Sundance 2012: Five Intriguing Dramatic Competition Entries

This afternoon, the prestigious Park City, Utah film festival announced the lineup for 2012′s dramatic competition.

The Oscar race is beginning to take shape with studios vying for pole position by shelling out major advertising dollars to gain the attention of Academy Awards voters. It is an exciting time of the year for film as heavyweight actors, producers and directors compete for the coveted Oscar. It’s the culmination of the cinematic year, which always begins with the Sundance Film Festival in mid-January.

Over the past couple years the small independent films at Sundance have gone on to make a significant impact such as “Winter’s Bone” and “Blue Valentine.” The 2011 crop of films was especially strong, with acclaimed feature films such as “Like Crazy,” “Take Shelter,” and “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” which should all be strong contenders this awards season, not to mention critically celebrated documentaries such as “Being Elmo” and “Senna.”

While last year’s collection of films was one of the more exceptional in the festival’s recent history, this years class of contenders will try and make their mark on the fest’s vaunted past as well.

Here are five intriguing films in the U.S. Dramatic competition — for the whole field of U.S. and world features as well as documentaries check out the list here.

Safety Not Guaranteed / U.S.A. (Director: Colin Trevorrow, Screenwriter: Derek Connolly) — A trio of magazine employees investigate a classified ad seeking a partner for time travel. One employee develops feelings for the paranoid but compelling loner and seeks to discover what he’s really up to. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karen Soni.

Smashed / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Susan Burke, James Ponsoldt) — Kate and Charlie are a young married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of music, laughter and… drinking. When Kate decides to get sober, her new lifestyle brings troubling issues to the surface and calls into question her relationship with Charlie. Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally.

The Surrogate / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ben Lewin) — Mark O’Brien, a 36-year-old poet and journalist with an iron lung, decides he no longer wishes to be a virgin. With the help of his therapist and the guidance of his priest, he contacts a professional sex surrogate to take him on a journey to manhood. Cast: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy.

Nobody Walks / U.S.A. (Director: Ry Russo-Young, Screenwriters: Lena Dunham, Ry Russo-Young) — Martine, a young artist from New York, is invited into the home of a hip, liberal LA family for a week. Her presence unravels the family’s carefully maintained status quo, and a mess of sexual and emotional entanglements ensues. Cast: John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, India Ennenga, Justin Kirk.

LUV / U.S.A. (Director: Sheldon Candis, Screenwriters: Sheldon Candis, Justin Wilson) — An orphaned 11-year-old boy is forced to face the unpleasant truth about his beloved uncle during one harrowing day in the streets of Baltimore. Cast: Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton.

[Sundance via Vulture]