OVP: Best Supporting Actress (2003)
The Nominees Were...
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April
Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain
My Thoughts: We're moving into a better Best Supporting Actress field today after a disappointing Best Supporting Actor field yesterday. This was a statement I said in 2018, and honestly it could be a matter-of-fact in virtually every year. Oscar, for reasons unknowable to me, has distinctly better taste with supporting women than men. But I'll also admit right here that while there are some treasures in this lineup (and lord knows we've got some talented actresses), you're going to see in a week with My 2003 Ballot that I went a completely different direction with 2003's field, and am a bit confused why this was the lineup that Oscar became so enamored with.
Patricia Clarkson, for starters, was better in other actual films in 2003, much less in her long career, which to date has only somehow elicited this one nomination. It isn't entirely Clarkson's fault-she is instructed to dislike a young woman who spends all of the movie making Thanksgiving, and in the hands of an actress like Katie Holmes (a blank slate of a performer, and not in a good way), that's all she is, which makes Clarkson's animosity feel badly-tuned. But Clarkson can't find a way to find a prickly chemistry with Holmes, so crucial to the movie, and as a result this feels like (at best) an attempt at a great performance. It also feels like a situation where Oscar was tired of a beloved character actor not being in their good graces, and gave her a nomination as compensation even if she hadn't earned it (for that specific film).
This might also be how Renee Zellweger won. It's easier to understand Zellweger's performance and its appeal. The actress, at the peak of her fame, is given the role of a scene-stealing cowgirl with a soft side, and she lays into it hardcore. There are moments to like here; Cold Mountain is a very good movie but occasionally a dry one, with Nicole Kidman not always landing her "white tower maiden" role, and Zellweger provides needed comic relief. The only problem is that she's far too broad, and spends too much time scenery-chewing. Zellweger at this point in her career clearly was desperate for an Oscar (two back-to-back losses will do that to a person), and you get the sense that her winning here was less on its merits and more the Academy crying "uncle" for a performance which, while not good, was at least memorable.
At the time it felt like Zellweger's biggest competition was probably Shohreh Aghdashloo, who had the critics on her side & was a newcomer in a year that was pretty much all movie stars in contention (which rarely happens). Her work is okay in House of Sand and Fog, but never all that interesting. I think part of what got her this nomination at the time was that Aghdashloo has wonderful screen presence, something I'm more aware of now than the Academy would've been in 2003, and I'm used to it so I can see she's given a badly underwritten part and doesn't do enough beyond the page with it (knowing she's had better in the years since). Within the confines of the OVP, where we only consider performances and not someone's larger career in considering a nomination (them's the rules), this isn't much more than serviceable.
Marcia Gay Harden is the actress who I think best finds what's not on the page & fills in what could've been another "wallpaper role" in this category. Harden's performance is such a great contrast to everything else in the film-we get an idea of what kind of woman might've fallen for broken Dave, who might not have (despite growing up in a tough universe) realized how cruel the world can be until it's too late. Harden is excellent as someone slowly understanding how difficult life can be, and how the "hardest parts" of her life (or so she thought) that took place before this movie were in fact the high point. It's a bitter performance, but Harden, hardly a subtle actor by nature, finds ways to keep her character's realizations inward as she projects a shaky confidence.
Holly Hunter, similar to Harden, has been a reliable screen presence for decades now (for both, this is their most recent Oscar nomination which feels like such a strange place to end their AMPAS careers if that's what happens). She plays her Melanie as a woman who has not given up on the youth aspect of her life-she's still young in her mind, and frequently treats her daughter & her friends as peers rather than children. But I don't think she can find the balance as the film progresses of wanting to be the "cool mom" while also clearly developing a concern for the behavior of her young daughter. She's still Holly Hunter, and she's better than the movie, but it's not what you'd think of as a truly great performance, certainly not one of Hunter's best.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes went with Zellweger as their winner, with Clarkson, Hunter, Hope Davis (American Splendor), & Maria Bello (The Cooler) her competition, while SAG picked Zellweger as well, here over Bello, Clarkson, Hunter, & Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider, whom Oscar would promote to Best Actress in his lineup). BAFTA gave its trophy to Zellweger (the stampede was inevitable), over Hunter, Laura Linney (Mystic River), Judy Parfitt (Girl with a Pearl Earring), & Emma Thompson (Love Actually). In terms of sixth place, I assume it was Bello, an actress the Oscars really never gravitated toward despite several opportunities in the early-Aughts to invite to the ceremony. I think she's "ehh" in The Cooler but you may recall that I would've totally been onboard with a nomination for her in 2005 and considering her career has now gone the way of CBS serials (she's a regular on NCIS for those under-60), it's a pity they didn't take the opportunity when they had the chance.
Actors I Would Have Nominated: I would almost completely rehaul this category, and it's the lineup I'm most proud of (and also, the lineup where I have six names & honestly can't settle on who should be the one out), so I'm going to resist sharing until I know for sure who I'm cutting (because I'm truly honest in the fact that all six are vulnerable-it's that close where the line between winning-and-being-cut is razor thin).
Oscar’s Choice: One wonders if Oscar knew he was going to eventually get to Zellweger with an out-of-nowhere win in 2019 if he might've been more adventurous here, honoring Aghdashloo or Hunter...but in 2003, there was no stopping Renee.
My Choice: For me, it's Harden. She brings the most from beyond the page, and gives one of her best onscreen performances. Behind her is Hunter, Zellweger, Aghdashloo, & Clarkson.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you joining me over with Marcia or are you with the collective 2003 awards bodies in thinking this is Renee's for the taking? When do you think that Patricia Clarkson should've gotten her "career nomination" if she only gets one? And why do you think Oscar couldn't get behind Maria Bello during her heyday? Share your thoughts below!
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