Oscar 2025 Contenders: Anora: Not Cinderella or Pretty Woman

Two weeks after winning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay I finally saw Anora. The week before the Oscars ceremony I had a chance to see all ten nominated movies, but I choose to skip Anora because, based on a synopsis of the film, it felt predictable and trite. Talking to other persons participating in the week-long run down to the Oscars, one woman felt that it was the best of the films that she had seen and surprised me a bit. But that was nothing compared to the surprise I experienced when Anora walked away winning 5 of the 6 categories it had been nominated in. After the ceremony, several friends chimed in that they loved it, warning that there was a lot of nudity and F-bombs. One friend saw the film (at home) hated it, felt the nudity was gratuitous and was not impressed with Mikey Madison’s acting. So, that’s what I knew going into viewing the film.

Yeah, the movie began with a long line of topless women grinding away on their customers in a darkened room at a strip club. Lots of nudity: Check! We get to know Madison’s Ani as she smilingly works with her customers, chatting with them, coaxing them to the ATM and presenting a free spirit, and fun person to hang out with. There’s some dressing room banter with her co-workers, some she gets along with better than others. The movie starts with a slice of life for this New York stripper. One thing I love is that the film makers neither glamorize or vilify the women or anyone else working in the club. They don’t always follow the rules but they know why they are there, and that’s it. She’s not a “hooker with a heart of gold,” but she’s not ripping anyone off either. Just a young woman who’s doing the best with what she’s got. Then this equally young Russian high roller shows up and she gets the gig ‘cause she’s the only one who speaks Russian. They bond over her embarrassment at her Russian and he’s very rich. We all know that this is too good to be true. And thus the story unfolds…

That it doesn’t “end well,” is predictable. How they get to the somewhat predictable conclusion is entertaining. I appreciated that how daddy made or makes his billions isn’t any part of this story or that the story doesn’t succumb to some violent Deus Ex Machina. It’s not that kind of story. But it’s also not a “and they lived happily ever after” story either.

“Best Picture” or “Best Actress”? Nah. Her character goes through quite an ordeal and the woman we see in the last frame isn’t at all like the bubbly party girl we met in the first act. But I felt like “I’m Still Here” and best actress nominee, Fernanda Torres, delivered a better movie anchoring performance, and was a better movie. “I’m Still Here” had the problem of being a foreign language film and didn’t get the same wide release as “Anora,” but the political winds were just not in favor of a “foreign film” winning best picture. I think all of the best actress nominees delivered amazing performances, but my vote would have been for Torres. Enjoy.

Oh yeah… all the F-bombs seems perfectly appropriate for all the sh*t they get into. Just sayin.’

[Movie viewed on 2025-03-15 at AMC Town Square]