OVP: Best Supporting Actress (2008)
The Nominees Were...
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
My Thoughts: In one of those truly rare moments for this category, all five of these women are actually in supporting roles. Almost always there's at least one lead performance that sneaks in, and quite frankly there almost was with Kate Winslet dominating the precursor awards before The Reader managed to sneak her into Best Actress, a blessing for this category (though less so for Sally Hawkins, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Winslet herself, all of whom were vying for that fifth Best Actress slot), resulting in a very competitive race for the Oscar and women who actually seem like they should be here. As a result, we'll start out with the woman who benefited most from the Academy's good sense, Penelope Cruz.
Cruz is in the only film we haven't really discussed yet, as this is Vicky Cristina Barcelona's only Oscar nomination. It seems odd that Woody was able to score an acting nomination when he couldn't for writing (this almost never happens), but it's easy to see what led them to Cruz-the film lives off of her energy. Here is the Penelope we always dreamed of onscreen, where she casually throws her intense sexuality around, vivaciously owning everyone onscreen, and creating a great, outward performance without ever resorting to scenery-chewing. I love the way you can see her Maria Elena plotting, thinking-this is a woman who wears everything on her face, and Cruz knows this-she doesn't hide that she's emotional, just what her next move is. I love the care that Cruz gives her, and I love that she effervesces so much under Woody's minimalist direction.
The same cannot quite be said for Taraji P. Henson. Henson has become such a treasure both onscreen and off since then (she's always super fun in interviews), and has clearly had talent for years, but this isn't what you'd generally consider her best work, even if it's her most-noted. Her work is all surface-level, frequently attractive surface-level, but surface-level nonetheless. The film doesn't really care about her Queenie, and so she has to be gregarious and a bit over-the-top to gain attention in Benjamin Button, but as a result we never really learn much about the woman behind Queenie, and Henson never goes beyond the script here to show it.
Marisa Tomei is in a similar situation with The Wrestler. This is one of those performances where the critics and I probably differed the most. I do get the appeal-Tomei is too intriguing of a performer for this not to feel like a particularly interesting role, and I love the way that she alternates between her world one-on-one with Randy and the one that she has in the club. However, that's about all I have because I thought so much of this felt surface-level as well. Tomei is too interesting of a performer to not be watchable, but I feel like the film and she are only interested in Randy, and not in her Cassidy. As a result, there always feels like there's something missing in the film, with Tomei holding back on some key ingredient.
The final two women are the Doubt-ers. Amy Adams gets the considerably larger role of the two women, but I just don't fly with this particular piece. I secretly was hoping that she'd have a little more than flighty protest in her, and there's not really a scene where she stands out as a performer, even though it's easy to see how she stands out in her character. Even in her vain protests about Father Flynn's theoretical innocence, she cannot carry the film against Streep's massive personality, and so frequently in a film filled with bombast, she's on the sidelines, squeaking "me too!" It's probably in her character, but Adams doesn't find more in the character like she would in a film like Junebug, and this feels too surface-level. We never understand her motives as a character, and we're left more with Adams' charms as a screen presence, but not great acting.
Viola Davis, on the other hand, proves that there are no small parts, only incredibly talented actors who know their big moment has arrived. Davis in roughly ten minutes of screen-time completely steals the movie, playing Mrs. Miller as a woman with so many secrets. Her scene with Streep is so good-at first she's just in a hurry, defensive, and then she slowly starts to play more and more cards. The way that she has such a complete understanding of her son and the way she says "it's just til June," you get the sense that she knows more of what is happening than anyone involved, and has been desperate for someone to talk to, even though she continually holds back. It's the sort of work that could have been much bigger or much larger, but Davis knows that she needs to hold back to maintain the questions surrounding Father Flynn's guilt. There's a reason that Meryl Streep proclaimed, "somebody give her a movie!"
Cruz is in the only film we haven't really discussed yet, as this is Vicky Cristina Barcelona's only Oscar nomination. It seems odd that Woody was able to score an acting nomination when he couldn't for writing (this almost never happens), but it's easy to see what led them to Cruz-the film lives off of her energy. Here is the Penelope we always dreamed of onscreen, where she casually throws her intense sexuality around, vivaciously owning everyone onscreen, and creating a great, outward performance without ever resorting to scenery-chewing. I love the way you can see her Maria Elena plotting, thinking-this is a woman who wears everything on her face, and Cruz knows this-she doesn't hide that she's emotional, just what her next move is. I love the care that Cruz gives her, and I love that she effervesces so much under Woody's minimalist direction.
The same cannot quite be said for Taraji P. Henson. Henson has become such a treasure both onscreen and off since then (she's always super fun in interviews), and has clearly had talent for years, but this isn't what you'd generally consider her best work, even if it's her most-noted. Her work is all surface-level, frequently attractive surface-level, but surface-level nonetheless. The film doesn't really care about her Queenie, and so she has to be gregarious and a bit over-the-top to gain attention in Benjamin Button, but as a result we never really learn much about the woman behind Queenie, and Henson never goes beyond the script here to show it.
Marisa Tomei is in a similar situation with The Wrestler. This is one of those performances where the critics and I probably differed the most. I do get the appeal-Tomei is too intriguing of a performer for this not to feel like a particularly interesting role, and I love the way that she alternates between her world one-on-one with Randy and the one that she has in the club. However, that's about all I have because I thought so much of this felt surface-level as well. Tomei is too interesting of a performer to not be watchable, but I feel like the film and she are only interested in Randy, and not in her Cassidy. As a result, there always feels like there's something missing in the film, with Tomei holding back on some key ingredient.
The final two women are the Doubt-ers. Amy Adams gets the considerably larger role of the two women, but I just don't fly with this particular piece. I secretly was hoping that she'd have a little more than flighty protest in her, and there's not really a scene where she stands out as a performer, even though it's easy to see how she stands out in her character. Even in her vain protests about Father Flynn's theoretical innocence, she cannot carry the film against Streep's massive personality, and so frequently in a film filled with bombast, she's on the sidelines, squeaking "me too!" It's probably in her character, but Adams doesn't find more in the character like she would in a film like Junebug, and this feels too surface-level. We never understand her motives as a character, and we're left more with Adams' charms as a screen presence, but not great acting.
Viola Davis, on the other hand, proves that there are no small parts, only incredibly talented actors who know their big moment has arrived. Davis in roughly ten minutes of screen-time completely steals the movie, playing Mrs. Miller as a woman with so many secrets. Her scene with Streep is so good-at first she's just in a hurry, defensive, and then she slowly starts to play more and more cards. The way that she has such a complete understanding of her son and the way she says "it's just til June," you get the sense that she knows more of what is happening than anyone involved, and has been desperate for someone to talk to, even though she continually holds back. It's the sort of work that could have been much bigger or much larger, but Davis knows that she needs to hold back to maintain the questions surrounding Father Flynn's guilt. There's a reason that Meryl Streep proclaimed, "somebody give her a movie!"
Other Precursor Contenders: Like many of the precursors, the illusion that Kate Winslet was supporting in The Reader stuck here, with her emerging victorious while replacing Taraji P. Henson from the lineup (all of the other acting contenders stuck around). The SAG Awards also chose her, with Marisa Tomei getting the boot there. BAFTA had a slightly different take on the matter, though, with Winslet being nominated in lead, so Penelope Cruz was able to take the trophy, but again we were left without Taraji P. Henson and in this case Viola Davis, as Freida Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire and Tilda Swinton in Burn After Reading both were considered. While it's obvious to assume that Winslet was in sixth place (or, quite frankly she was considerably higher but wasn't eligible despite already being listed in lead), I wonder who else was right behind her. I suspect that had they expanded the field a little wider it would have gotten several names like RoseMarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married) or Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler). Or it would have been my worst nightmare realized and Freida Pinto's awful work in Slumdog Millionaire would have made the cut.
Actors I Would Have Nominated: Surely I would have found room for Catherine Deneuve in A Christmas Tale, who brings sublime restraint to her cancer-ridden matriarch, and I definitely would have included Debra Winger's bitter mother in Rachel Getting Married (another role, like Davis, who found a lot to do with very little screen time).
Oscar’s Choice: Without the default answer of Winslet, this was likely a battle between Cruz, Davis, and Tomei, with Cruz having the showier role and Woody's magic with Supporting Actresses, so she won (she also had massive momentum at the time, though she never seems to work anymore).
My Choice: Like Oscar it's a battle between Davis and Cruz, but I'm going to go with Davis who does more with less and gives, in my opinion, the female performance of the year. Cruz follows, with Henson, Adams, and Tomei behind. With this win Viola Davis becomes our first actor to take two OVP's.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Does everyone agree with Cruz as Oscar's choice, or are you with me that it should have been Viola? Anyone want to make the case that Kate Winslet was actually supporting? And what names other than Kate and these five were close to an Oscar nomination? Share your thoughts in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment