Glenn Close has joined the select club of actors nominated for both an Oscar and a Razzie Award for the same role. Via The Hollywood Reporter, she owes this achievement to her performance as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance in the new film Hillbilly Elegy.
The Academy Award shortlist was announced earlier this morning, while the Razzies unveiled their lowlights last week. On the plus side, Close will be competing for her first Oscar against Olivia Colman (The Father), Amanda Seyfried (Mank), Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari), and Maria Bakalova in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. It is Close’s seventh Oscar nomination, following Best Supporting Actress nods for The World According to Garp (1983), The Big Chill (1984), and The Natural (1985), and Best Actress nominations in Fatal Attraction (1988), Dangerous Liaisons (1989), Albert Nobbs (2012), and The Wife (2019).
Looming at the other end of the spectrum is the Golden Raspberry, for which Close is up against Kristen Wiig (Wonder Woman 1984), Lucy Hale and Maggie Q (Fantasy Island), and the early favorite, Maddie Ziegler’s problematic performance as an autistic child in Sia’s Music.
Hillbilly Elegy had been receiving Oscar buzz since even before its release. But as soon as critics saw it they almost universally panned it, and now Ron Howard’s film has slouched to a 25% ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In his D review for Consequence of Sound, Blake Goble wrote that Close’s performance was “fine” but “predictable.” He explained,
“Ever heard of a dirty little phrase called “Oscar bait”? We get it. She’s the most sympathetic character. She gets to tell young J.D. like it is. She gets to cuss. She gets to cry. And ultimately, she’s fine. Her rural plight that runs from grandstanding to mawkish isn’t just predictable, it’s boring (and repetitive).”
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While at least 11 thespians have been up for an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry in the same year, only two had earned the dubious double-nod for the same character: James Coco for Only When I Laugh and Amy Irving in Yentl. Neither Coco nor Irving won either trophy, which bodes ill of Close’s chances for coming home with some hardware.
