Jojo Rabbit Is a Curious Case
Few knew what to make of Jojo
Rabbit’s world premiere in
Toronto: The response in the room
was ecstatic, but the reviews that
followed were mixed. Taika Waititi’s
sweet satire of a boy coming of age
in Nazi Germany ultimately won
over the TIFF crowd, however, by
taking home the festival’s coveted
Grolsch People’s Choice Award—a
prize that forecast this year’s Best
Picture winner, Green Book, and
has yielded a Best Picture nominee
every year since 2012. Jojo is, as
already proven, the kind of movie
that could go all the way—snag a
Best Picture nod, find room for
Scarlett Johansson in Supporting
Actress, and so on—or sharply
divide Academy voters.Best Actor Is Packed
A week before TIFF got underway,
several Best Actor contenders↑ Harriet’s Cynthia
Erivo; (clockwise
from left) Jojo Rab-
bit’s Sam Rockwell,
Stephen Merchant,
Scarlett Johansson,
Taika Waititi, Alfie
Allen, and Roman
Griffin DavisCircuit Training
emerged out of Telluride and Ven-
ice: Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Adam
Sandler (Uncut Gems), Jonathan
Pryce (The Two Popes), and Adam
Driver (Marriage Story). They built
on their momentum in Toronto,
while others like Eddie Murphy
(Dolemite Is My Name) joined the
fray. There’s also past category
champ Leonardo DiCaprio (Once
Upon a Time in...Hollywood) and
still-nomination-less Antonio
Banderas (Pain and Glory), both of
whose films launched earlier this
year, or Robert De Niro (The
Irishman) and Mark Ruffalo (Dark
Waters), whose buzzy movies
follow the rest.Cynthia Erivo Is a Likely
Best Actress Nominee
The Color Purple star’s rapid rise
has left her just an Oscar short of
EGOT glory, and her nuanced,
rousing performance as HarrietTubman in Kasi Lemmons’ titular
biopic may be just the thing to
remedy that. Best Actress is still
taking shape, but Erivo is one
of the most formidable challengers
to debut thus far. We say “chal-
lengers” because, well, can anyone
beat Judy’s Renée Zellweger?Hustlers Is an Oscar Player
Lorene Scafaria’s delectable con film
was the surprise critical hit of TIFF,
scoring raves before conquering the
box office with a $30 million-plus
opening-weekend haul. Bias against
“stripper movies” persists, to be
sure, but this crowd-pleaser has
earned a firm place in the awards
conversation. In a fairly thin
Adapted Screenplay field, Scafaria’s
crackling script may score a nom,
and mark my words: Jennifer
Lopez, never better as glitter-dusted
ringleader Ramona, is your Best
Supporting Actress front-runner.With a stellar history of launching future Oscar winners, the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
has anointed a new golden crop. Here’s what we learned this year. BY DAVID CANFIELD