OVP: Best Lead Actor (2012)
The Nominees Were...
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
My Thoughts: We are in the home stretch, and are now onto the leading men of the 2012 Oscar race. The men in this category include two first-timers, one man who is enjoying his third nomination, and two men who had already won a pair of Oscars (the amount of two-time Oscar winners who won nominations last year was insane). Let's dive in with the man in the middle, Joaquin Phoenix.
Joaquin Phoenix has always been compared to his older brother River, the perfect, tragically youthful young man who brought us everything from Stand by Me to Running on Empty to My Own Private Idaho. Being the younger brother of the icon of his generation, he gained unfair comparisons earlier on in his career, and I remember seeing Gladiator and not being remotely impressed by this other Phoenix.
Since then, though, Phoenix has carved out a strong reputation as an actor, and also a heckuva reputation as a crazy celebrity. His I'm Still Here stunt may have burned itself into the public consciousness that he's not an actor for mainstream audiences, but my tastes rarely run in the way of mainstream audiences, so I'm all over the new and slightly insane Phoenix.
That newfound love, though, is most driven by his astounding work in The Master. Here, we are given a man who mumbles his way through part of his character, while still giving us a deviant with a soul. The film is all about Freddie, and though Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are all excellent in their respective roles, it's Phoenix, and his Freddie that make the film. Think of how he progresses, how, through Lancaster Dodd, he is one of the rare people who actually makes breakthroughs, and how devastated and broken he ends up in the end of the film, when he has reverted back after being abandoned by the teachings. Phoenix's performance is a true marvel-the sort of work that actors of younger generations will cite for years as a piece that changed their perspective on acting, that inspired them to enter the business. Joaquin is in no one's shadow after this.
Daniel Day-Lewis also turned in an excellent piece of work in Lincoln, a performance that other actors will cite as inspiring them, though probably not in the same bold way that Phoenix does. Day-Lewis is such a great actor so very often that it's hard to not compare this to, say, the excellence of Bill the Bucher or Daniel Plainview (his best performance) instead of just his fellow nominees. Day-Lewis's work as Lincoln is stoic, humorous-he gets that the man was not a politician at his core, but a man who wanted change. He finds the backwoods charm of Lincoln (the occasional bits of humor play so well, the way that he, though a consummate politician, found time to spout stories and anecdotes to men of much lower ranks-I love the Adam Driver scene). He also delivers all of his speeches with a brilliant gravitas. I had my qualms about a couple of directions they took the character (I'm always leery of a saint in a movie, and I'm afraid that this crossed the line from flesh-and-bone to saint on occasion), but as a whole, this is a great piece of work from a truly great actor, and that third trophy seems highly justified.
Bradley Cooper is not the actor that either Day-Lewis or Phoenix is, though that is perhaps more out of a lack of opportunity than out of a lack of skill, as his work in Silver Linings Playbook shows there's more than just a pretty face and a sextet of abs to recommend Cooper. I particularly loved Cooper in the first half of the film (I loved everything more in the first half of the film, admittedly, but particularly Bradley). His uncomfortable interactions with his father, mother, and Tiffany really showed the tic's of mental illness and the heartbreaking nature of his disease (and the stigma that surrounds it). It all climaxes with that terrific scene with "Girl from the North Country," where Cooper finally gets some happiness. I can't really blame Cooper for what happens next, but his performance takes a hit due to the script not giving him as much to do in the second half, and so there's something that he loses in that final half that takes him away from gold medal contention against Day-Lewis and Phoenix.
Denzel Washington has been coasting off of the wisecracking-older-guy-who-schools-the-younger-guy persona for so long, I kind of wondered if we'd ever be out of the wilderness with him using a decade of remarkable work to make up for a decade of interchangeable, almost identical thrillers and small-scale action films (he's never made a sequel, but he's made at least two films about out-of-control trains, so perhaps he has).
His work in Flight, I've said before, does have its moments. He definitely understands the nature of addiction, the way that it sucks up your will to succeed and your confidence and your instinct to fight. But Washington's story arch never seems believable, and that's on him as much as it is on the director. The film takes him too far down to see him come so close to succeeding and then give it up-the lying and recklessness that he exhibits as an addict never compromises with the character's late-in-the-film revelation that he was drinking when he flew the plane, and that he must pay for his mistakes. Washington is always a very watchable actor, but his character is too inconsistent, his performance too all-over-the-place to warrant inclusion here, despite happiness from us all that he's back in the "acting" game instead of just the "making movies" game.
Finally, we have Hugh Jackman. I remembered feeling bad when I was writing the Jacki Weaver and Alan Arkin write-ups, as these are actors that I have enjoyed in the past and was giving them a tough time, but then I thought, "they'll at least have it better than Hugh Jackman."
I feel mean to say this about an actor who is clearly a very nice man in real-life, especially one getting their first nomination, but I did not enjoy Jackman's performance at all. His performance is so hollow to me-it relies so heavily on his emotional connection to Fantine (how brief it is), which never connects (I'm not sure if I entirely need to blame this on Jackman over Hathaway, but it falls more so on him as his story is far more reliant on her than hers is on his). His eyes are too dramatic, and he overplays almost every scene. Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, and Samantha Barks all get that the film is not on Broadway, it's cinema, and so it's important to tone things down and calm the theatrics, but Jackman never succeeds in doing that, and his performance seems a bit cartoonish and out of reach for the audience. And, I've said it before and I'll say it again here-he's not a strong enough singer to pull this performance off. Everyone focuses on Crowe, but Jackman's voice is too tinny, too Ethel Merman to pull off the operatic Jean Valjean. This is particularly noticeable in the talking/singing portions, where he's frequently out-of-pitch (the live singing did not help him at all) and it takes entirely away from his character.
Joaquin Phoenix has always been compared to his older brother River, the perfect, tragically youthful young man who brought us everything from Stand by Me to Running on Empty to My Own Private Idaho. Being the younger brother of the icon of his generation, he gained unfair comparisons earlier on in his career, and I remember seeing Gladiator and not being remotely impressed by this other Phoenix.
Since then, though, Phoenix has carved out a strong reputation as an actor, and also a heckuva reputation as a crazy celebrity. His I'm Still Here stunt may have burned itself into the public consciousness that he's not an actor for mainstream audiences, but my tastes rarely run in the way of mainstream audiences, so I'm all over the new and slightly insane Phoenix.
That newfound love, though, is most driven by his astounding work in The Master. Here, we are given a man who mumbles his way through part of his character, while still giving us a deviant with a soul. The film is all about Freddie, and though Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are all excellent in their respective roles, it's Phoenix, and his Freddie that make the film. Think of how he progresses, how, through Lancaster Dodd, he is one of the rare people who actually makes breakthroughs, and how devastated and broken he ends up in the end of the film, when he has reverted back after being abandoned by the teachings. Phoenix's performance is a true marvel-the sort of work that actors of younger generations will cite for years as a piece that changed their perspective on acting, that inspired them to enter the business. Joaquin is in no one's shadow after this.
Daniel Day-Lewis also turned in an excellent piece of work in Lincoln, a performance that other actors will cite as inspiring them, though probably not in the same bold way that Phoenix does. Day-Lewis is such a great actor so very often that it's hard to not compare this to, say, the excellence of Bill the Bucher or Daniel Plainview (his best performance) instead of just his fellow nominees. Day-Lewis's work as Lincoln is stoic, humorous-he gets that the man was not a politician at his core, but a man who wanted change. He finds the backwoods charm of Lincoln (the occasional bits of humor play so well, the way that he, though a consummate politician, found time to spout stories and anecdotes to men of much lower ranks-I love the Adam Driver scene). He also delivers all of his speeches with a brilliant gravitas. I had my qualms about a couple of directions they took the character (I'm always leery of a saint in a movie, and I'm afraid that this crossed the line from flesh-and-bone to saint on occasion), but as a whole, this is a great piece of work from a truly great actor, and that third trophy seems highly justified.
Bradley Cooper is not the actor that either Day-Lewis or Phoenix is, though that is perhaps more out of a lack of opportunity than out of a lack of skill, as his work in Silver Linings Playbook shows there's more than just a pretty face and a sextet of abs to recommend Cooper. I particularly loved Cooper in the first half of the film (I loved everything more in the first half of the film, admittedly, but particularly Bradley). His uncomfortable interactions with his father, mother, and Tiffany really showed the tic's of mental illness and the heartbreaking nature of his disease (and the stigma that surrounds it). It all climaxes with that terrific scene with "Girl from the North Country," where Cooper finally gets some happiness. I can't really blame Cooper for what happens next, but his performance takes a hit due to the script not giving him as much to do in the second half, and so there's something that he loses in that final half that takes him away from gold medal contention against Day-Lewis and Phoenix.
Denzel Washington has been coasting off of the wisecracking-older-guy-who-schools-the-younger-guy persona for so long, I kind of wondered if we'd ever be out of the wilderness with him using a decade of remarkable work to make up for a decade of interchangeable, almost identical thrillers and small-scale action films (he's never made a sequel, but he's made at least two films about out-of-control trains, so perhaps he has).
His work in Flight, I've said before, does have its moments. He definitely understands the nature of addiction, the way that it sucks up your will to succeed and your confidence and your instinct to fight. But Washington's story arch never seems believable, and that's on him as much as it is on the director. The film takes him too far down to see him come so close to succeeding and then give it up-the lying and recklessness that he exhibits as an addict never compromises with the character's late-in-the-film revelation that he was drinking when he flew the plane, and that he must pay for his mistakes. Washington is always a very watchable actor, but his character is too inconsistent, his performance too all-over-the-place to warrant inclusion here, despite happiness from us all that he's back in the "acting" game instead of just the "making movies" game.
Finally, we have Hugh Jackman. I remembered feeling bad when I was writing the Jacki Weaver and Alan Arkin write-ups, as these are actors that I have enjoyed in the past and was giving them a tough time, but then I thought, "they'll at least have it better than Hugh Jackman."
I feel mean to say this about an actor who is clearly a very nice man in real-life, especially one getting their first nomination, but I did not enjoy Jackman's performance at all. His performance is so hollow to me-it relies so heavily on his emotional connection to Fantine (how brief it is), which never connects (I'm not sure if I entirely need to blame this on Jackman over Hathaway, but it falls more so on him as his story is far more reliant on her than hers is on his). His eyes are too dramatic, and he overplays almost every scene. Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, and Samantha Barks all get that the film is not on Broadway, it's cinema, and so it's important to tone things down and calm the theatrics, but Jackman never succeeds in doing that, and his performance seems a bit cartoonish and out of reach for the audience. And, I've said it before and I'll say it again here-he's not a strong enough singer to pull this performance off. Everyone focuses on Crowe, but Jackman's voice is too tinny, too Ethel Merman to pull off the operatic Jean Valjean. This is particularly noticeable in the talking/singing portions, where he's frequently out-of-pitch (the live singing did not help him at all) and it takes entirely away from his character.
Other Precursor Contenders: As we all know, the Globes separate their Comedy and Drama races for Lead Actor, and thanks to Cooper and Jackman, we have an oddly nice spread this year between Comedy/Musical and Drama. All five Oscar nominees made the cut (Day-Lewis and Jackman taking the trophies), with Drama also featuring John Hawkes in The Sessions and Richard Gere in Arbitrage, and the comedic actors being Bill Murray in Hyde Park on Hudson, Jack Black in Bernie, and Ewan McGregor in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (with the exception of The Sessions, I have seen none of these movies-if you've seen them, say what you'd recommend in the comments!). The SAG Awards also went with Day-Lewis for their trophy, and cut Joaquin Phoenix in favor of John Hawkes again (Hawkes, a previous nominee for Winter's Bone, was clearly in sixth place for the Oscars). Finally, the BAFTA Awards decided to skip Washington in favor of Ben Affleck's starring role in Argo (BAFTA was a big fan of Argo, giving it both Best Picture and Best Director, though Day-Lewis bested Affleck for Best Actor).
Films I Would Have Nominated: Though all three may not have necessarily made my list, Cooper, Day-Lewis, and Phoenix are all worthy nominees and so I'm only going to pick two actors to complain about here. The first would be Logan Lerman in Perks of Being a Wallflower, a performance that also finds the harshness of mental illness and shows the hardships of an introvert in high school (name me a film that does this better-I dare you). He's way younger than Oscar would ever go for in this category, but he deserved the nomination. And Channing Tatum is probably too beautiful for what Oscar goes for in this category, particularly in a performance that celebrates that beauty frequently and with gusto, but his charming, laid-back stripper is a movie star turn of the highest order, and not to throw the sexism angle around too much, but something tells me if this were a woman rather than a man, we would have seen more awards talk for such excellent acting.
Oscar’s Choice: There was no stopping Daniel Day-Lewis, who, like Hathaway, probably got a good 70-80% of the vote. My gut for second place tells me that we were looking at either Phoenix (too good to ignore) or Jackman (nice guy breaks through).
My Choice: Joaquin Phoenix. He's superb in this movie, just otherworldly. In most other years, Day-Lewis would have been too good to ignore, but Phoenix is just better, and so I'll give Daniel the silver, Cooper the bronze, and finish out with Washington and then Jackman.
And those are our Best Actors. Was I the only person on the planet that preferred someone over Day-Lewis (it sure felt that way with all of the precursor and AMPAS trophies going to Lincoln)? Or is there someone else out there that wanted Cooper, Washington, or Jackman as the winner? And who, out of everyone, gave the best leading actor performance in 2012? Share in the comments!
Also in 2012: Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Screenplay, Adapted Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Animated Short, Live Action Short, Previously in 2012
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