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Olivia Colman: "Wicker"

 It's strange to see an original idea in a movie. "Wicker" is not a new plot--but it has the good sense to borrow its plot from a bizarre story. I'm happy to see oddness, any form of oddness, at the multiplex.


Olivia Colman lives in a feudal village; when a man marries a woman, he attaches a ceremonial dog collar to her neck. Because Colman sells fish, she has become the butt of jokes. She is an outcast. But she doesn't see herself this way. She'd like to have an interesting sex life--and the proximal options are discouraging--so she goes to a basket-maker and offers to pay for a wicker husband.

A different actor might have played the Fish Market Lady as meek, pitiable--but that's not Colman's choice. Colman is eminently practical; though a part of her seems to be aware that she is doing a difficult thing, another part of her says, "I'm not going to demand the spotlight. I'm just a person with a wish. Life goes on."

What follows--and the trailers make this clear--is sexual bliss. The Fish Market Lady realizes that she has turned into a source of scandal, and she enjoys her new role. "I needed a new roof," she says, in the town square, "and my husband helped me." She looks closely at her jealous frenemy and smiles. "My husband straightened me right out."

At this point, Olivia Colman has three Oscar nominations--for "The Favourite," "The Father," "The Lost Daughter." She seems on track for a fourth--for "Elsinore." It's lunacy that she wouldn't also get a nomination for "Wicker," but the Academy seems to become nasty after your first win. (Note that Julianne Moore hasn't had a nomination since "Still Alice"--despite the fact of "Gloria Bell," "May December," "Maggie's Plan.")

In any case, I'd give the prize to Olivia Colman. I'd just keep engraving her name--on trophy after trophy--as long as she keeps working.
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Comments

  1. KathyNovember 13, 2026 at 5:04 AM

    She is one of my all-time favorite actors - EVERYTHING she has done is phenomenal!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 13, 2026 at 3:04 PM

    I agree, and I think she's so funny. In "Fleabag" and even in "The Crown."

    ReplyDelete

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