MovieChat Forums > Primal Fear (1996) Discussion > How did Norton get nominated for this?

How did Norton get nominated for this?

posted 10 years ago by filmsnob1
3 replies | jump to latest

When analyzing it, there were several factors that seemed to work against him: the film was released early in the year (April, I think), poor reviews, this being his first role (no name recognition), as well as the performance not being that noteworthy beyond the split-personality aspect, in addition to the film having a cheap TV-movie feel to it.

So, how did he win the Golden Globe, and get the nomination?

Also, I find it interesting how according to IMDB, this got him the most accolades, and yet anyone rarely mentions this role of his (often talking about Fight Club or American History X instead).

[–] JCrusher723 10 years ago

Its prety clear you dislike the movi, wich is fine. However if yu think his performance isnt worthy of a nomination than im not sure wat else you want. To be honest its not just the "split personality" aspect that got him great reviews. Its also the fact that he has a accent, stutters, and as ea facal expressions. Als he is basically playing a chaacter who is putting on a performance himself that pretty much everyone who saw it bought

[–] JCrusher723 10 years ago

Its pretty clear you dislike the movie, which is fine. However if you think his performance isnt worthy of a nomination than im not sure what else you want. To be honest its not just the "split personality" aspect that got him great reviews. Its also the fact that he has a accent, stutters, and as great facial expressions. Also he is basically playing a chaacter who is putting on a performance himself that pretty much everyone who saw it bought

[–] plumlogan 10 years ago

While I agree that the performance hasn't necessarily aged well, I think if you read any critic's reviews of the film you'll find his performance is highlighted in nearly all of them. Yes, he's gone on to play more notable roles (in more notable movies), but this was a highly paused performance at the time and put him on the map.