“White Noise” Oscar Buzz for Noah Baumbach, Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig

‘White Noise’ might be the quietest Oscar hope of the past decade: Netflix film by Noah Baumbach, a two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter whose last film was nominated for Best Picture, enjoys a cast that includes Adam Driver and an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the buzz is oddly muted for the first film to serve as the opening night flick of the Venice and New York film festivals. But why?

“Unfilmable” source material

It probably starts with the source material. Baumbach’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s whimsical novel revolves around Jack Gladney (Driver), professor of Hitler Studies at College-on-the-Hill. He lives with his wife Babette (Greta Gerwig) and their four children, but when an “airborne toxic event” occurs in their community, the family must grapple with the universal mysteries of love and death..

During her keynote speech at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on September 30, Baumbach joked about the book’s “unfilmable” reputation. The writer-director is a festival staple, with ‘White Noise’ marking his eighth film there.

Her others have included: “Kicking and Screaming” (1995), “The Squid and the Whale” (2005), “Margot at the Wedding” (2007), “Frances Ha” (2012), “The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) and “Marriage Story” (2019), which was the centerpiece of the selection. Her film “While We’re Young” (2014) was a “surprise” secret screening at the 52nd NYFF.

It might struggle with mass audiences and industry voters in general

“White Noise” evokes Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” (2014) with a touch of “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983) and any Wes Anderson mid-career joint.

There seem to be two key demographics for “White Noise” – intellectual moviegoers and film students who will call this generation’s quintessential college-defining film “The Boondock Saints” (1999). And that seems to be his main obstacle.

Undoubtedly the larger-scale film built by Baumbach, diving between different genres, perhaps too much in fact. Netflix will have to focus on getting industry voters to watch it on the big screen, while selling it to attract mass audiences, which can be difficult.

Technical categories are in play, but the majors could be tough.

With star Driver in the lead role, the two-time Oscar nominee of ‘BlacKkKlansman’ (2018) and ‘Marriage Story’ (2019) rose through the ranks to one of our most versatile actors working today. Although he has the respect of his colleagues, the contenders in his class will be just too buzzy to beat.

Greta Gerwig, who built Hollywood credit with her two Oscar-nominated feature films, ‘Lady Bird’ (2017) and ‘Little Women’ (2019), is stepping back from the camera as an actress, her first since her snubbed tour “Women of the 20th Century” by Mike Mills (2016). Playing wife and mother Babette, whose elusive state becomes entangled in the mysteries of the narrative, Gerwig makes key moments shine, most notably with an engaging and moving monologue in the second half of the film. Netflix exclusively confirms to Variety, she’ll be up for supporting actress consideration during awards season. With a seemingly open race still underway, perhaps the streamer can find some traction with it.

It features beautiful sets from two-time Academy Award-nominated set designer Jess Gonchor (“True Grit” from 2010 and 2016’s “Hail, Caesar!”) and Emmy-nominated set designer Claire Kaufman (“American Horror Story.” ), alongside the 80s. era’s son by legendary costume designer Ann Roth, who currently holds the record for the oldest woman to win a competitive Oscar for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2020).

Another lively and awe-inspiring musical composition by four-time nominee Danny Elfman and an original song, “New Body Rhumba” by LCD Soundsystem, wraps up the story, which features a fun and unexpected musical dance sequence that can end with “You Make My Dreams” from “(500) Days of Summer” (2009) and “Aquarius” from “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005) as the most memorable in recent memory. Elfman has been a favorite of moviegoers around the world of composers, assembling four Oscar names throughout his career – “Good Will Hunting” (1997), “Men in Black” (1997), “Big Fish” (2003) and “Milk” (2008) – without a statuette to A late narrative could do wonders for it, similar to Ennio Morricone’s winning run for “The Hateful Eight” (2015), despite the film missing key names.

To see ranked predictions for each individual category, visit Variety Oscar Center.

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Were Venice and NYFF the best festivals to premiere it?

Even after making history as the first film to be named in the opening night selection of the Venice and New York film festivals, the buzz was oddly muted. A lukewarm 150-second standing ovation kicked off in Italy but quickly faded after Brendan Fraser’s viral moment after ‘The Whale’ and ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ controversies dominated the headlines.

During his turn on the microphone at the NYFF, art director Dennis Lim paid tribute to another filmmaker with an even longer NYFF resume: French author Jean-Luc Godard, who died in September at the age of 91. More than 25 of his films have been screened at the festival, and his latest film, “Image Book” (2018), will be screened for free, on a loop, the first week of the festival.

The acclaimed East Coast festival, celebrating its 60th anniversary, is going through an evolution and is looking to cement its place in the world of must-haves for Oscar hopefuls and dynamic filmmakers amid a leadership turnover; executive director Eugene Hernandez leaves to lead the Sundance Film Festival. In his opening night remarks, Lim said, “White Noise” captures the spirit of the festival right now.

Their long track record at NYFF points to a potential problem that has yet to be resolved, which is a constant return to the same administrator pit. While the Hollywood industry is crawling, if not arguably being driven forward, one could argue that the NYFF and the general state of film criticism are not open enough to new and dynamic voices.

Over the past decade, NYFF opening night movies have come from Joel Coen (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Richard Linklater (“Last Flag Flying”) and Ang Lee (“Life of Pi”), all of whom have performed at the festival multiple times.

Netflix simply has better options

Netflix is ​​still confident about its awards prospects, and to be honest, they should be. Look for him to be embraced by the Golden Globes when they return in January, and with a seemingly light-hearted adapted script run, Baumbach could work his way into the Oscars discussion.

The streamer’s most accessible contender is “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story” by Rian Johnson, who played like gangbusters in Toronto. Despite very mixed reviews and a shorter cut of 22 minutes, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Bardo (or false chronicle of a handful of truths)” might be more likely given his background with the Academy.

“White Noise” is produced by Baumbach and Uri Singer, and also stars Don Cheadle, Jodie Turner-Smith, André Benjamin, Raffey Cassidy, May Nivola and Sam Nivola, the children of the great actor Alessandro Nivola.

It will open in theaters on November 25 before dropping on Netflix on December 30.

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