Will Smith Offers up a Positive Image in Best Actor Race

If there is one good reason why Will Smith might be considered for an Oscar nod for his film Concussion it’s that he offers up what the black community has been asking for: a positive role model instead of a drug addict, an abuser, a drug dealer, a slave, etc. That could have been David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr., for last year’s Selma. Don’t even get me started on that one. In Concussion, we have an opportunity to admire a likable and popular actor (Will Smith) in a role as a successful, educated, bright, inventive doctor and student of the world. Already a few Oscar bloggers have floated the idea of Will Smith getting in.  Though his performance is very good, it’s hard to know whether it’s good enough to break through in an intensely crowded category.

Given that Smith is a likable actor and plays a likable character a nomination is not outside the realm of possibility.  But it’s not a slam dunk either, given that the film is not getting the best reviews and is a bit long and slow. It begins to wear out its welcome, which hurts the impact of Smith’s performance. But that doesn’t mean he won’t get in. His popularity and the kind of role he’s offering up – a positive role model – could help push it through.

With over 3000 voters so far, our poll for Best Actor has these five leading:

DiCaprio
Damon
Fassbender
Redmayne
Depp

Behind them we have Michael Caine for Youth and Tom Hanks for Bridge of Spies ahead of Will Smith.

There is also Steve Carell in The Big Short to contend with, and Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes. Both will (and already have) strong campaigns behind them. Both are as likable as Smith in the industry. Thus, you can see already how tangled of a web we weave here.

Still, Will Smith is good in Concussion – he is charming, warm and kind. The film, though, feels a little like the director bit off more than he could chew and tried to tell a more thorough story than the film needed. Sometimes, for the sake of a movie, it’s better to abbreviate the truth and just tell what works best. That makes Concussion a film that is earning poor to middling reviews. I would think that in this race, in this category, a stronger film is needed to give a boost to its actor. On the other hand, The Danish Girl didn’t get raves and neither did Black Mass.

At this point I’d say it’s a toss-up. It’s not a no and it’s not a yes. It’s a maybe.