With the Golden Globes launching award season last night, a familiar thought popped into my head. As movies like The Revenant and The Martian swept away all the awards, I noticed a lack of recognition for incredible films with amazing casts. The categories of "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" really only highlight one aspect of a cast as opposed to acknowledging the entire entity. Last night, The Revenant won "Best Motion Picture- Drama" and honestly, didn't have the best cast. Films like The Hateful Eight, Spotlight, and many others are not receiving any recognition for individualistic aspects. Yet, if you've seen those movies like I have, you will absolutely love them. The casts from said films work incredibly well together and really help the story and help each character grow. Hence why I propose an award for best cast should be distributed at the various award shows.
Now, one may say we already acknowledge acting too much. Granted, there are four individual acting awards to honor those who displayed superior and incredible performances in their respected films. That same person may also say the "Best Picture" category accurately honors the best cast within that award. Yet, with both The Martian and The Revenant winning last night, I can honestly say it does almost the complete opposite. If you watch both of those films, you take away one amazing performance from Matt Damon and one amazing performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, I along with many others do also enjoy other performances from both films, yet both films center around one role. Those films winning "Best Picture" in their respective categories doesn't necessarily acknowledge the cast. If you examine the past winners of the "Best Picture" at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, you will see powerhouse casts lose to movies that have one incredible performance. That category doesn't acknowledge the best cast, most of the time.
Films like The Wolf of Wall Street, Lincoln, Dallas Buyers Club, Little Miss Sunshine, Good Will Hunting, The Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, and countless others all had incredible casts that many would argue were the best ensembles of their respective years. Granted, they were all nominated for "Best Picture" and other acting awards, yet the truly amazing cast from each film as a whole wasn't properly acknowledged. These films featured impeccable performances that all worked amazingly together and captivated audiences throughout theaters everywhere. Yet, the award shows acknowledge individualistic aspects of these films instead of really honoring spectacular casts. This year, films like The Hateful Eight, Spotlight, Sicario, Black Mass, and a few others will win next to no awards for acting. Yet, they all had absolutely incredible casts working together to deliver some of the best movies of the year. I'm not saying to get rid of the individualistic nature of the awards already present. I do believe individual actors and actresses should be acknowledged and honored. Yet, the entire cast should as well. If this category existed, most of those films listed above would have won it, in my honest opinion. The cast working incredibly hard as a unit would've been properly acknowledged for all of those movies. Most of the "Best Picture" winners probably wouldn't win. I'm not trying to devalue the prestige of winning "Best Picture" yet, it's inconsistent in giving the award to the film with the best cast. It has other aspects, which is why an individual cast should receive proper recognition. A movie is a team effort and I believe a team should be honored for their incredible work as a unit on screen.
In closing, it's simple really. Adding a "Best Cast" or "Best Ensemble" category to film award shows will only boost the prestige of other films and make more people happy. It will serve an ultimate good and even help the industry. Films that win awards gain audiences post awards shows and I'm certain people would go see a movie that won "Best Ensemble." It's advantageous for everybody.
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