Richard Dreyfuss was robbed of the best actor oscar
He lost to nicholas Cage
I thought Dreyfuss was awesome and deserved the oscar anyone else agree?
Shut Up Dave!
He lost to nicholas Cage
I thought Dreyfuss was awesome and deserved the oscar anyone else agree?
Shut Up Dave!
I absolutely agree. Dreyfuss was phenomenal as Mr. Holland. When ever I think of him, this is the character I picture.
shareI like the idea of putting less stock in the win, and more in the mention.
I liked Cage and Dreyfuss equally in what were vastly different performances.
What each brought to his role was credibility, and a performance consistent what the director expected (of course I'm guessing). Whether the audience or the academy appreciated the performance is always secondary to pleasing the director.
The competition idea seems better suited to sports, which are geared toward satisfying the fans, than 'art' which should be appreciated as interpretive.
In the case of film the work is in the can long before the audience has a say,
therefore, pleasing the director is what counts. If each of the two actors gave the director a performance above and beyond what was expected, then each should receive the accolade. Who, besides the director, ought to say which measured higher on what essentially are performance scales unique to each director.
If it were up to me, the performance of Jay Thomas would have earned a mention.
I thought he and Dreyfuss played off each other as well as Paul Newman and Piper Laurie in the Hustler; each actor in that case having received a mere mention. There were comic overtones in one instance, and heart wrenching sadness in the other, but that's all part of acting, and some would say equally challenging for the actor. As for being robbed, the Hustler received a mere mention in all the 'biggies' but won only for art/set decoration (odd for a black & white film, but very much deserved by the way).
OP, your post makes me with that IMDB had a "like" button.
If you paid to see Transformers 3 in the theater, shame on you.
Leaving Las Vegas was probably the best performance Nicolas Cage ever gave.
It is also a portrayal of affliction, which the academy loves. But in the end it really doesn't matter since Richard Dreyfus was so great in this movie regardless of what accolades he did or didn't receive.
Richard Dreyfuss is ten times the actor Nic Cage is. That said, Cage's performance in "Leaving Las Vegas" was his one great performance. In general, the 90s were dominated by dark films and dark characters in film. That's probably why they gave the nod to Cage. Dreyfuss was very strong in this film, although the film was a bit cliche, and this type of film was not at all in vogue in the mid-90s. A feel good film about an inspiring educator with a baby-boom generation ethos had much more of an 80s vibe to it. There are also a few things a little off in "Mr Holland's Opus", like how he barely aged from 1965 to 1980, then he appeared to have aged 25 years by the end of the film.
At the time I thought Cage deserved by a landslide. Now, looking back, I think it was a very close call, but I think Cage was the right choice. Richard Dreyfuss deserves some type of "life time" achievement award and his body of work is FAR superior to that of Cage's.
Its a tough call. 17 years later, viewing both films, I would say Dreyfuss deserved it. But in the context of the mid-90s, I would have said Cage deserved it. I think what hurt Dreyfuss, was that his role was inspirational in a very conventional sense, with a strong Baby-Boom generation ethos. Those things were very much "out of vogue" in the mid 90s. "Mr Holland's Opus" has more of an 1980's vibe to it.
Also, both Dreyfuss and Cage were clearly far better than any of the other nominees. No doubt, its a very close call, probably one of the closest in recent Oscar history.
Does any one else think Mr Holland looks like a duck when he was conducting his Opus at the end of the film?
I respectfully disagree. This is a decent movie and he gave a decent performance, but it falls short of an Oscar-worthy movie or lead performance. It's sort of an Oscar-bait movie.
shareAs much as I love this movie and love Dreyfuss in it, Nic Cage gave the performance of his career in LEAVING LAS VEGAS and deserved to win the award.
shareI really wanted Dreyfuss to win the Oscar, he SO deserved it. However, Nicolas Cage also gave a stellar performance. Too bad they had to give such phenomenal performances in the same year. Both roles should've won Oscars.
shareCage, for my money.
Many people would have seen Mr Holland's Opus as another "teacher-makes-a-difference" movie.
Leaving Las Vegas is confronting, to say the least.
I think a lot of actors that year were unfairly lost out to Cage!
Its that man again!!
I gotta say yes. Richard Dreyfuss was destined for great roles, he's a very good actor. Unfortunately since he WAS robbed of his academy award, he never got the roles he deserved afterwards.
shareJust saw this movie and wow, he was amazing!
Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?