After all, one of the four other contenders he bested was Richard Burton, the legendary Welsh actor who was nominated seven times, never won, and (unlike Peter O'Toole, who later received an Honorary Oscar), went to his grave empty-handed.
Seriously, a young American Richard triumphing over a veteran British Richard??
Yes, absolutely. One of my favorite performances of all time.
shareDreyfuss gives an energetic, strong performance in a weak film. I know, I know: some people really liked this movie when it came out and, I imagine, still do but even from the first time I saw it many years ago, I recognized its weaknesses primarily Mason's Paula character. No offense to Mason (a fine actress. See "Cinderalla Liberty") but here, she's saddled with a character who is unlikable and unsympathetic and then turns romantic all of a sudden. Plus, her acting amounts to either mugging or moping.
But back to Dreyfuss and his Oscar win. I recall that Richard Burton was considered the favorite to win. Not a "lock" necessarily because the film he was nominated for ("Equus") was not overly well received. But the Oscar was his to win for his long career and for being nominated six times previous to this (five for Best Actor, once for Supporting Actor). I also distinctly remember hearing that when the award was announced, when the presenter said "Richard...." he actually got up from his seat until he heard "Dreyfuss". In short, it was not a stellar year for actors so technically speaking, Dreyfuss' win could be justified by a lack of competition. It IS a solid performance but I don't think he would have won if there had been more competition.
Sometimes, the Oscar will go to a performer who gave stellar work in more than one film in the same year. Dreyfuss' award was as much for his performance in Close Encounters of the Third Kind as it was for The Goodbye Girl. The same year, Diane Keaton won for Annie Hall, but was almost as good in Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
shareYes. He was brilliant here.
Burton should have won for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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Definitely. He put in the performance of his carrier.
shareHe absolutely deserved the award. He was perfect in this role.
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