‘I Play Rocky,’ ‘Elsinore’ and ‘Tangles’ Signal an Oscar Season About the Craft of Acting and Memory

Awards contenders are love letters to human storytelling and the fragility of memory — two things AI can’t replicate

By Clayton Davis

Clayton Davis

Chief Awards Editor

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As the major fall festivals draw to a close and the awards race comes into focus, two themes have emerged among a crop of early favorites: what it costs to act and what it costs to forget.

At first, those seem like separate matters. On one side, we observe a surge in movies that are love letters to the craft of acting — almost pointedly so amid the rise of artificial intelligence. It’s there in “Elsinore,” a portrait of thespian Ian Charleson’s final performance playing one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated roles; in Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut,” a whimsical ode to community theater; and in Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky,” the origin story of one of Hollywood’s greatest underdog tales. Each showcases human actors and their dedication to their craft in a moment when machines are attempting to replace a face, voice and life force.

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