Why Is This Oscar Nominee For Best Picture So Overrated?
I knew very little about Anora before seeing it…
I knew it was an Oscar nominee for Best Picture; I knew that the lead, Mikey Madison, was nominated for Best Actress; and I knew that the plot was about a sassy sex worker getting into hijinks. I also knew that there was a funny scene involving a boner. Putting two and two together, I assumed that Anora was an exceptionally hilarious ‘80s-style sex comedy about a pale awkward loser losing his virginity. In some ways, I was right. And yet, Anora turned out to be neither as funny nor as groundbreaking as I thought it would be, considering all the breathless critical reviews I’d read about how incredible it was. Seriously, how many drugs do critics consume before attending official screenings? They talk about some of these movies like they’re going to cure cancer. And that’s after giving those movies 20 minute standing ovations. Do you know what I would give a 20 minute standing ovation to? The “Hostile Government Takeover” song. Not Anora.
Here’s why.
1. It isn’t really “ha ha” funny
Look, Anora is not bad, not remotely. It’s a good dramedy and it maintains an addictive manic energy throughout. But it’s not a comedy and I wish critics would stop pretending that it is. This movie does not elicit guffaws; it elicits chuckles. The physical scuffles and petty violence read more like theatrical farce, like what you would see in a Michael Frayn play. Chaos erupts, distracting your eye. You stare, transfixed. But you do not laugh, not explosively. In fact, the whole second half of this movie is an engrossing dramatic character study. As Anora’s fairy tale collapses around her, she summons a resilience, self-possession, and maturity that she couldn’t quite reach before. The final scene is just her crying. Does that sound hilarious to you?
2. Speaking of fairy tales about sex workers …
Look, I love a good story about a sassy sex worker. But we’ve seen this character before! By my calculations, there are on average 73 Woody Allen movies and one Pretty Woman about sassy and likeable sex workers. It actually says a lot about society that the trope is still alive and well. If we actually respected sex workers and paid them a fair wage, then stories about sex workers wouldn’t feel like shortcuts to pathos on the silver screen. Anyway, my point is that Anora doesn’t feel revolutionary in its depiction of sex work on screen. However, it’s at least a depiction with modern sensibilities, so Anora never feels like a passive victim, even when the universe conspires against her.
3. Mikey Madison’s accent
Mikey Madison is great as Anora in this movie. She sells every flaw and nuance of the character with ease, immediately making you root for her. Even when she’s being selfish, you want her to win. But man, that accent is distracting. I know that they say in acting school that a character’s emotional reality should be more important than the accuracy of their accent, but still. Madison’s Brooklyn accent is like an SNL parody of a Brooklyn accent. It’s probably the one element of the movie that feels like broad comedy. In fairness, though, I read somewhere that Madison did this intentionally to insinuate that her character was putting on a Brooklyn accent to hide her Russian identity. Of course, that’s an amazing choice and backstory, but it unfortunately didn’t translate to the screen. Basically, this was a Selena Gomez in Emilia Pérez situation.
4. The curse of dramedies
As I mentioned, Anora is a good dramedy. But that’s the thing about dramedies. They rarely balance their genres to the point that either genre feels exceptionally potent. What animates Anora is the acting and direction: In addition to the talented cast (Mark Eydelshteyn should have been nominated for an Oscar), there’s the crackerjack editing that propels every scene. Depending on the moment, you feel just as carefree or desperate as the characters do, and that’s thanks to the director Sean Baker’s vision. But still, it’s tough to make a dramedy feel especially moving or especially hilarious. This is the same problem that sapped Oscar contender A Real Pain of its potency as well. Anyway, the bottom line is that Anora is a good movie and deserves its nominations. But will it change the face of movies forever? No. Only the “Hostile Government Takeover” song can do that.
