…I think less of the film itself, which has a respectable rep, than I do of the brouhaha ignited by Tourette sufferer John Davidson, the film‘s real-life protagonist.
I’m speaking of Davidson blurting out “involuntary vocal tics” — offensive language and a racial slur — during last February’s BAFTA awards ceremony (2.22.26) while Sinners costars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were standing front and center.
Everyone understands Davidson’s unfortunate affliction, but it was embarassing all the same, particularly for the two gents on stage.
A sympathetic counter-reaction apparently kicked in among AMPAS voters, and Jordan, nominated for Best Actor along with Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent), wound up winning the Best Actor Oscar.
11 days had passed between the BAFTA incident and the Academy’s Oscar voting deadline on Thursday, 3.5.26, at 5 pm.
Before the BAFTA kerfuffle no Oscar handicapper worth his or her salt had seriously predicted that Jordan would take the trophy as his Sinners performance was commonly regarded as sufficient or sturdy but hardly groundbreaking.
Had it not been for Davidson, Hawke — whose performance as Lorenz Hart had been praised as an audacious stand-out — might have prevailed. (Chalamet had taken himself out of the running with that comment about ballet and opera.)
