2022 Oscars: 6 Awards They Got Right (And 6 Awards They Royally Screwed Up)

2. CODA Wins Best Adapted Screenplay

King Richard/The Eyes of Tammy Faye Socars
Apple TV+

Beat: Drive My Car, Dune, The Lost Daughter and The Power of the Dog.

Well, this sucked.

It feels kind-of odd to complain about this because CODA's screenplay is really good, but since it was predictable and suffered from a terrible romantic subplot that shouldn't have been there, it was only the fourth-best film in an excellent line-up.

Was CODA really more deserving than Dune, which adapted a seemingly un-filmable novel in a completely captivating way and delivered rich storytelling and amazing world-building all the way through? Or The Power of the Dog, which was an utterly extraordinary psychological drama that was full of masterful symbolism and sublime character arcs? Or Drive My Car, which is one of the best-written films in recent years?

In all three cases, definitely not.

A nomination was more than deserved, but it's hard to justify CODA beating Drive My Car or The Power of the Dog to this award. And this isn't the only undeserved award CODA won either...

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.