MovieChat Forums > Chicago (2003) Discussion > No Best Actor nod for Richard Gere?

No Best Actor nod for Richard Gere?

posted 14 years ago by NickTony
31 replies | jump to latest

Obviously he would be very little competition to such greats as Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis (and, as it turns out, Adrien Brody!), but even after all these years, I believe Richard Gere should have at least gotten a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Renee was very likeable and deserved all the accolades she recieved, Catherine owned that Oscar from the first note of 'All That Jazz', Latifah was quite impressive in both singing and acting... John, as great an actor as he is, I don't think he deserved a nom for this movie... but Richard, I thought he absolutely owned the role of Billy Flynn. Especially in acting. He was slick, hedonistic, manipulative, slimy, smarmy, smug and everything the character was supposed to be.
And even though the Academy is no Tony's in relation to musical recognition (and so it shouldn't be), Richard was additionally very versatile in his singing... and the dancing... if his tap number during the courtroom scene was not one of the movie's most memorable moments, I don't know what is.

So, thoughts?

I'm allergic to bee stings. They cause me to, uh, die.

[–] ylliks 14 years ago

he's the worst of the main cast of chicago. Val kilmer will do better than him

[–] bhodgman 14 years ago

Quite simply - he got hosed.

He was good in Primal Fear too - yet got little (if any) respect for that performance as well...

I don't know who he was up against this year, but his performance was as good as anyone else in the cast imho...

I particularly enjoy the 'They Both Reached For the Gun' sequence.

Formula of my happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal. ~ Nietzsche

[–] PillowRock 14 years ago

I don't know who he was up against this year

Best Actor in a Leading Role

WINNER
The Pianist: Adrien Brody
NOMINEES
About Schmidt: Jack Nicholson
Adaptation.: Nicolas Cage
Gangs of New York: Daniel Day-Lewis
The Quiet American: Michael Caine

Frankly, I don't have a problem with Gere not quite cracking that group. It's not that Gere wasn't good; he just didn't do anything special enough that I could point to any one of those 5 nominees and say that he *definitely* should have been deprived of a nomination so that Gere could get it (nor did the role ask him to do anything that special).

Not that there was anything wrong with Gere's performance, but I've always thought that Kevin Spacey would have made a very good Billy Flynn.

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[–] eleudean 14 years ago

Primal Fear is one of my favorites and I agree, he was quite good in that. Held his own with Laura Linney and she is amazing.

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[–] SweetSorcia 14 years ago

His character was pretty one-dimensional. All the rest of the actors who got noms had to portray much more complex roles than Gere did. While I think he did a decent job, he just didn't have the degree of difficulty the others did.

"Well!!! Since when did you become the physical type?"

[–] fidelio1980 14 years ago

I don't know if I'd say Billy is more one-dimensional than Amos. But the difference is that Gere had to contend in the lead category, and Reilly didn't.

Billy would almost certainly be the most difficult of the major characters to get a nomination for playing, because he'd have to be considered the lead, but the character doesn't have the screentime of a typical lead - and he doesn't have much of a character arc, either.

[–] TheSilverScreenJunkie 14 years ago

Agreed NickTony, to me, Richard Gere was the best part of this film, he got hosed of a nomination, i dont think he should of won but to not get nominated for portraying an character so well like he did, AND that "other-performing" character for his stage sequences, i thought he was brilliant.

total letdown he didnt get more acknowledgement from this performance

"...8 year olds, dude..." -Walter , The Big Lebowski (1998)

[–] vilzvet 14 years ago

Well don't forget he actually WON the Golden Globe for acting for this role, yes it's a double amount of nominees for the GG's since they split the drama and comedy but he did indeed win for this role. Good going, Richard!

[–] TheSilverScreenJunkie 14 years ago

ah, right on, didnt know that thanks :)

"...8 year olds, dude..." -Walter , The Big Lebowski (1998)

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[–] bellroad 14 years ago

You know, I've seen this movie before (when it was released), and loved it. And I liked Gere, but don't recall being overly impressed with his performance. However...I watched it again last night, and I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY after his tap dance number! He was amazing! The only explanation I can come up with is that I was so impressed by all of them as a group, that somehow his performance didn't stand out. But wow...it does now!

[–] schoolqueen12 13 years ago

Fantastic performance and I really am surprised he didn't even receive a nod for this!

[–] eviljanet 10 years ago

@bellroad - I had that same experience right now.

When I saw Chicage in the theaters, I was 22. I was blown away by the cast as a whole. Tonight, I saw the movie on the TCM channel (no commercials - whut whut!) and was absolutely floored with Richard Gere's performance. I'm flabbergasted that he didn't receive an Oscar nomination. He totally nailed that role. I'm glad John Travolta passed I the role.

[–] luvthepros (798) 5 years ago

I'm not so sure all the taps we heard were actually danced by Gere. I have read that the entire tap sequence was actually Gere but I honestly don't believe it. Much of the dance was heard but not seen and there were sections of the number that were tapped so lightly and rhythmically, a beginner would not be able to produce such taps. .

[–] wintercobra 13 years ago

Agreed 100% he was fantastic and deserved an acting nod

[–] Prismark10 13 years ago

I think a best supporting actor nod should had gone his way.

Its that man again!!

[–] Frankie16 12 years ago

I really think the Gere is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood of the past 30 years or so. I thought his performance in Chicago was the best in the whole movie, and that includes Catherine's (as good as hers was).

[–] larpine 12 years ago

Please. I think he did well considering he was outside of his element, but clearly the film was carried by the rest if the cast.

[–] blue-3 11 years ago

larpine, on Sun Feb 24 2013 20:30:31 wrote:

Please. I think he did well considering he was outside of his element, but clearly the film was carried by the rest if the cast.

I wouldn't even go so far as to say he did well. He didn't ruin it but was, IMHO, the least memorable -- particularly his singing. I couldn't help thinking how much better our local amateur theatre's Billy Flynn was. He managed a perfect Vaudeville sound which I think is appropriate for this character and his court room tone was far more likely to elicit sympathy of the audience -- I mean, the jury. :-) (I realize some of that is because of the immediacy of live theatre which can't be done with film.)

[–] ginda2000 11 years ago

This is a tricky one for me. When Gere was cast I was really disappointed, because there had been rumours Kevin Spacey was going to get the role - who I felt would have been much better.

The bottom line is Billy Flynn is a pretty two dimensional role. His character has no journey to go on and he operates on a default setting throughout the entire piece. As strange as it may seem, it's a very difficult role for an actor to make good with. If you look on the opposite, Velma Kelly is one of the best roles in musical theatre. The character gets one of the most fantastic opening numbers of all time, gets to smolder, do varying styles of dance and play a part that ranges from star to nobody within the whole piece and back again.

Gere was good in the role, but he didn't deserve to win any oscars for it, basically the role isn't oscar worthy in the way Velma Kelly, Effie (Dreamgirls) or Fantane (Les Mis) is. Gere was down a list to be asked to play it. John Travolta was the favourite choice and turned it down three times! He now says its the biggest regret of his career. Hugh Jackman was also offered the part and declined as he felt he was too young - he also now regrets his decision.

Rob Marshall approached Richard Gere because he knew he'd started in musical theatre (and few actors in Hollywood at that time had). Gere was very blase about accepting the role and refused to audition (for the singing and dancing). He worked really hard on the part and he did a good turn. He basically didn't let the film down at all.

As I said, the Billy Flynn role is a very 2D one and few actors would have been able to put in an exceptional performance with the lines Flynn is given. Gere played the acting part really well and put him across as a pretty devious character.

[–] Improvfan (15) 9 months ago

The role was originally offered to John Travolta. And Travolta admitted publicly he regretted turning the role down. I think Travolta would have been better fit for this movie then Hairspray. I think he's the weak link in Hairspray. I didn't have a problem with Richard's Gere performance. But when I first watched it didn't really scream Oscar nomination for me.

[–] ModarNow 10 years ago

He totally deserved a nomination for best supporting actor.... It was soooooooooooo unfair!. Every time I watch this masterpiece I think of the same thing: Why didn't those bastards give Richard Gere a nod? his role is so amazing and distinguished...

It will always be one of the Oscars' biggest mistakes...deliberate mistakes.

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