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What's in a Nom - How the Stars are preparing for the Big Night Former winner Judi Dench
(''Iris'') is already bracing for the worst:
Oscars Spotlight -- Best Actress Nominee Playing the novelist and philosopher Dame Iris Murdoch, Dame Judi Dench first speaks with the effortless suavity of a woman living comfortably in a deluxe mind. Near the beginning of ''Iris,'' she delivers a lecture on love that captivates the audience within the film in precisely the way Dench captivates her own within the theater. Later, when Alzheimer's begins to put its grip on Murdoch, the big brain starts to disintegrate -- Dench babbles along with the Teletubbies, repeatedly mutters a phrase about the postman, then just plangently grunts. When the dementia's at its deepest, she barely talks at all, stumbling mutely through Oxford -- a lost beast in the wrong climate. It is easy to imagine how scores of talented actors would turn the role into the occasion for a grandiose pathos showcase, would yank at our heartstrings as if trying to win a tug-of-war. Dench draws us in gently, complicating Murdoch's fear with dumb rage and hurt pride and letting a flicker of her wasted genius shine in dull eyes. Such is the incomparable skill of a woman whose career is, in its fifth decade, still peaking. The 67-year-old actress is increasingly recognized as one of the finest performers alive, and this marks her fourth Oscar nomination in the last five years, following nods for 1997's ''Mrs. Brown,'' 1998's ''Shakespeare in Love'' (for which she took home the Supporting actress award), and 2000's ''Chocolat.'' She's earned it this time for transforming herself into Murdoch with an astounding fidelity. ''One day, while filming in Oxford, somebody recognized me as her,'' Dench has said. ''She said, 'I know exactly who you're being.' That was very exciting indeed.'' And now it's Oscar who seconds that emotion. -- Troy Patterson
Thanks to Cindy F.
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