Flickgrrl

From Fast Times at Ridgemont High through Good Morning, Vietnam, The Color of Money and The Crying Game, Forest Whitaker has been the screen’s gentle giant, typically playing a guy who lives quietly in his head. With the exceptions of Bird and Ghost Dog, in which he starred, he has been a reliable support for marquee names. With his flamboyant, flame-snorting performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin Dada in The Last King of Scotland, one of the screen’s most interior performers exteriorizes his rage. It is one of the most dramatic persona change-ups in acting history. Switching gears gets the attention of the Academy, as when Jack Lemmon, passed over for comedy roles in Some Like it Hot and The Apartment, got serious – and an Oscar -- for his role in Save the Tiger.

When Lemmon finally collected his long-deferred prize in 1973, he cracked, “I had a speech prepared in 1959 [for Some Like It Hot], but I forgot it.” A certain much-nominated director might follow his example….