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Oscar, Oscar, who will win the Best Actor prizes?
Oscar predictions week continues. I tackled Best Picture/Director yesterday, so it’s time for Best Actor and Supporting Actor today. Once again, both categories have clear favorites. Nominees are listed from least to most likely to win.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War: Hoffman turned in a riotous performance as a wisecracking CIA division chief and was widely considered the best thing about the movie, another presumed front-runner that faded. However, Hoffman just won a Best Actor prize for Capote, so it’s too soon to reward him again. Besides, Javier Bardem is such a favorite in this category, no one can beat him.
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: This was the younger Affleck’s big breakout year between his performance as Robert Ford here and in big brother Ben’s directorial debut Gone Baby Gone. Clearly, he has arrived. However, for every person who thinks Assassination is a masterpiece, there are a couple more who consider it a pretentious slog. Besides, Javier Bardem is such a favorite in this category, no one can beat him.
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton: This ever-reliable character actor turned in a typically riveting performance as the flipped-out attorney who sets the plot of Michael Clayton in motion. I’m sure the Academy would like to recognize him someday, but not this year. Javier Bardem is such a favorite in this category, no one can beat him.
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild: A veteran who’s even longer in the tooth than Wilkinson, Holbrook finally scored what is rather unbelievably his first nomination as the man who mentors the protagonist of Into the Wild. If anyone can upset Bardem, it’s him. He has been extremely gracious in talking about his success up to now, which certainly helps. Even so, Javier Bardem is such a favorite in this category, no one can beat him.
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men: He’s such a favorite in this category that no one … aw, you know what I mean by now. No Country isn’t 10 minutes old before Anton Chigurh becomes one of the great screen villains of all time. If he loses, the minds of Oscar viewers will flip like so many coins.
WILL WIN: Bardem
SHOULD WIN: Bardem burned into my memory right away and stayed there long after the film was over, threatening to become part of my nightmares.
YOUR VOTE: Tell us who you would pick if you were an Academy member:
[an error occurred while processing this directive]BEST ACTOR after the jump
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd: The ever versatile and quirky Depp impressed many with his vocal chops, but chopping of another sort - namely all that bloodletting - made many people flinch at the movie whether they knew the source material or not. Some other year.
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises: If there were an Oscar for most fearless performance, Mortensen would grab it in a walk for the infamous bathhouse scene alone. He completely owns the character. The film was not widely seen, however, and its bloodiness will make some viewers shut it off.
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah: Jones pulled the biggest GASP on nomination day for being nominated for this film instead of his part in No Country. Elah did so poorly at the box office, his chances were considered nil. Those who finally see this film will see one of Jones’ best performances, but they won’t be great enough in number for him to win.
George Clooney, Michael Clayton: The extremely well liked Clooney provided the very strong if conflicted center of this extremely well-liked film. Some say he’ll benefit from a late surge, but there are two problems with that argument: he just recently won for Syriana, and the role is the least showy of the five. Oscar typically doesn’t go for subtle.
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood: And this may be the least subtle of all the performances, with the actor doing much glowering and shouting, but that hardly means this performance isn’t complex and nuanced. Day-Lewis throws himself into the role of Daniel Plainview, an unrepentant oil man who at first seems completely irredeemable, until subsequent viewings reveal glimmers of a soul he can’t hang onto. Some say Day-Lewis is channeling John Huston here, but, genius that he was, even Huston couldn’t have pulled off work this indelible. Day-Lewis has won before, for My Left Foot, but a performance this towering will easily overcome any drawbacks.
WILL/SHOULD WIN: Day-Lewis
YOUR VOTE: Who should win?
[an error occurred while processing this directive]After casting your votes, tell me why you picked as you did. Who gave the best performances and why?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Oscars Sunday Night
Comments
By SRCputt
February 19, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
Of the Best Picture nominees, the performance most important to the success of the film is Daniel Day-Lewis, and he absolutely owns the picture. Bardem is the best villain performance since Hannibal Lecter. There are many great performances, but both of these choices are easy.By Allie D
February 19, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
If either Bardem or Day-Lewis don’t get the Oscars, I’ll eat my left hand. It’s just too bad, though, because there are a lot of great and deserving nominees in the actor categories this year. I loved Clooney and Mortensen in their respective roles. Wilkinson was an early favorite for me this year too. But no one could foresee the thunder of the two front-runners. These are performances that are incredibly rare.