Second Take: Amy Adams deserved Best Actress Oscar nomination for ‘Arrival’
Amy Adams has been nominated for an Academy Award five times in the past, but was not nominated this year for her performance as Dr. Louise Banks in the science fiction film “Arrival,” which is up for Best Picture. (Courtesy of Jan Thijs)
By Cameron Vernali
Feb. 22, 2017 7:57 p.m.
I’m not usually one to make preliminary bets on Oscar nominations.
But this time around, I was confident I would hear Amy Adams’ name among the contenders for Best Actress in a Leading Role because of her stellar performance in the science fiction film “Arrival.”
I saw the movie in 2016, and Adams’ performance stuck with me as one of the best aspects of the film. She brought complexity to the character of Dr. Louise Banks, who is a linguist recruited by the government to try to communicate with newly arrived aliens. Adams guided the plotline through her honest and genuine portrayal of bravery and fear in a futuristic setting.
To my surprise and dismay, Adams was not nominated for an Oscar this year. I don’t usually spend more than 10 minutes moping over my missed predictions, but I felt more than passing dissatisfaction this time around – I was let down by the academy. Adams has been nominated for an Oscar five times in the past, but has yet to win; she is on her way to becoming a female Leonardo DiCaprio by the looks of it.
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The snub is puzzling because Adams wasn’t only a realistic and devoted actor – she played a leading woman who wasn’t sexualized, was passionate about the social science of linguistics and was a multidimensional character in the face of an alien invasion.
Adams’ type of character is underrepresented in the film industry. Banks didn’t pursue linguistics in order to woo a man and she wasn’t secondary to any of the men in the film. She was the lead, in charge of her actions and intelligent enough to try to unravel alien language.
Banks’ groundbreaking character reached its potential due to Adams’ acting. Adams genuinely touched upon a range of emotions that Banks experienced through her changes in tone, soft body language and persuasive monologues.
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The flashbacks of Banks’ daughter that were sprinkled throughout the film were unexpected to the character and Adams responded with as much shock and tender emotion as I did.
The bigger takeaway from Adams’ snub is the fact that her character had more depth than the roles of the actresses nominated for Best Actress, namely front-runner Emma Stone in “La La Land.” While Stone is just as good an actress as any, Adams played a more heartfelt and touching character.
An Oscar would have been a perfect way to honor a role that frames women as scientists or leaders in a male-driven field.
