OVP: Best Supporting Actor (2005)
The Nominees Were...
George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence
My Thoughts: We move now into the acting races. The Best Supporting Actor race wasn't always a drag. At one point performances like Joel Grey in Cabaret or Robert de Niro in The Godfather, Part II were winning here-performances that might qualify for the best of the year. In the mid-aughts, though, this changed as we saw leading men slum it in this category to try and score nominations or co-leads get nominated, leaving out some of the more intriguing character work that under-sung actors might enjoy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in this category, where we have five leading men (some of yesteryear, but still), getting into the category. One of these men, in particular feels like a pretty big offender of category fraud, even if it's undoubtedly my favorite performance in the lineup.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives a heartfelt, beautiful performance in Brokeback Mountain. While Ledger gets most of the credit in the years since, it's Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist who receives the most heartbreaking scenes during the relationship. He finds something so powerful in the way he wants to push for a proper life with Ennis, not just something that he gets to have happen once every few years when they see each other. Think of the anger & power that he puts into his Jack, especially when he lets rip more at the world than Ennis (but Ennis is the only one who knows), all of the frustrations about living in the closet. But the thing about Gyllenhaal's performance is...it's 100% lead. This is a co-lead romantic drama. I've given one of our trophies to a lead (see here), but I am docking at least a star off of Gyllenhaal's ranking for category fraud so don't assume because I like him best that he's going to win.
Weirdly, George Clooney is, while obviously a leading man, not committing category fraud in his film (at least for my money-some others might consider it borderline), as he's part of an ensemble. Clooney isn't doing as nuanced of work as Matt Damon is in this film (he's the standout for my money), but this was during that stretch where he was doing proper movie star work in thrillers & dramas (something he seems to have not been able to do successfully for roughly a decade now). His Bob Barnes is intriguing because he's a man that so easy could do the wrong thing-everything is there, and he feels in attitude the same as the other characters. Clooney sells him convincingly as someone we will learn to trust, not someone that we trust implicitly. It feels bizarre that George Clooney's only acting Oscar is going to be for Supporting Actor, but he's one of the highlights of Syriana.
Matt Dillon is also part of an ensemble, though a much larger ensemble so the argument that he's supporting is even more muted. It's hard to play a truly unlikable character, and there are moments he does it, but the sense of understanding that he gets...it just doesn't feel believable. I remember the big scene he has with Loretta DeVine, where we're supposed to feel sympathy for his plight, that his father was a "victim of affirmative action," but Dillon's not able to sell the hate in his heart as justified (perhaps because no actor could have pulled off such a character arch), and his later open-mindedness feels off as a result. Dillon is better than Crash, but Crash gives him a character that is impossible to play, and it's hard for me to give credit for elevating when the actual performance doesn't rise above passable.
Paul Giamatti gets an easier character arch, but he overplays his hand. Giamatti is a strange actor because he plays the same performance so often, and it rarely requires him to be that "Paul Giamatti" type (and yet he works very consistently). He is angry, hyper-masculine, and feels more like he's doing a parody of Burgess Meredith here than crafting his own new character. Giamatti appears to have won this nomination solely based on the assumption that he should have been nominated for Sideways the year before, and as a result this is a career citation that doesn't hold up unless you are considering the bulk of the actor's work onscreen (we're going to hit more of these the further back we go as this was very common in the 1980's & 90's).
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Gyllenhaal is William Hurt. Hurt, while a leading man of the 1980's, barely registers in this movie (he's in less than 10% of the film), making what amounts to less of a supporting role and more an awesome cameo. Hurt's character arch is therefore nonexistent, but that doesn't mean he isn't doing superb work. Think of the climactic "you could die Joey" scene, where he angrily, soullessly goes after his brother. This role only works with someone of Hurt's caliber-it's the sort of cameo that requires a well-known actor to make it land, but he's superb and a great close to a good thriller.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives a heartfelt, beautiful performance in Brokeback Mountain. While Ledger gets most of the credit in the years since, it's Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist who receives the most heartbreaking scenes during the relationship. He finds something so powerful in the way he wants to push for a proper life with Ennis, not just something that he gets to have happen once every few years when they see each other. Think of the anger & power that he puts into his Jack, especially when he lets rip more at the world than Ennis (but Ennis is the only one who knows), all of the frustrations about living in the closet. But the thing about Gyllenhaal's performance is...it's 100% lead. This is a co-lead romantic drama. I've given one of our trophies to a lead (see here), but I am docking at least a star off of Gyllenhaal's ranking for category fraud so don't assume because I like him best that he's going to win.
Weirdly, George Clooney is, while obviously a leading man, not committing category fraud in his film (at least for my money-some others might consider it borderline), as he's part of an ensemble. Clooney isn't doing as nuanced of work as Matt Damon is in this film (he's the standout for my money), but this was during that stretch where he was doing proper movie star work in thrillers & dramas (something he seems to have not been able to do successfully for roughly a decade now). His Bob Barnes is intriguing because he's a man that so easy could do the wrong thing-everything is there, and he feels in attitude the same as the other characters. Clooney sells him convincingly as someone we will learn to trust, not someone that we trust implicitly. It feels bizarre that George Clooney's only acting Oscar is going to be for Supporting Actor, but he's one of the highlights of Syriana.
Matt Dillon is also part of an ensemble, though a much larger ensemble so the argument that he's supporting is even more muted. It's hard to play a truly unlikable character, and there are moments he does it, but the sense of understanding that he gets...it just doesn't feel believable. I remember the big scene he has with Loretta DeVine, where we're supposed to feel sympathy for his plight, that his father was a "victim of affirmative action," but Dillon's not able to sell the hate in his heart as justified (perhaps because no actor could have pulled off such a character arch), and his later open-mindedness feels off as a result. Dillon is better than Crash, but Crash gives him a character that is impossible to play, and it's hard for me to give credit for elevating when the actual performance doesn't rise above passable.
Paul Giamatti gets an easier character arch, but he overplays his hand. Giamatti is a strange actor because he plays the same performance so often, and it rarely requires him to be that "Paul Giamatti" type (and yet he works very consistently). He is angry, hyper-masculine, and feels more like he's doing a parody of Burgess Meredith here than crafting his own new character. Giamatti appears to have won this nomination solely based on the assumption that he should have been nominated for Sideways the year before, and as a result this is a career citation that doesn't hold up unless you are considering the bulk of the actor's work onscreen (we're going to hit more of these the further back we go as this was very common in the 1980's & 90's).
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Gyllenhaal is William Hurt. Hurt, while a leading man of the 1980's, barely registers in this movie (he's in less than 10% of the film), making what amounts to less of a supporting role and more an awesome cameo. Hurt's character arch is therefore nonexistent, but that doesn't mean he isn't doing superb work. Think of the climactic "you could die Joey" scene, where he angrily, soullessly goes after his brother. This role only works with someone of Hurt's caliber-it's the sort of cameo that requires a well-known actor to make it land, but he's superb and a great close to a good thriller.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes gave the trophy to Clooney, and dismissed both Gyllenhaal & Hurt for Bob Hoskins (Mrs. Henderson Presents) and Will Ferrell (The Producers). The SAG Award went to Paul Giamatti, and here only picked one new name (Hurt was taken out for Don Cheadle in Crash), and the BAFTA Awards went with Gyllenhaal for the win, beating Dillon, Cheadle, and George Clooney (twice-he was cited for both Syriana and Good Night, and Good Luck, likely costing him the trophy-he's never won an acting BAFTA as a result). All-in-all, I know the evidence points to Cheadle, but I'll be real-at the time there was a lot of sentiment that this would be a double nomination year for Terence Howard. Those happened more often in those days, and so either of the Crash guys probably make the most sense. That neither made it makes this one of the rare places where the "we should have seen Crash coming" lights weren't flashing.
Performances I Would Have Nominated: I shouldn't entirely get mad at Oscar in 2005 for having a pretty lackluster lineup-it's not like this year was crawling with worthy performances. As I said above, Matt Damon is my favorite part of Syriana, and for sure I'd put him into the lineup. I'd also have time for Andy Serkis in King Kong, because even in motion-capture he is able to find a soul in the characters he plays. And finally, I'd add in two unorthodox performances: Brendan Gleeson's genre-lifting Mad-Eye Moody in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Christopher Plummer's Captain Newport in The New World, both of which add a strong element to their movies.
Oscar’s Choice: A genuine horserace between Giamatti & Clooney, but Clooney's boffo year (and the fact that it was clear he wasn't winning any other categories), probably brought it home for him here.
My Choice: As I mentioned above, I'm knocking Gyllenhaal down a star for his category fraud...but that still puts him above the rest. William Hurt (silver) and George Clooney (bronze) both put in a good fight, but they're not good enough to match Gyllenhaal, who gets my trophy. Bringing up the rear is Dillon & then Giamatti.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you with me in Team Jack Twist, or do you find his category fraud Jack Nasty? Will George Clooney ever win a Best Actor trophy? And which guy in Crash was in sixth place here? Share your thoughts below in the comments!
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