Adam may have lost the Oscars, but he has finally entered an elite league of male actors.

Adam Driver was one of the favorite nominees of the Best Actor award along with the winner, Joaquin Phoenix from Joker.

And although his loss was heartbreaking, no one was dissatisfied with Joaquin Phoenix win.

Adam Driver’s performance in Marriage Story was considered to be his finest performance of the year; the emotions, the struggle he portrayed in the movie seemed so close and personal.

Some critics also said that for the first time, Scarlet Johansson seemed outclassed in a movie. Adam was so invested in his character, that he made Charlie a part of himself.

Adam starred as Charlie; the genius theatrical director on his way to become a legend on Broadway. Charlie was madly in love with his work and Nicole, his wife, who was also part of his theatre as an actress. Nicole tried her luck in Hollywood before joining Charlie in New York, unfortunately she couldn’t make it, but her brilliant craft was soon enhanced by Charlie through his plays.

The movie shows the excruciating uncoupling of the two characters, and their fight for the custody of their only son. Adam Driver captures the agony and pain that Charlie was going through as he stumbled through his divorce.

There is a scene from the movie that went viral on the internet: when Charlie and Nicole confront each other after a brutal court trial, Charlie drops to his knees and cries.

The story goes, that Adam actually wept in that scene, he was so deep into character that he triggered his own sadness.

There is also a mythology that during the shoot of the movie, Adam would slip away from the venue to watch Broadway musicals just to be inspired and get in the mood, and it is said that his eyes would shine from the glistening glitter of broadway as ragtime and vocals would carry the play to Adam’s heart.

And perhaps that’s why Adam didn’t win or didn’t want to win, because perhaps this was a reinvention of himself as an artist.

While Adam’s skill was clearly worthy of an Oscar, that of Joaquin cannot be denied either. It seemed as Joaquin had handcrafted himself for the role of Joker – and maybe that’s why we wanted him to win aswell.

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