One of the more debated films in 2018 was Boots Riley’s directorial debut, “Sorry to Bother You.” The film wasn’t really hated by many people, however, it did either land in either the “Holy shit, this is incredible!” or “Interesting, but meh” camps. That being said, ‘Bother You’ was a film that landed in quite a few Best of 2018 lists and wouldn’t have shocked many if it found its way into one or two Oscar nominations. But alas, Riley and Co. left the Oscar noms empty-handed and actor Armie Hammer thinks he knows why.
Speaking to IndieWire at the Sundance Film Festival, where he premiered his highly-anticipated thriller “Wounds” (Our Review), Hammer was asked about the lack of Oscar love for “Sorry to Bother You.” His reply, in typical Armie Hammer fashion, is sure to get people talking.
“How much trouble do I get myself in here?” the actor said. “If you really look at the kind of films and people that the Oscars really celebrate, I’m embarrassed to say that I wasn’t terribly surprised. I think that Boots, as a first-time director, came out of the gates swinging so hard — swinging for the fences and knocking it over the fence. I think that that is the kind of thing that should be celebrated, what Boots was able to do.”
He continued, “That being said, we didn’t make that movie thinking we were gonna win Academy Awards. We made it because we believed in Boots and we believed in the mission and we believed in what the movie said. So we did our jobs, and this is just another example of the Academy keeping it in the Academy.”
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With such an emphasis put on the inclusivity and diversity of the new class of Academy members, many assumed that this year would signal a change in who the Oscars recognize. And yes, we saw films like “BlacKkKlansman,” “Roma,” and “Black Panther” score tons of noms, but yet, it would appear, at least to Hammer, that the Academy is still a ways off from taking a chance on an arthouse film with a big message, flashy storytelling, and a buttload of style.
Hopefully, this doesn’t discourage other filmmakers from taking chances, especially Riley, who has yet to announce if he’d be willing to make another film (his real artistic endeavors are outside of the film industry). Regardless of what Riley does next and whether or not we are huge fans of his film, we surely hope that we see plenty more projects in the style of “Sorry to Bother You,” in the future.