Mike Leigh's Final Film Premieres at Telluride — SkimNews
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- Mike Leigh has earned seven Academy Award nominations with zero wins, including dual writing/directing nominations for "Secrets & Lies" and "Vera Drake"; his new film "Tender Loving Care" premiered at Telluride and opens Dec. 4 via Bleecker Street.
- At 83 and living with myosotis (a muscle-wasting condition that kept him from his Telluride premiere), Leigh has called the film his last, framing the awards stakes as both personal and professional.
- Kate O'Flynn anchors the film as a social worker steadying a father in decline; she is also an Emmy nominee for "Widow's Bay," with trophies to be handed out Sept. 14.
- The supporting cast features Alice Bailey Johnson as O'Flynn's live-wire best friend Rosie, Marion Bailey as Amy's mother (already emerging from Telluride as a standout), and Paul Jesson as the ailing father.
- The Academy has nominated two lead actresses from a single film only once since 1991 — Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis for "Thelma & Louise" — so the campaign is expected to split O'Flynn into lead and Bailey into supporting.
- Leigh gave O'Flynn her first acting job on "Happy-Go-Lucky" at age 21; she returns for what he calls his final film, closing on what the piece describes as one of the most haunting final shots of any film in a decade.
Why it matters: Bleecker Street's path from Telluride through Toronto and the New York Film Festival is designed to convert word-of-mouth into industry votes in a year crowded with overdue narratives. The Academy faces a recurring dilemma: honor a seven-time nominee for the work, or repeat the familiar habit of recognizing him only after the fact.
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