From major blockbusters likeTop Gun: MaverickandAvatar: The Way of Waterto dramatic features includingThe FabelmansandThe Banshees of Inisherin, 2022 was a year in which various films garnered several Oscar nominations this awards season, including best picture.
To Leslieis a small independent drama that wasn’t viewed by many audiences, but the film’s star, Andrea Riseborough, earned what many viewed as a surprise Academy Award nomination for best actress. Andrea’s role as an alcoholic is raw, emotional, and reminiscent of powerful dramas likeLeaving Las Vegas,The Wrestler, and Barbara Loden’sWanda. It’s a performance and a film that shouldn’t be missed.
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Who is Andrea Riseborough?
Andrea Riseborough may not be the biggest or most popular actress in the world compared to Cate Blanchett or Margot Robbie, but she is an English actress who has several credits in film, TV, and theater. She made her film debut in the comedy-drama featureVenus, where the late great Peter O’Toole received his eighth and finalbest actor Oscarnomination. Andrea has starred in notable British comedies and dramas includingHappy-Go-LuckyandMade in Dagenham, and portrayed Margaret Thatcher in the BBC TV filmThe Long Walk to Finchley(which landed her a BAFTA nomination).
Andrea has also starred in several American films, including the sci-fi actionerOblivionwith Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman, as well as the Oscar-winning best pictureBirdmanwith a large ensemble led by Michael Keaton. She gained more prominence in 2017 as the love interest of Emma Stone’s Billie Jean King in the sports biopicBattle of the Sexes, and the daughter of one of the most ruthless dictators in history in the satireThe Death of Stalin. Andrea also starred in a few horror features such as the 2020 reboot ofThe Grudge, andPossessor(directed by Brandon Cronenberg, the son of celebrated filmmaker David Cronenberg) where she plays a killer who controls the bodies of other individuals to eliminate her targets.
What is To Leslie About?
To Leslieis an independentdramain which the title character is a single mother and an extremely troubled alcoholic living in West Texas. Leslie wins the lottery with a jackpot of $190,000, but all that money is wasted on alcohol and drugs. Years later, Leslie is shown struggling from place to place with very little luggage and barely any cash to pay rent at a motel. She is unable to stay with her son James and her mother Nancy (Allison Janney) due to her alcoholic addiction.
However, Leslie is offered a job by a motel owner named Sweeney (Marc Maron), who agrees to pay her for cleaning each room and washing the bedsheets. Despite feeling depressed about herself and being separated from her family due to her actions, Leslie tries hard to quit drinking and work diligently at her new job to make an honest living. Leslie and Sweeney also become close friends, engaging in personal conversations and understanding each other’s struggles and hardships.
To Leslieis a throwback to old-fashioned dramas about alcoholism and depression (every version ofA Star Is Born,Barfly, andSidewaysare among several examples). Andrea Riseborough’s role as Leslie isphysically transformativeand deeply poignant, and the supporting cast (especially Maron and Janney) also rises to the occasion. Maron is especially effective because he’s generally known for his stand-up and comedic work, but as Sweeney, he provides the film with a sensitive and compassionate performance that compliments his chemistry with Andrea’s Leslie.
The use of country music (including songs from Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson) and the original score by Linda Perry perfectly accompany the film’s setting not only for Leslie’s story but also for the representation of the small, lower-class community around her. Almost everyone in town either knows Leslie or has interacted with her in the past.
What is the Controversy Behind Andrea Riseborough’s Nomination?
While Andrea Riseborough’s performance inTo Lesliewas heavily praised by several film critics and spectators, many were also shocked by her Academy Award nomination for best actress. The film’s director, Michael Morris, and his wife (actress Mary McCormack) organized a campaign in which celebrities (including Gwyneth Paltrow, Edward Norton, and Charlize Theron) hosted special screenings of the film, while others like Jane Fonda and Liam Neeson provided support on social media.
Andrea’s nomination is, without question, worthy of consideration due to her powerful work in the film (which some may argue is the best of her career). However, the problem is with the Academy since it failed to nominate any actresses of color, includingViola Davis forThe Woman Kingand Danielle Deadwyler forTill. These performances and films had more viewership, more advertising campaigns, and more nominations throughout the awards season, but were shut out of the Oscars (the biggest film award).
For a little over a decade, the Academy extended the best picture award from five nominees to around eight to ten (since many thoughtThe Dark Knightwas heavily snubbedin 2009). Perhaps the Academy can do the same with the acting and directing categories so that well-deserved filmmakers and actors of color can be nominated and fairly recognized as well.
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