Well, any hope that this would be a quiet, scandal-free Academy Awards season just flew out the window. The surprising nomination of Andrea Riseborough in the Best Actress category for her performance in the little-seen drama To Leslie has prompted the Academy to investigate the grassroots social media campaign behind it.
Here’s the statement from the Academy:
“It is the Academy’s goal to endure that the Awards competition is conducted in a fair and ethical manner and we are committed to ensuring an inclusive awards process.
We are conducting a review of the campaign procedures around this year’s nominees to ensure that no guidelines were violated, and to inform us whether changes to guidelines may be needed in a new era of social media and digital communication.
We have confidence in the integrity of our nomination and voting procedures, and support genuine grassroots campaigns for outstanding performances.”
Readers of this site know that I reviewed To Leslie when it opened last October, and found Riseborough’s performance to be incredible. I’m not alone. The film has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 84% on Metacritic. So this isn’t a case of a great performance that snuck in despite being part of a bad movie.
The problem To Leslie faced is that it was a small, understated film with a tiny distributor, Momentum Pictures, that can’t afford a huge Oscars campaign. The only way Riseborough was ever going to get recognized was through social media and word-of-mouth, and that’s what they used. Not the usual backroom schmoozing awards season is accustomed to.
So where does this go? I don’t know, but I’m tired of hearing people complain that Riseborough is the reason Viola Davis or Danielle Deadwyler didn’t get a nomination. Hey, shit happens. And Riseborough has long been one of the best actresses in the world. She deserves a bit of recognition for that.
I'm here for all of the sudden #ToLeslie buzz. Andrea Riseborough is devastatingly good.
Review: 'To Leslie' – Punch Drunk Criticshttps://t.co/VNryVzIrrT pic.twitter.com/a4z1tvuzud
— Travis Hopson (@punchycritic) January 20, 2023
