You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Best Actor’ category.
With Oscar nominations just days away, I must admit this is a weird year for me. First, I feel somewhat less engaged than normal. The earlier nominations (they are announced two weeks earlier than they used to be) mean that I’ve seen fewer of the contenders. Perhaps I’m paying a bit less attention. Maybe I haven’t found anything to champion. But this year it’s not for a lack of good movies but because many of the ones I liked are getting plenty of awards chatter.
But surely there will be a few things that would excite me on Thursday morning.
1) Let Oblivion get nominated for something. In particular I have M83’s fantastic score in mind. The film’s end credit song, naturally called “Oblivion,” is eligible in the Best Original Song category and would be a good choice in a year of lackluster choices. A nod in the Visual Effects category would be well-deserved too. In other words, I’m hoping for an Original Score nod but would take the others as consolation prizes.
2) I’m worried Inside Llewyn Davis is turning out to be the contender that will be just on the outside. If anything is going to get edged out in some big categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Original Screenplay), this seems to be the one. It’s not a movie I immediately loved, but it’s sticking to my bones and that’s usually a sign of a film that I grow to love. I hope Oscar Isaac sneaks into the Best Actor lineup.
3) Some love for Enough Said would be wonderful. I was the Golden Grouch detractor on Nicole Holofcener’s last film, Please Give, but I was totally on board with this one. James Gandolfini has received due praise (though I can’t help but think his death is playing a role in that) but Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a revelation. It seems extremely doubtful that she’ll claim a nod but she’s at the top of my list so far. A Gandolfini Supporting Actor nomination or one for Holofcener’s Original Screenplay would be excellent.
4) I don’t think it’ll have much trouble getting them, but some craft nominations for The Great Gatsby would be nice to see. Production Design would be at the top of my list. Meanwhile, the film contributes my favorite of the Best Song contenders, Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful,” which has the added benefit of having a killer placement in the film. “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” from – gasp! – Fergie would also be a decent choice.
5) It’s not exactly a fair wish as I haven’t seen the other films on the shortlist, but I’m hoping for a Best Foreign Language nomination for The Broken Circle Breakdown. It doesn’t always work, but the parts that do pack some of the most powerful punches in 2013 cinema.
So that’s my list. In two weeks when I’ve finally caught up with the likes of Fruitvale Station, Wolf of Wall Street, Her, and Nebraska I’ll probably have a lot more to add. I’ll look back at this prior version of myself who contentedly set his hopes low and pity him once I know better. But for now I’m an easy man to please.
Here’s a quick round-up of what we think should win tonight. Follow along to see what Oscar gets right! (Hint: use the “John” column)
| Jared | John | |
|---|---|---|
| Picture | Argo | Django Unchained |
| Director | Spielberg | Lee |
| Actress | Lawrence | Chastain |
| Actor | Day-Lewis | Day-Lewis |
| Supporting Actress | Hathaway | Hathaway |
| Supporting Actor | Waltz | Hoffman |
| Original Screenplay | Flight | Flight |
| Adapted Screenplay | Argo | Argo |
| Animated Feature | Wreck-It Ralph | Brave |
| Animated Short | Paperman | |
| Cinematography | Lincoln | Anna Karenina |
| Costume | Mirror Mirror | |
| Film Editing | Argo | |
| Makeup and Hairstyling | Les Miserables | |
| Production Design | Anna Karenina | |
| Score | Life of Pi | |
| Song | Skyfall | Skyfall |
| Sound Editing | Django Unchained | |
| Sound Mixing | Les Miserables | |
| Visual Effects | Life of Pi |
The Oscars are quickly approaching. Because we’ve spent the time to see the nominees and because we’re really smart (and I, at least, have impeccable taste), we’re telling you what should win in all the categories.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
The nominees are:
- Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
- Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Denzel WashingtonFlight
John
Yes, of course I’m going with Daniel Day-Lewis in this category. It’s one of those instantly classic performances that will be remembered for a long time.
But it’s still not an instant choice because there are two other really good nominees in this category. Phoenix is intense as hell, squirmy and angry. Washington turns in what I’d call a classic leading man performance. There’s not much in the way of showy acting in Flight but Washington totally carries the film with charisma to spare. He really nails his character’s charming yet dickish personality.
Cooper didn’t make much of an impression on me and I think Les Miserables actively sputters when Jackman is on screen. I know it’s a stylistic choice to give the singing a ragged quality, but Jackman’s gasping and over-emoting didn’t work for me and paled in comparison to his costars that took a more conventional approach to their singing. “Maybe the director should have worked harder to make sure his cast members took similar approaches to singing,” you might say. Yes. Yes he should have.
I would have dropped Cooper and Jackman for John Hawkes’s marvelous performance in The Sessions. I suspect the real Mark O’Brien would have felt very well-represented by the portrayal. Logan Lerman in The Perks of Being a Wallflower never really got the acclaim he deserved. Forget Cooper; Logan gives the mentally ill performance of the year! Finally, he may win in Supporting Actor, but Tommy Lee Jones really knocked my socks off in Hope Springs, pairing his trademark gruffness with a lot of vulnerability.
Jared
When I have Hugh Jackman in the cellar, you know it is a strong year for this category. I’ll probably never have a bad thing to say about Jackman (and I’m always reminded of SNL’s Best of Both Worlds sketch), I think he was a little bit let down by his director and the material here. The sing-talking was mostly distracting and a lot of the time he just didn’t seem to be in the same movie as everyone else. I think there’s a potential Les Miserables that would see me have Jackman as my favorite, but this wasn’t it.
It is admittedly a little difficult to get past the sheer boredom induced by The Master. But I think Joaquin Phoenix helped create a very distinct character. I don’t know if this is going to sound insane or not, but I was most taken by a particular pose Phoenix struck throughout the movie. Hands on his waist, elbows out, almost chicken-like. It felt vaguely unnatural, but maybe since nothing else was going on in the movie, I noticed it over and over, and was impressed with how well Phoenix stuck with it (and other mannerisms) throughout the movie.
I say this as a very big fan of the guy, but doesn’t it seem like Bradley Cooper’s star power is outpacing the movies he’s starred in by a significant margin? He’s got The Hangover and its sequel, this one, and…what else? Limitless? You have to start counting He’s Just Not That Into You and Valentine’s Day, or, like The A-Team. Now, that’s not any sort of knock on his acting, a rewatch of Wet Hot American Summer and, say, The Midnight Meat Train will reveal a perhaps surprisingly impressive range. Anyway, to be more relevant here, this nomination is absolutely deserved. Cooper overcomes a subpar script and direction to deliver a refreshingly nuanced take on mental illness.
Flight is an underrated movie, and I think maybe as a result (along with the fact that there’s a clear front-runner in this category), Denzel Washington is getting lost in the shuffle a little bit. Which is ridiculous, because he’s Denzel. Like most actors, he’s more fun to watch when he’s playing someone who isn’t the ultimate do-gooder, and his character here is just fascinating. There’s a wide spectrum of ways of playing drunk, none of them necessarily wrong, but it is a lot more difficult to play a character going through an entire movie in an alcohol and narcotic infused haze of dependency. And Washington nails it.
I always love the stories of Daniel Day-Lewis so fully immersing himself into a character – texting like Lincoln, staying in character for the entire production and dearly hope the more ridiculous they are, the more true they are. To me, he’s a testament to what we can accomplish if we want something badly enough, including putting in the work. And for me, there’s not necessarily a value judgement there. His Lincoln is pitch perfect, of course. But when you think about what he sacrificed to prepare and stay in the character’s mindset, it is hard to say if it is was “worth” it.
At any rate, I think the world has pretty much acknowledged this race is and should be set, and everyone’s OK with that.
Should have been here: Along with Day-Lewis and Washignton, I have John Hawkes, The Sessions; Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe, and Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. With Cooper; Channing Tatum, Magic Mike; and Liam Neeson, The Grey on the outside.
Nominations are less than a day away! Time to put our forecasting mettle to the test and see if we can’t pick the nominees. Jared and I did all non-short categories and Brian joined us for the big six. I’ve highlighted in yellow where we differ.
Check back tomorrow to see how we did!
Oscar nominations on the 10th! Yay! I’m taking a look at the state of the race, because…uh…tradition. This time: Actor.
VIRTUAL LOCK
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Ladies and gentlemen, your lockiest lock. Day-Lewis has noms for In the Name of the Father and Gangs of New York along with wins for My Left Foot and There Will Be Blood. No one needs me to say anything more about him or his performance.
GOOD BET
- Denzel Washington, Flight
- Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Sure, Denzel’s character isn’t necessarily as much a stretch for him as some would have you to believe. That doesn’t make him any less good. He’s got noms for Cry Freedom, Malcolm X, and The Hurricane, and wins for Glory and Training Day. If Hugh Jackman is shaky here, it is only because Les Miserables wasn’t the unanimous success some expected it to be. And because Tom Hooper screwed over his non-Anne Hathaway actors. Jackman has no Oscar nominations to his name. Fun fact, though. His Golden Globe nomination this year was his second. Any guesses as to which film led to his first? Obviously, it was Kate & Leopold. Never change, Globes.
LIKELY IN
- Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
- John Hawkes, The Sessions
I’m certainly not claiming this category is set in stone, but the above five gentlemen have hit all of the major precursors (Globes, Critics Choice, and most importantly SAG), so you’d have to bet on them. Bradley Cooper took some Tropic Thunder advice and didn’t go full retard, which should be Oscar catnip, especially if they take to the rest of the film, as it seems like they will. I realize this is going to make me sound (even more) like an idiot, but it is only while writing this up that I’m realizing the import of Hawkes not being able to move for his performance. Full body movement is so vital to the other four actors mentioned above, making Hawkes’s performance that much more impressive. With a prior nomination for Winter’s Bone, if he misses, it is because not enough people saw the film. Or an insufficient Oscar campaign, I guess.
ON THE BUBBLE
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Still haven’t seen this one. The Master‘s buzz has fallen faster than perhaps any other contender this year, and Phoenix missing the SAG was tough. But Phoenix has two prior nominations (Gladiator and Walk the Line), the film has been out long enough for people to have seen it, and there are a sizable number of fervent Paul Thomas Anderson fans.
DARK HORSES
- Richard Gere, Arbitrage
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour
- Anthony Hopkins, Hitchcock
- Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained
Gere was pretty decent, and it is the type of role you would think could get him a nomination, I’m just not sure he has enough showy scenes. Though word on the street is that there is growing support for him. Pretty impossible to get any sort of read on Amour, and Riva has been generating more buzz than Trinignant. But my understanding is that if you are for one, you are probably for both of them. Sure seemed like all the stars were aligned for an Anthony Hopkins nominations. But the movie is entirely inessential and he is content to let Hitchcock’s girth do all the acting. I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been more buzz for Jamie Foxx. He’s quite good in the movie and has a nomination for Collateral and a win for Ray.
SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED
- Channing Tatum, everything
- Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
- Liam Neeson, The Grey
Over the past two weeks we’ve been revealing our choices for most of the Oscar categories. Here is a handy recap of those picks! Refer to this page often during tonight’s telecast to see if you should be agreeing with the winners! (Hint: use the “John” column)
| Adam | Brian | Jared | John | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Picture | Hugo | The Artist | Midnight in Paris | |
| Director | Allen | Scorsese | Havanavicius | Malick |
| Actress | Mara | Mara | Williams | Streep |
| Actor | Dujardin | Dujardin | Dujardin | Oldman |
| Supporting Actress | Bejo | Bejo | Spencer | Chastain |
| Supporting Actor | Hill | Nolte | Branagh | Plummer |
| Original Screenplay | Midnight in Paris | Margin Call | The Artist | Midnight in Paris |
| Adapted Screenplay | Hugo | The Descendants | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | |
| Art Direction | Midnight in Paris | Hugo | Hugo | Hugo |
| Cinematography | The Tree of Life | Hugo | The Tree of Life | The Tree of Life |
| Costume | Anonymous | Jane Eyre | ||
| Film Editing | Hugo | Moneyball | The Descendants | |
| Makeup | Harry Potter | The Iron Lady | Harry Potter | The Iron Lady |
| Score | The Artist | The Adventures of Tintin | ||
| Song | The Muppets | The Muppets | The Muppets | |
| Sound Editing | Transformers | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Transformers | Drive |
| Sound Mixing | Transformers | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Transformers | Transformers |
| Visual Effects | Transformers | Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Harry Potter | Transformers |
| Animated Short | A Morning Stroll | A Morning Stroll | A Morning Stroll | Wild Life |
| Live Action Short | Time Freak | Time Freak | ||
| Documentary Short | Saving Face | The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom |
The 84th Academy Awards is almost here! Leading up to the event, we’re going to put all the hours we spent watching these films to good use by giving our thoughts on all the categories, big and small. We may not be experts on everything, but I daresay that’s never stopped anyone from blogging before. On the (very remote chance) you disagree with us or the (much more likely chance) you want to applaud our picks, please chime in below.
Actor in a Leading Role
The nominees are:
- Demián Bichir, A Better Life
- George Clooney, The Descendants
- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
- Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Brad Pitt, Moneyball
JOHN
Actor is the hardest category this year. It’s a super strong line-up and I’m having a hell of a time picking a favorite. Honestly, I don’t think you can go wrong. It may even be the best slate of nominees in a major category since we’ve started this project. There’s also a convenient split in the type of performances represented here: the subdued and the classic movie star.
In the former category I’d put Bichir and Oldman. Neither are showy performances but both make a powerful impact. Bichir does a great job of selling the desperation of his situation as a man who is not used to displaying much emotion. I really liked his scenes with his son and the mixture of awkwardness and exasperation in their interactions. Oldman, meanwhile, turns in one of those blank slate performances that wow me every so often. He’s a closely guarded guy, used to the secrecy and politicking of spycraft and yet he can say so much with a little flicker or movement. Every action is so precise and measured.
Clooney, Pitt, and Dujardin instead shine as classic leading men. They have the charisma, conviction, and, indeed, the looks to really lead a film. You may say that’s not all that impressive, but think of how many films sink as their leading men can’t carry them on their shoulders. How many films must sink under Ryan Reynolds’s floundering?
I’ve been a long time Clooney proponent and have given him great praise in this space in previous years for Up in the Air and Michael Clayton. I know people seem to think he plays the same role again and again, but I maintain there’s nothing wrong with taking similar roles. While within something of a “Clooney Realm,” all have their own impressive nuances. His part in The Descendants is a great match for him and he gets to show a little range compared to the previous Best Actor nods. The film bounces around tonally and it works partly because he carries it, balancing the anger, bewilderment, sadness of his predicament. (The narrative doesn’t work nearly as well but that’s not his fault.)
Dujardin brings great physicality to his silent role in The Artist. Presumably he’s never tackled such a role before but he’s a natural. The heightened emotiveness needed for a silent film could easily come off as mimickry or over the top in less suave hands. He just has a magnetism that makes it work. I have a bit less to say about Pitt. The guy is always solid and he does a good job, though I didn’t really find myself thinking, “Pitt is awesome” while watching Moneyball. But I understand that to those who fell for the movie his performance was a big part of it. A good, confident leading performance.
So who should win? At any given moment I could go for Clooney, Dujardin, or Oldman. But I suppose I’ll pick one and I’ll go with Gary Oldman, who is also sort of a sentimental pick. Though this decision is prone to change at any time!
It was a strong year all around for actors. As great as this slate is, it would have also been great to see Michael Fassbender (Shame), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter), and Leonardo DiCaprio (J Edgar). I don’t know how I’d pick just five out of all of these great performances.
JARED
I’ll give Adam the voice he’s lacking: Where’s Brendan Gleeson?! Playing basically a mix of all the characters who did get nominated, he absolutely belongs in this list.
I like Gary Oldman a lot. If I ran the world, he’d probably already have at least one Oscar. I’m thrilled he finally got a nomination. But I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger here. He’s received lots of plaudits for his super-restrained, barely emoting performance. At some point, though, doesn’t that just translate to a boring performance where nothing happens? I wouldn’t go that far here, but I’m not seeing what others are.
It is too facile to dismiss Clooney’s role as another one in a series of charming Clooneyesque guys dealing with #whitepeopleproblems. I also wouldn’t have gone so far as to give him a nomination. There’s a lot of good stuff here, though. And I think Clooney was a solid choice to portray the not quite sympathetic “hero” of the story because he certainly makes the film more watchable, and he adds a lot of needed nuance to the script.
I have to make a conscious effort to not just say for all of these guys how much I like their body of work. Brad Pitt is no exception. But I’m just not quite seeing it here. To me, he’s just doing a Coach Taylor imitation. And granted, everyone should be doing a Coach Taylor imitation. But I’d love to see Oscar and Pitt better line up with each other.
I’m tickled pink that the Academy saw fit to nominate Bichir. A Better Life went out super early to members, so maybe that turned out to be an effective strategy. For me, this performance was a case study in how a role doesn’t have to be showy to have a big impact. There’s nothing you’d expect from a typical Oscar performance, such as wild swings of emotion. Bichir commands the screen here, nearly flawlessly portraying the character and turning it into something quite real.
It was always going to be Jean Dujardin for me, though. Not because his is the biggest and broadest role of the bunch. But because he is just so darn good in the role. I mean, honestly, even his crooked half-smile lights up the day. Dujardin creates a character that feels so much like the actors of yesteryear would pull off, screwball and slapstick while also being dramatic and serious. Dujardin nails the range and the depth of the character. And it feels like he is having tons of fun, a feeling that can’t help but be infectious.
BRIAN
Jean Dujardin
ADAM
Jean Dujardin
Well this look at the successful performance showcases, the complement to my earlier look at the failed ones, is ridiculously late. But it’s been sitting on my hard drive for a while so why waste it? Plus many of these are now available on DVD so you can go judge them for yourselves. Though you may as well leave the judging to me, right?
Animal Kingdom
There was a good chance that this one was going to land on the “failed” portion of these posts, but happily Jacki Weaver eked out a Supporting Actress nod for this very low profile film. Animal Kingdom is an Australian crime drama centered around a family of bank robbers. The opening credits made me think I was about to see The Town: Down Under with its images of bank heists. Instead, it’s a character-focused drama about the family unraveling as the crooked cops close in.
Weaver plays the family matriarch. She’s outwardly sweet and caring, but in reality is chillingly ruthless. Her daughter dies of a heroin overdose so her estranged grandson comes to live with her. Meanwhile, her son is hiding out from the cops while the Melbourne police become more brutal with their tactics. The cops begin killing off members of the gang, the gang retaliates, and the heretofore innocent grandson gets entangled in it all.
The movie is very good. I think some people may find the grandson character frustrating as he waffles between his family and the police and seems to willfully put himself in danger. But I think the film does a good job establishing the character and his passiveness. Weaver is quite memorable. I think it’s a role ripe for scenery chewing, but she dials it back and it makes her actions even more chilling. Hopefully her nomination will cause more people to seek out the film.
Rabbit Hole
This story of a couple mourning their recently-deceased son works in parts. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart grieve in their own ways, which drives a wedge into their relationship. Kidman is prone to awkward public outbursts that can be quite uncomfortable to watch. The film is filled with these scenes and it can be hard to take.
But some scenes are just wonderful. Most of the scenes Kidman shares with her mother, played by Dianne Weist, are terrific and insightful. Eckhart has a nice scene in his son’s bedroom with a family looking to buy the house.
The film is a series of mostly successful individual scenes while some overall plot points fall a little short. I found the relationship between Kidman and a young man sort of contrived, but it yielded several nice moments.
I think your mileage may vary in a heavily dramatic movie like this. What rings true or connects emotionally for one will feel wrong to another. And that is fine, considering the film is about people who express their grief differently.
Kidman is very good and she grabbed the film’s one Oscar nomination for Best Actress. I enjoyed Eckhart, and he did land an Independent Spirit nod, though a few of his showcase scenes didn’t work very well for me. How much was him and how much was the writing, I don’t know. Finally, Weist is also very good and it’s too bad awards momentum for her stalled so early.
It’s a good film that I would recommend, but given its weight I’m not sure if there are many people I’d specifically recommend it to.
Biutiful
We all severely despised this movie. Javier Bardem landed a Best Actor nod for his role as a Barcelona black marketeer who is severely down on his luck. His illegal immigrant workers get deported and he has the heart to care about their families. His own ex-wife is unreliable, leaving him to worry for his children’s safety. He is sick. His dreams are full of tiresome artsy fartsy imagery.
The film received some critical malign for being such a downer. I contend that to be a downer a film must make the viewer care enough to feel the depression and Biutiful fails miserably at that. I wasn’t saddened by Bardem’s slog. I was bored. Very, very bored.
It severely drags. I started looking out for the ending, constantly expecting for the finale to be right around the corner and pondering if I liked certain developments as the denouement. In hindsight it turns out I started doing this about 45 minutes in. That is a bad sign.
Blue Valentine
I anticipated this being up my alley but it started losing me pretty quickly. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are a married couple with a young daughter. The film starts with their relationship in trouble and watches as it crumbles. Interspersed are flashbacks showing them meeting and falling in love.
It reminded me a lot of Revolutionary Road from a few years back. It could be a poignant look at the strains that are put on a relationship, but it’s really just about two people that shouldn’t be together. And at least one is a douchebag. It becomes pretty clear that there isn’t a lot of depth to their relationship and I began rooting against the pair because it seemed like they’d both be better off alone. By the end it was just tedious.
Williams got a Best Actress nomination but it’s surprising that Gosling was barely even in the picture. He didn’t even score any recognition from the Independent Spirits. Maybe the field for Best Actor was just more competitive. But I have a hard time imagining someone responding the movie and Williams’s performance but not Gosling’s.
Another Year
This one isn’t a successful performance piece but at least it did get some Oscar attention, receiving an Original Screenplay nod. Lesley Manville really should have been in the mix for Supporting Actress, but at least she was a contender.
My colleagues liked Another Year considerably less than I did and I understand why. It’s slow with a very understated plot. But it’s all in service of its themes. I’m not sure why, but I’m drawn towards films about the passage of time and the transient nature of lives in this permanent world and Another Year has these in spades. Four segments corresponding to each of the seasons follow English married couple Tom and Gerri as they host family and friends at parties and events over the course of a year. They are in love and appear to have a happy life, but the same cannot be said about everyone else in their coterie. Manville stands out as Gerri’s lonely middle aged coworker who drinks too much at the get-togethers and fancies her hosts’ much younger son.
The film does sacrifice plot for theme. In fact, it would be hard to claim there’s much of a plot at all as the action is all conversation. We do see the characters’ progression throughout the year though much of the action occurs between the seasonal meetings. Mary’s excitement to buy a car and subsequent troubles with said car later in the year is one more light-hearted example.
The slowness did get to me a little as some of the scenes aren’t the best at advancing the themes. I’m happy to accept subtlety when warranted, but sitting through some of the scenes that seemed pointless to me was harder to stomach. With a little tightening it could be more entertaining and packed a heftier punch.
We’re taking a look at Oscar categories in advance of tonight’s show. Now we’re on Supporting Actress. The nominees:
- Javier Bardem, Biutiful
- Jeff Bridges, True Grit
- Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
- Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
- James Franco, 127 Hours
John
Give me my award. Today, junior. Did I stutter? Oh, right.
This is a good crew, but Best Actor usually is. It’s Colin Firth in a walk for me, but that doesn’t reflect poorly on any of the others. What chance do they have against the charm, the grace, and yes the stutter of Firth? He’s so good all the time so I’m glad he’s getting his due, even though it does take a showy disability to get him the prize. Didn’t Tropic Thunder say something about going partial retard is Oscar gold…?
Franco is perfect for his role, both as a slightly off outdoorsy guy and the type of presence that can carry a movie when he’s the only one on screen. I didn’t give enough credit to Eisenberg when I first saw The Social Network. He gets some crap for playing the same character repeatedly, but I happened to see Network again soon after watching Zombieland and the differences were clear. This is also a performance that succeeds on a lot more than just line reading. I really like the way he carries himself.
I do think Bridges gets a boost just by being Jeff Bridges. It’s a memorable character that allows for some showy acting, but the type of role that I think needs a name to propel it to awards season. He’s still great, of course, but I do see a clear gap between him and those listed above. And Bardem is an interesting nod, displaying the kind of acting that I have not seen from him before. I just wish it had been in a better movie where his performance could have affected me more.
Snubs: As good as this list is, I would have had Robert Duvall for Get Low and Sean Penn for Fair Game. Maybe also Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine.
Jared
Yeah, geez, how do you pick a winner here? It is a little odd that precursors have been so unanimous just because everyone here absolutely deserves consideration for the win. The Grouches closed out Oscars this year with a screening of Biutiful, which was was too long and didn’t give the view a chance to get emotionally invested in the characters enough. My expectations of Javier Bardem were maybe too high, because I’d that people just absolutely went gaga over his performance. He does a fine job, of course, but I think he’s hampered by the script here.
If an actor can get a nomination for a role that won John Wayne an Oscar, well, he must be doing something right. Even if Jeff Bridges took a note from the Marlon Brando school of acting and stuffed a handful of pebbles in his mouth before talking. If he didn’t get his career achievement Oscar last year, I have the feeling that we’d be hearing a lot more about him. It is still weird to me, as a devotee of Freaks and Geeks (OK, who am I kidding, as a devotee of Whatever It Takes), that James Franco is a highly-regarded thespian. But he’s unquestionably deserving. And in 127 Hours it takes some kind of screen presence to be the sole focus of nearly every shot of every scene.
John makes a good point above, Jesse Eisenberg definitely does not play the same character in every film. Are they similar? Sure. There’s the ever present joke about how he and Michael Cera fight over the same roles. But really, I can’t imagine Eisenberg as Scott Pilgrim nor I could see Cera as Zuckerberg. Sorkin’s Zuckerberg is a difficult nut to crack, but I think Eisenberg handles it quite deftly.
Like Mr. Darcy needed anything else to be a chick magnet.
But, of course, like everyone else in the world, I’m jumping on the Colin Firth bandwagon. And while he’s had an impressive career, this victory is certainly not just for his body of work. Doing the stutter is the obvious part of his performance. And he does do it in a way that (apparently) very close to reality, but also works on screen. That said, there’s so much more to his role. How he, as a prince and king, husband and father, handles his relationship with each one of the other characters. Part of that is Seidler’s script, naturally. But a lot of it is Firth working his magic.
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