 |
| (Sony Classics) |
Best Supporting Actor
Robert
Duvall, The Judge
Ethan
Hawke, Boyhood
Edward
Norton, Birdman
Mark
Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K.
Simmons, Whiplash
Neither
of these categories are in a state where a few hundred words dedicated to
prognostication is remotely worth it. Simmons has this one in the bag; Patricia
Arquette is a no-brainer to win Best Supporting Actress.
That
being said, this is a strong category that may have deserved a bit more
competition than the Simmons-runaway we got. The Whiplash star is brilliantly menacing (and my personal pick) and
certainly eats up a lot of screentime, but one thing I like about Best Supporting
Actor this year is the variety. Norton, in Birdman,
is raucously funny and brings about a dazzlingly loopy physicality. His role
fades in the film, but while onscreen the actor is mesmerizingly entertaining.
Ruffalo, alongside the more talked-up performances of Steve Carell and Channing
Tatum, may give his best dramatic performance to date in Foxcatcher. It’s a quiet and initially mild turn that sneaks up on
you: it takes a good hour to realize just how far Ruffalo has removed himself
from the character, and just how carefully and immaculately he’s built up this
impenetrable emotional intensity. Hawke – beyond the coldness of Foxcatcher, the propulsion of Whiplash and the fantasticality of Birdman – goes jubilantly naturalistic
in Boyhood, maintaining a connective
resonance and unwavering expressiveness throughout. And Duvall rounds out the
category for The Judge, a movie I
missed in which Duvall gives, from what I hear, a fine performance – though I’m
confident it wouldn’t be my pick.
Simmons
has won every single precursor award of note; has an overdue reputation
as a longtime character actor; and gives – and here’s the most important Oscar
factor – the “biggest” performance of the bunch. In this case, it translates to
the most deserving. I would have loved to see Josh Brolin compete for his brazenly
strange Inherent Vice turn, or the
two Selma Brits who played slimy
Southerners – Tim Roth as George Wallace, and Tom Wilkinson as LBJ – with both
weighty grit and unabashed amusement (and, if they could have stretched it,
John Lithgow and/or Alfred Molina would be extremely deserving for Love Is Strange). But it’s a solid five,
one that’s long had a predestined outcome.
Will win: J.K. Simmons
Should
win: J.K. Simmons
 |
| (IFC) |
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia
Arquette, Boyhood
Laura
Dern, Wild
Keira
Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma
Stone, Birdman
Meryl
Streep, Into the Woods
Unlike
the former category, this one feels like a wasteland.
I
like Knightley in The Imitation Game
fine, though I struggle to understand why her nomination was such a foregone
conclusion. She’s affable, charming, believable – but she’s not given much at
all to work with. Stone, meanwhile, is nominated for one great Birdman scene, but I wouldn’t consider
it Oscar-worthy as I would Viola Davis’ single, impactful moment in Doubt a few years back. Streep is
predictably boisterous and wonderful in Into
the Woods, but it’s her weakest nominated performance in quite some time.
And while I love Dern, and am amazed at what she brought to her
background-laden part in Wild, she’s
working within an extremely limited role, and can only do so much.
Of
course, I’ve yet to mention Arquette, who in this group of five is – unlike
J.K. Simmons – so far ahead both in predictive terms and qualitatively that
it’s a little ridiculous. The way she holds such emotional and physical control
in early scenes with young kids, and so authentically plays he character's isolated emotional
outbursts, maintains an intimate center for Boyhood.
Really, for this category to get interesting beyond Arquette, the Academy would have needed to
look outside the box. Tilda Swinton is scary-good (and scary-scary) in Snowpiercer, an utter transformation in
dialect, physicality and personality. Elisabeth Moss is tartly comic and then
humanely prickly in Listen Up Philip
(Moss, between Mad Men and Top of the Lake and this, is making a
claim for being one of the more versatile, talented American actresses working
right now). Tessa Thompson takes teen angst to funny, complicated, honest
levels in Dear White People,
grounding a film sorely in need of a little levity. And Katherine Waterston is sultry,
sexy and restrained as PTA’s vulnerable leading lady in Inherent Vice.
Unfortunately,
these films were nowhere near Oscar’s radar, and so their chances were
especially slim. Arquette is going to win this thing, and she’s going to deserve
it. But don’t let this slate of nominees convince you that this was a weak year
for the category. It just reflects voters’ frustrating reluctance to move
beyond their comfort zone.
Will win: Patricia Arquette
Should
win: Patricia Arquette