HONORABLE MENTION: Hugh Grant- St. Clair Bayfield- Florence Foster Jenkins
Quote: "No mockers and no scoffers!"
HONORABLE MENTION: Dev Patel- Saroo Brierley- Lion
Dev Patel was long overdue for an Oscar nomination after a bizarre snub for Slumdog Millionaire in 2008. He has a well-deserved first nomination for his work as an Australian man adopted as a child from India, who was actually a child separated from his family. The character of Saroo is the heart of Lion, but it was split between Sunny Pawar as a child and Patel as an adult, so I really struggled to include it on the actual list. Pawar has more screen time, but it's Patel's emotionally affecting verbose role as a man desperate to find his real mother, yet still grateful for the one who adopted him, that moves you as a viewer.
Quote: "We...we...weren't blank pages were we? Like your own would have been. You weren't just adopting us but our past as well."
#10. Andrew Garfield- Desmond T. Doss- Hacksaw Ridge
Much like Dev Patel, Andrew Garfield was years overdue for his first Oscar nomination. He should have been rewarded for his work in 2010's The Social Network, but instead got his first for playing a conscientious objector in WWII. Desmond T. Doss saved over 70 individuals as a WWII medic, and while never carrying a gun. It's a fascinating role, and Garfield, a Brit, plays him with such Southern charm. You completely believe his performance as a faithful pacifist, and he really anchors a great film.
Quote: "With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together."
#9. Lucas Hedges- Patrick Chandler- Manchester by the Sea
Every year there is a young actor that just blows everyone away. Last year America was captivated by Jacob Tremblay, a 5-year-old in Room. In Manchester by the Sea, Lucas Hedges makes his mainstream debut as a 16-year-old boy grappling with his father's death. The film is centered around his relationship with his uncle, played by Casey Affleck. At first he is portrayed as a snotty and self-centered brat, but his walls slowly start to fall down. He has a sharp Boston tongue and a fierce attitude, but Hedges creates this facade where the audience actually starts to buy his performance, and then weeps as he reveals his true self. I'm so fascinated to see what Hedges does next, as it is possible he has a great future ahead of him.
Quote: "I just don't like the idea of him sitting in a freezer."
#8. Colin Farrell- David- The Lobster
"A lobster. Because lobsters live for over one hundred years, are blue-blooded like aristocrats, and stay fertile all their lives. I also like the sea very much."
#7. Jeff Bridges- Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton- Hell or High Water
Jeff Bridges has played this role with this accent a thousand times. But he displays time and time again that he can deliver a knockout performance with such little range. Hell or High Water is the most realistic of the films nominated at the Oscars, and Bridges plays a Texas Ranger out to catch two bank robbers before he's sent to retirement. It's a one-note character, yet he gives it depth. He teases his Native American partner with racist jokes to the point in which you find him insensitive. Yet when his partner falls in battle, we see a complex array of emotions come from this character. This southern caricature is actually deeper than what you originally presumed.
Quote: "He wouldn't know God if he crawled up his pant leg and bit him on the pecker."
#6. Michael Shannon- Det. Bobby Andes- Nocturnal Animals
I didn't review Nocturnal Animals because I found it polarizing. Many critics have expressed confusion, and some hate it. Everyone can agree that the strongest part of Nocturnal Animals is Michael Shannon's amazing performance as a corrupt detective in Jake Gyllenhaal's character's fantasy world. In Nocturnal Animals, Gyllenhaal's character writes a manuscript based on his relationship with Amy Adams that has her brutally murdered, and Shannon plays the detective working on the case. He's dying of lung cancer, so he really wants to get the guys who did this. He's a hardened veteran, but he cares immensely for humanity. That's why he's corrupt and goes the extra mile to get information. He feels like Gyllenhaal has been wronged and he believes he has the power to correct that wrong. It's an intense performance with perfect comedic timing, as Shannon weaves between viciously interrogating a victim to suddenly throwing up from his cancer and blushing in shame.
Quote: "It's a question of how serious you are about seeing justice done."
#5. Ryan Reynolds- Wade Wilson / Deadpool- Deadpool
Quote: "Well, I may be super, but I'm no hero. And yeah, technically, this is a murder. But some of the best love stories start with a murder. And that's exactly what this is: a love story."
#4. Ryan Gosling- Sebastian Wilder- La La Land
Just barely edging out Ryan Reynolds is Hollywood's other Ryan. Ryan Gosling is a love him/hate him actor. For some reason, my mother cannot stand him, and thought he was awful in La La Land. His Oscar nomination begs to differ. In La La Land, he has such passion and charisma. He's gotten some criticism for "white-splaining" jazz, but I don't fault him for that. He gives brilliant exposition about jazz, which is his passion, and he just happens to be white. While Emma Stone may have won the Oscar, it is her scene partner that motivates her. The two of them act in unison, and their performances rise and fall together. If you saw my list of female actors, you'd notice Stone was also my #4 for women. Both of them are essentially the same, and they work best off of each other.
Quote: "I'm letting life hits me until it gets tired. Then I'll hit back. It's a classic rope-a-dope."
#3. Denzel Washington- Troy Maxson- Fences
The sheer weight of Denzel Washington's performance was outstanding. I couldn't wrap my head around the opening scene because he was saying so many lines. The mass of his acting is so great, I understand why he almost won his third Oscar this year. As Troy Maxson, you hate him. He's emotionally abusive to his wife and son. He is, for lack of a better word, a bastard. There is no redemption for his character. Yet just as Troy stands as a giant to his family, Denzel stands as a giant of acting. No other actor working today could do this role justice as he does. He directed himself, and creates such a larger than life monster of a human. What is even more terrifying is Troy's backstory. He's a villain so real that I hesitate to even call him a villain. It is so easy to see how he became so twisted. Denzel delivers probably a million lines in Fences and he truly solidifies himself as one of the greats, as if he hadn't already.
Quote: "I ain't got to like you! Now, I gave everything I got to give you! I gave you your life. Me and your Mama worked out between us and liking your black ass wasn't part of the bargain."
#2. Mahershala Ali- Juan- Moonlight
Mahershala Ali is in Moonlight for about thirty minutes. In the three parts Moonlight is divided into, Mahershala only appears in the first. He has no meaty scenes, and no big lines. Yet he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and leaves an enormous mark in his short time. He plays a drug dealer named Juan. Our preconceived ideas of black drug dealers in ghettos are shattered. Juan has a kind heart, and takes Chiron under his wing when he sees his hopelessness. He teaches him how to swim in a scene that is more symbolic than literal. One of the best scenes is when Chiron asks him "What's a faggot?" followed by "Am I a faggot?", to which Juan replies "No. You may be gay. But you don't gotta let no one call you a faggot." By the time we reach the second part of Moonlight, Juan is gone. His death is never expanded upon, nor does Chiron give any indication of his passing. But given his profession and the message the movie has about growing up black and poor, it's not hard to piece together that Juan's work has probably gotten him killed. The complexities of his work break you, because he's a drug dealer who actually has a heart. When he discovers Chiron's mother is smoking crack that he deals, he confronts her. She taunts him, and he cannot do anything. Drugs are how he makes a living. He's fueling her addiction, and supplying her with the materials that make his home life a living hell. But he has to do it. He has to survive. Mahershala Ali has acted in numerous small roles before, and this would seem to be no different. It's a small role. But with the nuances and complexities he is able to give to a character we barely get to know, he gives a truly "supporting" performance.
Quote: "At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you're gonna be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you."
#1. Casey Affleck- Lee Chandler- Manchester by the Sea
There was never a doubt in my mind that Casey Affleck would be my #1. He gives, in my opinion, the greatest performance of the year (and deservedly won an Oscar) as a man suffering from grief. Looking for character development? You won't find any here. Lee Chandler has no arc. Through the course of Manchester by the Sea's brutal two and a half hours, Lee doesn't have any revelations, nor does he grow. So how is this a good performance? It's real. The plot of Manchester by the Sea revolves around Lee losing his brother and having to travel back home to assume custody of his nephew. He's expected to move back into the town he left behind and confront the wife he divorced. Without spoiling a key twist, Lee has suffered extreme loss in his past, and this loss is the reason he packed up everything and left. By the end of the movie, he's still dealing with his grief. He's still not over that loss from years ago. He can't make sacrifices for everyone else, even if he loved his brother. Mentally, he simply cannot do it. Affleck portrays this suffering man as accurately as I've ever seen. He knows when to explode and when to stay quiet. His performance is loud and subtle, and weaves in a fashion as unstable as the man himself. It's the relentless cycle of grief, summed up brilliantly by Affleck's most memorable line:
Quote: "I can't beat it."
No comments:
Post a Comment