Best Picture Nominees - Hacksaw Ridge


Nine films have been nominated for Best Picture. We'll find out on Sunday, February 26 which one claims the top prize. But until then, I'll be taking a look at each of the Best Picture Nominees.

Hacksaw Ridge
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Luke Bracey, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, and Teresa Palmer
Director: Mel Gibson
Total Nomination: 6
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor (Garfield), Best Director (Gibson), Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing
About: Sometimes for a movie the nominations are the victory. When it comes to "Hacksaw Ridge," that's likely true for the big categories. It feels like an incredible long-shot to win Best Picture, ditto for Garfield as Best Actor. In fact, Garfield himself expressed surprise at the nomination. He did great work, and he deserves to be in the field, but Casey Affleck and Ryan Gosling are the clear favorites. Probably one of the biggest shocks on nomination day was hearing Gibson's name called in the Best Director race. He's a talented director who won the big prize before, 21 years ago for "Braveheart." But it's been a while since he helmed a big movie, and in the time since he won Best Director Gibson fell out of favor in Hollywood largely due to his personal actions. Yet, his work on this true story of a hero who held firm to his convictions despite a mountain of public pressure won voters over. It is a powerful and beautiful film, and was certainly among the best of 2016. Its best shot at taking home Academy Gold might be in the two sound categories. It is competing with fellow Best Picture nominees "Arrival" and "La La Land" in that category, but often complicated war movies have the edge. We'll see in a month.
Rating: R for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence including grisly bloody images.
Verdict: Four stars out of four.
Where to See It: "Hacksaw Ridge" has been re-released in theaters nationwide.

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