No 'Doubt' about it. AFI launches in style

"This was the kind of harrowing experience I don't ever want to relive again," said AFI Fest Artistic Director Rose Kuo on pulling off the literally last-minute coup getting Miramax's prime Oscar contender "Doubt" to replace "The Soloist" after it was pulled from 2008 release and moved to March.

Even though the official program still listed "Soloist", there could be no question there was probably even greater opening night anticipation for "Doubt" especially considering stars Meryl Streep and Amy Adams along with writer/director John Patrick Shanley all put in appearances. Shanley said the print was literally wet and they scrambled to get travel arrangements in place so everyone could show. Unfortunately co-star Philip Seymour Hoffman couldn't make it due to becoming a father for the third time a couple of days earlier and supporting standout Viola Davis was still recovering from an appendectomy on Monday that also knocked out a planned appearance at the Hollywood Film Awards. Producer Scott Rudin also was stuck in New York.

Reaction to "Doubt" seemed quite favorable across the board with Oscar talk afterward for Streep, Hoffman, Davis and Adams as well as the picture, which is the kind of well-crafted adaptation of a Broadway play to Hollywood that the Academy used to honor all the time. Whether they still do in 2008 is the bigger question. Anyone remember "The History Boys"? Seven Tonys -- zero Oscar nominations. This one's got a lot more going for it, and producers should feel confident "Doubt" will play particularly well with older voters and the actors branch.

It will compete for that crowd with Ron Howard's adaptation of Peter Morgan's play "Frost/Nixon," as both have been flawlessly transferred to the screen from their New York roots.

AFI Fest, which runs through Nov. 9, when Ed Zwick's Oscar hopeful "Defiance" closes the proceedings, also should generate some Academy attention for its Nov. 8 world premiere of "Last Chance Harvey" with stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson attending.

After a raucous standing ovation, Hoffman told me at my KCET Cinema Series screening of the film this week (he was seeing it for the first time in finished form) that this role of a 65-year-old jingle writer getting a second chance at love is as close to him as any role he's every played including "Kramer Vs. Kramer" (he was going through a divorce at the time). He's fully behind the picture by second-time filmmaker Joel Hopkins ("Jump Tomorrow") and Golden Globe nominations for him and Thompson seem like a no-brainer for starters.

Another interesting Oscar possibility to watch AFI unspools is Steven Soderbergh's two-part epic, "Che" which initially played to mixed response in Cannes in May. The Saturday night Chinese screening of all 262 minutes (about 20 minutes shorter now and with a 20-minute intermission) is said to be drawing huge response from several actors and Academy members, according to reps for the film. This comes in the wake of a New York Academy screening that we are told also drew enthusiastic response from potential voters, particularly for Cannes Best Actor Benecio Del Toro's performance. Could there be a turnaround from the early critical brickbats it took before hitting America?  The earliest indication will be to count how many empty seats there are as Part 2 begins.

The AFI screenings of "The Wrestler" with Mickey Rourke and "Slumdog Millionaire" -- which follows a Danny Boyle tribute Nov. 7 -- should also keep the heat on those Searchlight awards contenders.

In his opening remarks Thursday night AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale said even though his fest takes place in the heart of Hollywood, it wasn't about who's wearing what, or how much money a movie makes or who might get nominated for awards, it's all about the films and the work. That's what the AFI Fest is dedicated to highlighting in the next week.

That's certainly true, but there was a strategic reason the American Film Institute moved their film festival from spring to November several years ago, landing it smack into the heart of awards season  --   and it wasn't quite all about purity.

Like everyone else, AFI Fest  wants to be a part of the Oscar season dialogue.

No "Doubt" about it.

-- Pete Hammond

(Meryl Streep, center, Amy Adams, left, and director John Patrick Shanley, courtesy Andrew Gombert / EPA)

Comments

[Stephen Holt]

Um, I'm a little confused. Does Fox Searchlight have BOTH "Slumdog" AND "The Wrestler" as you say above? I thought "Wrestler" was IFC. Please correct me if I' m wrong.