Maria (Netflix) Could Angelina Jolie’s Grand Return Land Her An Oscar?
Quick Take: When you hear “From the director of Jackie and Spencer”, the takeaway might be that you only remember the performances, and that is fair. Natalie Portman really swung for the accent in Jackie, and some people liked what Kristen Stewart did in Spencer. I’m not one of them. So, Pablo Lorraine is coming into Maria with a 50/50 shot of getting excellence from Angelina Jolie, and supporting her with a strong film. While I might have been mostly receptive to Maria, it seems as though many other critics are more tepid, which is allowing for a certain Anora breakthrough to steal all the focus this season.
But, playing Maria Callas might not be Jolie’s best work, but it is certainly a return to form, for the twice nominated actress, whose breakthrough in Girl Interrupted is still possibly her best work. Jolie has bounced around genres, sat behind the camera, advocated for human rights, raised a family, made a major healthcare decision for herself, and so many things since we saw her win for Girl Interrupted. She’s so mature, and that life experience translates into this terrifically informed performance on Callas, who reflects on her position as an artist, and also her own mortality.
The only problem with Jolie, is that 2024 was the year of about 15 Oscar caliber lead actress performances. So, her return to form, is lost in the noise of Nicole Kidman returning to form in Babygirl, Demi Moore in TThe Substance, Marianne Jean Baptiste in Hard Truths, and even a contemporary for Jolie, Pamela Anderson being transcendent out of nowhere.
Netflix is having a hard time getting momentum for this, because it is so shaped around Jolie. There isn’t a strong supporting player, no amazing score, or hot original song. The most this could hope for in the technical categories would be costumes, realistically. But, because it is so shaped around Jolie, if you think of Maria, you think of her. Pablo Lorraine does one thing right, and he treats his leading ladies with the ultimate reverence often also for the subjects they play. Maria is a good film, backed by a great performance. It also happens to be supported by an excellent audio description track, that like Larraine’s direction, is built to bring us Jolie’s performance. Her facial expressions, the costumes, the time period, all of it. Excellent. For more, check out my video.
