Nobody had imagined the immense success that would be “Top Gun : Maverick”. The year of his 60th birthday, Tom Cruise has shown that nothing was impossible for him. To the point of perhaps winning the Oscar for Best Actor in March 2023?
The race for the Oscars has begun
On Sunday March 12, 2023 will be held the 95th Academy Awards. As every year, American cinema will reward itself, distributing its statuettes to the most deserving films and professionals of the year 2022. First predictions have been made, even if there are still a handful of unreleased films to discover, like the long awaited Avatar : The Way of the Wateror Babylon by Damien Chazelle.
If James Cameron’s film should be well placed in the race for the Oscars, for the rest, trends are clearly emerging. And in these, Top Gun : Maverick often figures prominently.
Joseph Kosinski’s ‘Maverick’ Comeback Movie Is Indeed the favorite for several “technical” Oscars. Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Song are all well within his reach, and he offers fierce competition to all the other contenders in those categories anyway. Another category, and not the least, where Top Gun : Maverick has its chances: Best Film. Indeed, Hollywood loves box office hits, and if those have received rave reviews, then anything goes.
If it is very likely thatAvatar : The Way of the Water eventually exceeds the $1.5 billion in revenue at the box office of Top Gun : Maverickthe latter remains a huge success to which the Academy could pay tribute by awarding him the title of best film of the year 2022. But the other category which interests concerning Top Gun : Maverick is Best Actor.
Can Tom Cruise have it?
To date, Tom Cruise has been nominated for three Oscars. Twice in the Best Actor category for Born on July 4 and jerry maguireonce in the Best Supporting Actor category for Magnolia. Performances contrary to those on which he built his career and his superstar filmography. Since the mid-90s, he has favored big action films where he could shine in running, fighting and chaining stunts. Not really the kind of productions where the characters shine by the depth of the interpretation of their actors.
But Tom Cruise’s performance in Top Gun : Maverick has this particularity of questioning the nature of the acting profession. What is the most admirable? Transform like Brendan Fraser or Austin Butler, respectively for The Whale and Elvis, or collect the G in a fighter plane launched at more than 800 km / h? What is the most difficult? Delivering “European” caliber complexity like Hugh Jackman in The Sonor to move with simplicity in a meta dialogue against a diminished Val Kilmer/Iceman in Top Gun : Maverick ? Cinema is great magic, light or dark, and as such, which character of 2022 has come up with? the most beautiful illusion ?
“Maverick” as an outsider
If Tom Cruise can be nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor, he faces strong competition. Varietywho offers his predictions on this subject, don’t put it in the favorites.
The first two considered have everything to win the statuette. Brendan Fraser as a depressed and obese man in The Whale, back after a long hiatus, ticks all the boxes for ‘Oscar performance’. For his part, Colin Farrell delivers a major and heartbreaking performance in The Banshees of Inisherinalready praised by the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival. Austin Butler has largely convinced in the role of the legendary singer Elvis Presley in Elvis.
It remains to discover the performances of Bill Nighy and Hugh Jackman in Live and The Son. And as for Will Smith, no matter how high his game in Emancipationhis gesture at the last Oscar ceremony reduced his chances to nothing.
An Oscar for all of his work?
Faced with these brilliant actors experienced in composition, Tom Cruise therefore has a lot to worry about. But his luck lies in the cinema he embodies, a popular and fully invested cinema. In this regard, he is in a situation quite similar to that of Robert Downey Jr. after the historic success ofAvengers :Endgame. At the time, in 2019, Disney had briefly toyed with the idea of proposing him for a nomination for the Oscar for Best Actor, …
