When it comes to performances that instantly inspire Oscar buzz, Ben Affleck’s performance in The Last Duel has been a big one this year. The Ridley Scott film is a bit controversial in the sense that it was “underperforming,” and the conversation inexplicably switched to talking about the future landscape of cinema instead of recognizing that a movie that shows a sexual assault twice might just not be something people want to watch.
That being said, I absolutely loved the movie and thought it was one of the best of the year. The fact that it’s getting ignored this award season is strange to me, but now I am actually angry because the Razzies announced their nominations and, among them, is Ben Affleck.
In the film, Affleck brings to life an outrageous and, at times, hilarious version of Pierre d’Alençon.
Now, we know that the Razzie nominations have always been somewhat bullsh*t. From the start, they were nominating films that would go on to become classics and labeling them as bad, like Stanley Kubrick’s direction of The Shining …
But what’s so frustrating about this nomination in particular is that no other award ceremony seems to be recognizing how good Affleck is in the film, so the only thing we have is this nonsense Razzie nomination to yell about.
The brilliance of The Last Duel
The Last Duel isn’t an easy watch. The film details the case against Jacques Le Gris (Adam Driver) when Marguerite de Carrouges (Jodie Comer) accuses him of rape. The film does a pretty incredible job of making it clear—both times its approach of multiple narratives around the same event subjects us to the assault—that Marguerite told Jacques no multiple times. Despite his excuse that he thought it was womanly protest, even in his own telling of the story, it comes across as clearly assault—and just more so in the film’s true version of events, which is Marguerite’s telling of the story.
Each section brings different performances of the same characters from the entire cast depending on whose lens we’re seeing them though, and is truly a masterclass in acting from everyone involved. So, anyone getting a Razzie feels like whoever did the nominating just didn’t watch the movie, but especially when it comes to Affleck. He plays Pierre d’Alençon as a man who uses his power to have fun in the most outlandish and, at times, horrific ways, and Affleck doesn’t shy away from the performance.
At the end of the day, I know that the Razzie nominations mean nothing, but when it comes to Affleck, who deserves an Oscar nomination for his work, being part of the conversation? It is just incredibly frustrating.
(image: 20th Century Studios)
