Is Furious 7 Oscar's Next Best Picture?

When promoting an upcoming movie, actors will say a lot of crazy things to get the media talking about their film.  This serves a three-fold purpose: it gets the word of mouth out about their movie, it peaks curiosity that in turn drives people to buy tickets and see what the fuss is all about, and, finally, it breaks up the monotony of hundreds of press conferences over a span of a few weeks.

 

Actors are people too, just like you and me.  They get bored answering the same questions over and over again.  Sometimes they have to let loose and have some fun with it.  But I don’t think that is what Vin Diesel was doing in his latest interview with Variety regarding Furious 7 and I’ll explain why.

 

First let’s start with what he actually said:

 

"Universal is going to have the biggest movie in history with this movie," Diesel told Variety. "It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don't want to be relevant ever."

 

He went on and said, "This will win best picture. There is nothing that will ever come close to the power of this thing."

 

Did you hear that?  Nothing will ever come close to the power of this thing.  Sorry Schindler's List, your message just isn't powerful enough.  12 Years a Slave, you just aren't moving enough to usurp Furious 7 from its emotional throne of power.  Get out of here Casablanca.

 

Most that read that will have one of two reactions.  The first, and more popular, response is that Diesel has finally reached the point of stardom where reality is no longer a feasible plane of existence.  His ego has swelled so much because of the Fast and Furious franchise that his self-awareness is taking an extended vacation.

 

The other line of feedback to Diesel’s quotes is that he is clearly joking.  I personally don’t think he is joking and I will get to that in a moment.  But first let’s review why his line of thought is, similar to his famous street racing film franchise, daft and delirious.

 

It is no secret that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences believes the coveted Best Picture Oscar is reserved for artsy, dramatic films that include perfect performances from its actors, innovative filmmaking from its directors, thought-provoking screenplays from its writers, and awe-inspiring work from the remaining crewmembers that receive accolades on awards night, including cinematographers, production artists, make-up and costume designers, visual and sound effect artists, and soundtrack composers.  Popcorn thrillers and franchise fluff such as comic book movies and action blockbusters don’t receive nominations for Best Picture.  In fact, it has only been in the last six years since the Best Picture field was expanded to more than five movies that films not falling into the genres of dramas, biographical, and art-house are getting better chances at being nominated, let alone winning.

 

In this new era of the Academy that recognizes more than just five films as the best possible movie of the year, it is still full of the regular fare, but it has also seen an uptick in the amount of action-based and science fiction movies that receive a nomination.  Last year’s American Sniper is one such example.  While it is still a biographical drama, much of the movie includes war-based action, and the film likely would not have made the cut if the Academy had kept its number of nominees at five.

 

Other recent action/science fiction/thriller films to receive a Best Picture nod likely due to the expanded number of nominations going around include Captain Phillips, Inception, Inglourious Basterds, District 9, and Avatar.  I left off Gravity, with much of its plot revolving around space survival action sets, and The Hurt Locker, another war action thriller, because both films would have survived the round of five, especially since The Hurt Locker won in its year.  I could maybe see Inglourious Basterds making the cut, but it would have been close.

 

Prior to the change in rules that allowed for more than just five movies to receive a Best Picture nominee, it wasn’t unheard of for action, science fiction, and fantasy films to have a chance.  Letters from Iwo Jima, another war picture from the director of American Sniper, was nominated in 2006 and in 2003, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won the Best Picture award, the first and only fantasy film to ever do so.

 

What I’m trying to say is Vin Diesel might be correct in arguing for the inclusion of more action movies in the Best Picture nominee pool, but where his theory hits an oil slick and spins out of control is whether the Fast and Furious franchise is worthy enough of such an accolade.  My opinions regarding the misery it is to sit through those movies, which I’ve done on all but the third one titled The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, are too broad to get into right now, so let’s get back to why I think it is Diesel isn’t joking when he says the latest entry in the franchise is Oscar worthy.

 

Anyone with even a mild interest in Hollywood and the film industry knows of the major incident that happened during the filming of Furious 7, but just in case you aren’t part of that group I will inform.  Diesel’s co-star and close friend Paul Walker died in a car crash not related to the movie.  It delayed filming and a decision had to be made as to whether they continued on with changes to the story, recasting Walker’s character, or scrapping things altogether.  It was ultimately decided to proceed with the movie and make some changes to Walker’s character.

 

Since the passing of Walker, Diesel has been very outspoken about how personal this movie is to him and the importance of completing it as a tribute to Walker’s memory.  Because of the off-screen death of his friend, Diesel has made it quite clear that this is a very personal film for him.  I don’t believe that he would make light of the movie’s story or acting by claiming it is Oscar worthy when it is pretty common knowledge that a movie like that wouldn’t stand a chance with Academy voters.  In my opinion, making a statement that the movie is Oscar bait and not believing it to be true when Diesel should clearly know better somewhat mocks Walker’s final movie and belittles his career since the Fast and Furious franchise is what he will be remembered for.

 

Diesel cares too much for this movie series and even more for his late friend to make a frivolous statement about Furious 7 being an Academy Award Best Picture if he didn’t mean it.  Now as for whether he’s driving with a full tank of NOS or not is another story.