At the moment, this year's Oscar ceremony remains imperiled by the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, which rendered the Golden Globes into a shabby news conference. While optimism is running high in Hollywood that the strike will be settled by the Feb. 24 broadcast of the Academy Awards, this year's nominations underscore the power of the screenplay.
Unlike past years, when nominees such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Lord of the Rings" seemed powered by directorial visions, six of 10 nominations for screenplay belong to writer-directors such as the Coen brothers, Tamara Jenkins and "Ratatouille's" Brad Bird.
"I think you're seeing singular visions. People who have final cut," says "Michael Clayton" writer-director Tony Gilroy, who was nominated for both hats. "They're very personal [films]. In the Directors Guild nominations, four out of five are writer-directors."
The crop of nominees for adapted screenplay runs counter to the Hollywood adage that good books make bad screenplays. This year's movies are based on exquisitely rendered interpretations from such worthy tomes as McEwan's "Atonement," Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" and former French Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," which Bauby blinked out with one eye after he was left paralyzed.
Furthermore, four women were nominated for screenplay in one year, a stunning record when one considers that only a handful of women -- including Callie Khouri and Sofia Coppola -- has ever even won the award.
While much of Hollywood has rushed headlong to embrace comic books and other properties that can be branded and turned into toys and towels, these nervy women opted for personal screenplays and are being rewarded by Oscar this year.
The one who's garnered the most press has been "Juno's" Cody, both for her edgy humor and her equally edgy past. Others nominated include Sarah Polley, who translated an Alice Munro short story for "Away From Her"; writer-director Tamara Jenkins, who created a vivid portrait of siblings coping with their dying father and their failed dreams in "The Savages"; and Nancy Oliver, for her offbeat boy-loves-blowup doll story "Lars and the Real Girl."
Given the unease bred by months of a writers strike, many nominees declined to give interviews or sounded cautious when discussing their good news.
At least Page, in London promoting "Juno," provided some youthful exuberance. "I'm extremely lucky to be in the film in the first place. This is just ridiculous icing on some ridiculously delicious dark chocolate cake."
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rachel.abramowitz@latimes.com
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paul.brownfield@latimes.com
