ReelBob: IFJA names ‘Marriage Story’ best film of 2019

Noah Baumbach’s sad feature about how a couple’s good intentions about proceeding with an amicable divorce is slowly sabotaged by miscommunications, resentments, selfishness and lawyers was named the best movie of 2019 by the Indiana Film Journalists Association.

The film was honored in two other categories — Adam Driver for best actor and Baumbach for best original screenplay.

The Korean dark class satire, “Parasite,” was the runner-up for best film. It also was chosen as best foreign film, while filmmaker Bong Joon-ho was named best director.

Eight additional films were named best film finalists, representing the IFJA’s picks for the top 10 movies of the year.

Jordan Peele’s “Us” also received two awards: Lupito Nyong’o for best actress and Michael Abels for best musical score.

Other winners were:

Willem Dafoe as best supporting actor for “The Lighthouse” and Jennifer Lopez for best supporting actress for “Hustlers.” The murder mystery “Knives Out” was honored as best ensemble acting, “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” was named best animated feature and “For Sama” was chosen as best documentary.

Jason Liles, Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton won the IFJA’s motion-capture performance award for their collective work to embody Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.”

 The IFJA’s Original Vision Award, given to a film with innovative and distinct storytelling, went to Robert Eggers for “The Lighthouse,”a unique horror tale told using period-specific language.

Actress Olivia Wilde was honored with the breakout of the year award for her direction of “Booksmart,” which also was among the 10 best picture finalists.

 The Hoosier Award, which recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with roots in Indiana or a film that depicts Hoosier State locales and stories, went to Jason Kellerfor his work co-writing the script for “Ford v Ferrari.”

IFJA members issued this Hoosier Award statement: “It may have been a decade ago that Indianapolis native Jason Keller began working on the screenplay to ‘Ford v Ferrari,’ but he fondly invokes the inspiration of his inaugural visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a young boy. Keller’s work on the screenplay brings out the excitement of auto racing and gives vivid life to the actual historical figures who were part of the Ford Racing Team’s initial journey to Le Mans.”

 Below is a complete list of winners and runners-up in all IFJA categories:

BEST FILM
Winner: “Marriage Story”
Runner-Up: “Parasite”

Other finalists (listed alphabetically):
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
“Booksmart”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Knives Out”
“The Lighthouse”
“Little Women”
“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”
“Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Runner-Up: “I Lost My Body”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: “Parasite”
Runner-Up: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: “For Sama”
Runner-Up: “Apollo 11”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Noah Baumbach, “Marriage Story”
Runner-Up: Robert Eggers & Max Eggers, “The Lighthouse”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Little Women.”
Runner-Up: Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”

BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite”
Runner-Up:  Céline Sciamma, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”

BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
Runner-Up: Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Jennifer Lopez, “Hustlers”
Runner-Up: Taylor Russell, “Waves”

BEST ACTOR
Winner: Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
Runner-Up: Adam Sandler, “Uncut Gems”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Willem Dafoe, “The Lighthouse”
Runner-Up: Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”

BEST VOCAL / MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Winner: Jason Liles, Alan Maxson and Richard Dorton, “Godzilla, King of the Monsters”
Runner-Up: Rosa Salazar, “Alita: Battle Angel”

BEST ENSEMBLE ACTING
Winner: “Knives Out”
Runner-Up: “Little Women”

BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Winner: Michael Abels, “Us”
Runner-Up: Cavern of Anti-Matter, “In Fabric”

BREAKOUT OF THE YEAR
Winner: Olivia Wilde, “Booksmart” (director)

ORIGINAL VISION AWARD
Winner: Robert Eggers, “The Lighthouse”
Runner-Up: Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite”

HOOSIER AWARD
Winner: Jason Keller, “Ford v Ferrari” (screenwriter)

(As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)

About the IFJA: The Indiana Film Journalists Association was established in February 2009. Members must reside in the Hoosier State and produce consistent, quality film criticism or commentary in any medium. To learn more about the IFJA visit https://indianafilmjournalists.com.