Back in November, way before it was even cool to do so, Paul Schrader was raving about Andrea Riseborough’s incredible work in “To Leslie.”
Now, he’s doubled-down on social media by saying that she now also has his Oscar support and, for good measure, added a splash of taunting towards the Academy: “She’s got my vote. go ahead, investigate me.”
There’s a lot of support for Riseborough right now within the actors branch, maybe a few Debbie Downers, from a particular demographic, are vehemently opposed to her nomination, but otherwise I’m sensing a unity here that could translate into an Oscar win.
That is, of course, unless the Academy decides to rescind Riseborough’s nomination which, at this point, I highly doubt will happen. FACT: Riseborough deserves the nomination, she’s astounding in “To Leslie.”
Last November, I had written, in response to Schrader’s rave:
Riseborough is maybe the most criminally underrated actress working today in American film. When I saw “To Leslie,” as part of my SXSW coverage back in March, I for sure thought that it would become some kind of career breakthrough for her. Sadly, the film has come and gone without much attention. That seems to be a given now with every Riseborough film. Why? She deserves better than this […] this was an alcoholism drama that Riseborough absolutely elevated with raw feeling. Michael Morris’ drama seeks deep emotions and gets them thanks to the UK-born Riseborough and her ticking time-bomb of a performance, especially in the film’s stronger first half. There’s such passionate delivery to her work here, a sort of humanity that seeps through and makes Leslie feel like a fully lived-in character. This one comes straight from a very visceral, but vulnerable place in Riseborough’s psyche.
As expected, Snyder's latest is being torn apart by TIFF attendees. No mercy given. The film, which had its world premiere this evening, is being called by some one of the worst movies to ever premiere at the festival.