Anticipation and expectations are high for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s The Revenant. After winning the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars for Birdman, among others, the director returns with a man-vs-nature story starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who can’t seem to win an Oscar if his life depended on it. However, things could turn around for him in 2016. The film has begun to make the rounds for the press, and the first reactions have leaked out in spite of a global embargo on reviews until December.
While folks like director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) praised the film as a whole, as well as its cinematography, some on Twitter pegged this as the film to give DiCaprio his first Oscar. The actor was nominated last year for The Wolf of Wall Street and in years past for Blood Diamond, The Aviator, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Elsewhere, an additional reaction was posted on a Reddit thread praising the performance of DiCaprio’s co-star Tom Hardy.
Hardy is epic, of course. He has the benefit of much more dialogue than DiCaprio (who makes Hardy's Mad Max seem verbose). But here he takes a pretty stock two-dimensional villain and really makes him compelling.
You don’t have to see the film to know it’ll be one of the most beautiful pictures of the year. Emmanuel Lubezki, who won Best Cinematography last year for Birdman, has been posting photos on Instagram from the set of his impeccable work, further flaunting The Revenant’s Oscar chances.
The cast also features Domhnall Gleeson (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Will Poulter (We’re the Millers), and the film will get a limited release on December 25th before going wide on January 8th.
Here is the official plot synopsis:
In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.
