period pieces gunning for multiple Oscar nominations, if not wins, earned no individual recognition for their stars, writers or directors. Snubbed parties from those films included Tobey Maguire and Russell Crowe.

Tim Burton's Big Fish and Ron Howard's The Missing, other Oscar bait films, were completely ignored by the NBR.

Bona, author of Inside Oscar 2, a follow-up to the unofficial history guide Inside Oscar, cowritten with Mason Wiley, said he thinks The Missing, suffering from soft reviews and soft box office, will be out of the awards race by Christmas. Big Fish, he said, may have been "too quirky" for the review board's tastes, and may be "too out there for the Academy," as well.

In a year with no prohibitive Oscar favorite, other than possibly Return of the King, the review board spread its wealth, and awards, around. Mystic River was the only film to claim wins in even two categories.

Screenplay honors went to the writers of Cold Mountain (Best Adapted) and In America (Best Original). The latter award will be shared by director Jim Sheridan and his two daughters, and collaborators, Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan. (In America also led all nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards, with six nods.)

Elsewhere, Finding Nemo, the year's biggest catch at the box office, was named Best Animated Feature; The Fog of War, a profile of Vietnam War-era U.S. defense secretary Robert McNamara, Best Documentary.

As with other Oscar tuneups, the National Board of Review's awards are glimpses at what the Academy Awards lineup might be. Sometimes the NBR, handing out hardware since 1929, is in sync with Oscar voters; sometimes it's not. In 2000 and 2001, the group's picks for Best Actress, Julia Roberts and Halle Berry, respectively, went on to claim Oscar gold. Last year, its choice for Best Actor, Roger Dodger's Campbell Scott, wasn't even nominated by the Academy.

"One has to keep these things in perspective. Very quickly the NBR becomes irrelevant as the New York film critics and the Golden Globes come out," Bona said.

Unlike the New York Film Critics Circle (its members voting on its annual awards on December 15) and the Golden Globes (nominations due out December 18), the National Board of Review is comprised of not critics, but, as the group says, "film professionals, educators, students, and historians."

Here's a complete look at the National Board of Review's 95th annual film awards, due to be presented January in New York:

Best Films: 1. Mystic River; 2. The Last Samurai; 3. The Station Agent; 4. 21 Grams; 5. House of Sand and Fog; 6. Lost in Translation; 7. Cold Mountain; 8. In America; 9. Seabiscuit; 10. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Mystic River and 21 Grams
Best Actress: Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Best Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April and The Station Agent
Best Acting by an Ensemble: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Breakthrough Performance Actor: Paul Giamatti, American Splendor
Breakthrough Performance Actress: Charlize Theron, Monster
Best Director: Edward Zwick, The Last Samurai
Best Directorial Debut: Vadim Perelman, House of Sand and Fog
Best Adapted Screenplay: Cold Mountain
Best Original Screenplay: In America
Best Documentary: The Fog of War
Best Animated Feature: Finding Nemo
Best Made-for-Cable Movie/Miniseries: Angels in America
Best Foreign Films: 1. Barbarian Invasions; 2. Best of Youth; 3. Monsieur Ibrahim; 4. Autumn Spring; 5. Man on the Train
Best Documentaries: 1. The Fog of War; 2. Capturing the Friedmans; 3. My Architect; 4. Winged Migration; 5. Spellbound
Special Filmmaking Achievement: Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Career Achievement: Morgan Freeman
Career Achievement--Film Music Composition: Hans Zimmer
Career Achievement--Cinematography: John Toll
Billy Wilder Award for Excellence in Directing: Norman Jewison
William K. Everson Award for Film History: Richard LaGravanese and Ted Demme, A Decade Under the Influence
Producers Award: Gale Anne Hurd, Kathleen Kennedy, Christine Vachon
Special Recognition of Films that Reflect the Freedom of Expression: Capturing the Friedmans, Dirty Pretty Things, The Magdalene Sisters, September 11
Special Mention for Excellence in Filmmaking (listed in alphabetical order): American Splendor, Bend It Like Beckham, The Cooler, Dirty Pretty Things, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Pieces of April, The Secret Lives of Dentists, Shattered Glass, The Statement, Thirteen, Whale Rider