I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped to watch Conan O’Brien return to the Oscars tomorrow. He had one of the funniest Oscars openers last year when he poked fun at nominees like The Substance, The Brutalist, Conclave, and more. While you better believe he will be joking about the 98th Academy Award nominees, he did reveal the one nominated film that won’t be roasted (because all the jokes stink).
It’s clear that Conan O’Brien doesn’t want any of his jokes to bomb while hosting the Oscars. In fact, the comedian has tried out his Academy Awards jokes at comedy clubs to be on the safe side. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, O’Brien also got real about one Oscar-nominated flick where the jokes didn’t fly for audiences. I can understand why this would be a movie that sits out of the ceremony's jokes, as the host said:
There's times there are certain areas we cannot crack. One of them is the movie Train Dreams. Can't get a good joke for Train Dreams, which maybe means there is no good joke for Train Dreams.
In the case of Train Dreams, I completely understand. The Netflix flick was overwhelmingly sad at times as we see a quiet railroad worker suffer loss, loneliness, and regret in the early 1900s. It would be incredibly hard to try to land a joke about these tragic yet relatable themes that didn't feel out of place or insensitive. As there are no over-the-top characters or any meme-worthy scenes, it’s probably best that humor isn’t forced on such a beautiful, meditative movie like Train Dreams.
Conan O’Brien was able to make fun of serious dramas at last year’s Oscars, like The Brutalist’s long runtime or Dune: Part Two’s rather confusing plot. As for Train Dreams, the late-night host admitted there’s… really nothing to mock about it. He humorously explained that his writers’ jokes for that movie weren’t hitting the mark, and where the real blame falls:
I think my writers, and they write a lot of jokes and they keep going out and I'm trying them out. I think they've written 5,000 jokes on Train Dreams. Not one of them is any good. And these are very good writers. So, I blame Train Dreams. I think it's the fault of the movie.
While it's certainly possible for great jokes to be written about very serious and sincere topics, sometimes it's simply not possible. That seems to be the case for Train Drams, which makes sense, seeing as the entire movie is simply about a quiet man's life of painstaking hardship. In cases like this, it’s best not to force a punchline.
Of course, O'Brien will still have plenty of material for other jokes, as the films in the mix for Best Picture alone serve as the basis for solid jokes. I wouldn't be surprise if he even throws in a quip about Best Supporting Actor frontrunner Sean Penn or some of the other stars in his category.
Well, after all of the jokes Conan O’Brien tried for Train Dreams stunk, don’t expect the Oscar-nominated flick to be roasted at the ceremony. Although maybe a joke that could be made about this Joel Edgerton-led flick is that…no jokes could be made about it, no matter how hard they tried.
If you’re curious what makes the film un-roastable, you can watch Train Dreams with a Netflix subscription. Then, don’t forget to watch O’Brien host the 98th Academy Awards on ABC or with a Hulu subscription at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
