Unstoppablem, We Live in Time Face Uphill Awards Climbing

The Toronto International Film Festival is reserving its opening weekend for world premieres — films that haven’t previously screened at Sundance, Cannes, Venice or Telluride. Unfortunately for the festival, it looks like most of this season’s films with serious awards prospects haven’t decided to wait. Two films that debuted in the main slots Friday night, for example, Unstoppable (5:30 p.m. at Roy Thomson Hall) and We live in time (9:30 p.m. at the Princess of Wales Theatre). Both are deeply engaging and moving, but they also have very narrow paths to future awards.

Unstoppablethe directorial debut of the Oscar-winning film editor William Goldenberg (2012) Argo), tells a true story Anthony Robleswho was born with one leg and came from a broken home, but still managed to become a world-class student wrestler. Jharrel Jerometalented Emmy Award winner for When they see usdoes a particularly good job playing Robles, with the help of some first-rate visuals. Also very good are the Jennifer Lopez as his mother; Bobby Cannavale as his abusive stepfather; and Michal Peña AND Don Cheadleas his high school and college coaches, respectively.

Unstoppablewhich brought many tears and received a two-minute standing ovation (prompted by the presence of the real Robles), is not at all different Rockywhich it references multiple times in multiple ways. The difference is that we’ve seen multiple sequels Rocky and countless similar hoaxes that have, combined, desensitized audiences — and voters — to some extent when it comes to stories about underdogs and against-the-odds sports, even when they’re true and well-done.

In a very weak awards season for male performers, I wouldn’t completely write Jerome, who’s only 26, off the running for best actor. But unless the film wins the influential TIFF Audience Award, I think Amazon/MGM will probably have to settle for a decent, limited theatrical and streaming reception before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, We live in time is the latest film John CrowleyThe Irishman who led the team in 2015. Brooklyn for best film, actress (Saoirse Ronan) and adapted screenplay nominations, then came back down to earth in 2019, a commercial and critical failure Goldfinch.Crowley’s new film is neither as great nor as awards-friendly as Brooklyn nor as frustrating and reward-unfriendly as Goldfinch. It’s somewhere in the middle.

Based on the original script Nick Payne, We live in time – just like Constellationsthe 2015 play for which Payne is perhaps best known — a two-person play that jumps forward and backward in time, starring two of the game’s most beloved movie stars, Andrew Garfield AND Florence Pughas a young couple falling in love, living their lives, and facing a tragic situation — though not necessarily in that order. And achieving what they clearly set out to do.

The film — which A24 will release on a date yet to be announced — is a good, old-fashioned tearjerker, a more modern and risky take on something like Walter Pidgeon AND Greer Garson we would have played together 80 years ago. But is it something that has the scale and gravity that Academy members typically respond to? Probably not.