Oscar buzz is already starting for Viggo Mortensen, though it’s not for any particular one film. It’s actually for three films, and the early word is that with so many potentially great performances… well at least one of them has to be enough to get him re-nominated, doesn’t it?
The three movies in question are the western Appaloosa, the post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie The Road, and a movie which you probably haven’t heard much about called Good.
Good is a period piece, which stars Viggo as a German professor attempting to resist the rise of the Nazi party shortly before World War II and Jason Isaacs as his Jewish friend. The idea here is a good one. World War II movies are always told from the perspective of soldiers or revolutionaries, but Good is about an average German citizen, just trying to find a way to do the right way by his friends, his family, and his country. Halfway through the film Viggo’s wife, looking around at her Nazi run world remarks: “Everyone looks so happy. Anything that makes people happy can’t be bad can it?” That seems to sum up the thoughtful, questioning tone of this film pretty well. Watch the trailer below:
