A Vanity Fair cover story about the late Chadwick Boseman, titled “Inside Chadwick Boseman’s Grand Finale,” is what I believe to be the last necessary push needed for Boseman to win that posthumous Best Actor Oscar everyone seems to be talking about since last fall, for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Boseman is set to join Peter Finch (Network) and Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight) as the only other deceased actor to win an Oscar posthumously. And yet, a dirty little secret all over the industry is that everyone knows Boseman doesn’t deserve to win. Sure, it’s an energetic and compulsively watchable performance, but we all know that Boseman will be winning the Oscar this coming April because of his tragic passing last August. It’s become somewhat of an obvious conclusion now that most cinephiles have seen ‘Ma Rainey.’
During a pandemic, people want something to feel good about. Giving an Oscar to a young black actor who just died is too incredible a narrative to resist. He might beat Anthony Hopkins’ masterful performance in “The Father”. He might beat Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal.” And for what? As Levee in ‘Ma Rainey,’ Boseman gives us a fierce and fully-formed delivery of the legendary August Wilson’s words, but at the end of the day, he is overacting in what is essentially a stage play. Same with Viola Davis’ who is also touted to win the Actress category for her grotesque burlesque singer.
Vanity Fair describes Leve as “the performance of [Boseman’s] career.” I’m sorry but the performance of Boseman’s career was as James Brown in the severely underseen 2014 film “Get On Up”. Boseman didn’t even get nominated for his work in that movie. It’s not even close. I’m still waiting for that film’s reevaluation from critics and audiences alike.