Wrestler Takes a Three Count at the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards

If by some bad stroke of luck he loses out to Sean Penn at the Oscars the day after, this win at the Spirit Awards will be remembered as one more rendition of “Mickey’s night”. He, Darren (who we interviewed late last year) and The Wrestler have been on cloud nine since Venice, and the trio of awards collected are probably the last night in a string of ‘nights’ since the Academy has snubbed the pic. Among the Ballast, my coup-de-coeur of the year in term of indie films was shut out, while other people’s coup-de-coeurs in The Visitor and Frozen River walked away with what is a sweet-looking trophy.

Listed below are the winners (pencil in hand icon in red) and the thumbs are my personal choices – of who I would have liked to have seen win and obviously thought merited the award.

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Charlie Kaufman (Director), Jeanne McCarthy (Casting Director), Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Diane Weist, Michelle Williams, Synecdoche, New York

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Heather Rae, “Frozen River”

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Lynn Shelton, “My Effortless Brillance”

LACOSTE TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Margaret Brown, “The Order of Myths”