Kevin Spacey has been nominated twice for an Oscar for American Beauty in 1999 and before that for his role as Roger ‘Verbal’ Kint in Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects. Oh, and he also won the Oscar both of those times. However, it’s now been over ten years since Spacey was nominated for an Oscar and as far as 2010 goes he’s only got one opportunity, his role as Jack Abramoff in the recently deceased George Hickenlooper’s Casino Jack, which finally hits theaters in New York and Los Angeles this coming Friday. Does he stand a chance at earning one of those precious five Best Actor slots? Today I’ve got an exclusive red band clip to help you decide.
Right now I have Spacey in the #12 slot in my Best Actor predictions and I’m willing to say two slots are currently up for grabs as Colin Firth (The King’s Speech), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and James Franco (127 Hours) are locks for nominations. However, there’s some debate for those last two slots.
Personally I think Javier Bardem is going to get in for Biutiful, it’s a performance that simply cannot be overlooked, but that #5 spot is quite interesting. Does it go to Robert Duvall for Get Low, a performance that’s been losing steam for about a year now? Jeff Bridges for True Grit? I saw it this weekend and he’s great in it and it would be hard to keep him off the ballot.
Then there’s Ryan Gosling, Mark Wahlberg, Jim Broadbent, Sean Penn and Michael Douglas to consider for their various roles. Suffice to say, I see a rather strong five or six performances, but the Academy is never shy of slipping one by us that we didn’t expect and there is room here for that to happen.
So have a look at the clip below and see what you think, and for more on Casino Jack click here.
Two-time Academy Award Winner Kevin Spacey gives the performance of a lifetime in Casino Jack, a riotous new film starring Spacey as a man hell bent on acquiring all that the good life has to offer. He plays in the same game as the highest of rollers and resorts to awe-inspiring levels of conning, scheming and fraudulent antics to get what he wants.
Inspired by true events that are too over-the-top for even the wildest imaginations to conjure, Casino Jack lays bare the wild excesses and escapades of Jack Abramoff. Aided by his business partner Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper), Jack parlays his clout over some of the world’s most powerful men with the goal of creating a personal empire of wealth and influence. When the two enlist a mob-connected buddy (Jon Lovitz) to help with one of their illegal schemes, they soon find themselves in over their heads, entrenched in a world of mafia assassins, murder and a scandal that spins so out of control that it makes worldwide headlines.
Directed by the late George Hickenlooper (Factory Girl, The Man from Elysian Fields), Casino Jack returns Spacey to the type of role that made him famous – a cool-headed, articulate snake charmer whose wild ambitions knows no limits or boundaries. The film also stars Kelly Preston and Rachelle Lefevre and is produced by Gary Howsam, Bill Marks and George Vitetzakis from an original screenplay by Norman Snider. Executive Producers are Richard Rionda Del Castro, Lewin Webb, Donald Zuckerman, Dana Brunetti, Patricia Eberle, Warren Nimchuk, Angelo Paletta and Domenic Serafino. The Associate Producer is Rick Chad.
