OVP: Best Actor (2020)
The Nominees Were...
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
My Thoughts: I really enjoy the online film community, particularly the ones that focus on awards races. I know there can be toxic elements to it (you're taking your life into your hands a bit when it comes to certain fandoms, but honestly that's true of every corner of the internet). But as a result of this, there are times when I have to admit to liking or disliking a performance that universally was dismissed. That is what we're going to start with, and I'm just going to rip off the bandaid right now: I liked Gary Oldman in Mank. Quite a bit.
I feel like Oldman, once revered as something of an acting god akin to Christian Bale & Johnny Depp before they became Oscar mainstays (and lost a lot of their actorly mojo), has really lost all of his steam with audiences since he won his Oscar for the underrated Darkest Hour (primarily since he's not as good as Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name). But Oldman works really well within Mank, finding a boozy charm that fits him. Mank as written is a character that clearly has talent, but also has something to prove to himself. You can see in the way Oldman plays him with a ticking behind the metaphorical walls...he knows what he's doing is good, probably the best thing he'll ever write, but doesn't have the confidence or the fortitude to quite say it out loud until he's certain he's made a masterpiece. I loved that combination of bravado, clarity, and ugliness that make this central character so compelling.
Two actors similar in some ways to Oldman prior to his 2011 Oscar nomination that won their first Oscar nominations in 2020 were Steven Yeun and Riz Ahmed. Of the two, I think I preferred Yeun more. It's difficult to standout in a great ensemble (which is ultimately what Minari is), but he brings so much ambition to his soft-spoken, hard-working farmer. There's something so unsaid about his character, particularly as we see much of this world through the eyes of young Alan Kim-this father that was almost mythical in his eyes (as almost all fathers are to young sons) and the way that he is casually fleshed out as the film progresses is really a testament to Yeun's restrained work in the lead.
Ahmed has been building to this nomination for a while (he'd win the following year for Live Action Short) after his breakout role in Nightcrawler (his best work to date, imho). Here he is able to give a lot of physicality to his role as Ruben, but I don't think he gives us enough depth. We get a sense of the tragedy of this situation (a musician losing his ability to hear the thing that brings him the most joy), but there's not enough beyond that, either in the screenplay or in the way that Ahmed plays him. Paul Raci is better at this, giving us a world-weary approach that gives Ahmed a counter (and some of his best scenes), but I don't feel like I left hearing Ruben's story so much as a story, and that's because Ahmed doesn't define him enough.
That's certainly not the case for Chadwick Boseman. Despite the title, this is decidedly the story of Levee, not Ma Rainey. Boseman owns the screen, giving us a young black man of great promise...promise that will only be exploited & never rewarded. We learn as the film goes that Ma is the exception, the only exception in this story, but Levee doesn't understand until it's too late that there isn't room for two at the top. The film's final moments are such a huge payoff for him as an actor-he's been building this quiet anger, a righteous reaction to the world dismissing him from his first breaths, and it pays off with his desperation as he throws away what future he might've had, even if it was never a fair one. Easily the best performance of Boseman's career, and in almost any other year he would've been a surefire, sentimental winner at the Oscars...
...except Anthony Hopkins came along. Hopkins, of course, already had one Oscar, but it was long enough ago that a second trophy didn't feel like a stretch. To beat Boseman he needed something beyond, and that's what you get in The Father. Hopkins owns the screen, quickly enveloping not just a character that cannot know where he (or the audience) are standing at any given moment, but one who has to find his footing every moment. Hopkins' Anthony proves the cruelty of good days & bad days...that even the good days are fleeting, and when your mind is your own prison, you won't get to remember them. The Father sometimes plays as a horror movie, but there's no hints of Hannibal Lecter or Robert Ford...this isn't the heightened genre work that made Hopkins a matinee idol. Instead, it's a fully-encapsulated star turn from one of the great actors of our time.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes of course break out their nominees between Drama and Comedy/Musical, so we have ten names from their ceremony. Drama picked Boseman against Hopkins, Oldman, Ahmed, & Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) while Musical/Comedy favored Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat 2) atop Andy Samberg (Palm Springs), Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield), James Corden (The Prom) and (somehow) Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), despite that feeling VERY much like a TV special. SAG went with a carbon copy of Oscar's lineup except Boseman won, while BAFTA went with Hopkins as their victor atop Boseman, Ahmed, Rahim, Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round), and Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger). In sixth place, I am going to guess Oldman (who was losing steam fast right before the ceremony) bested Mikkelsen, whose Another Round succeeded in the Best Director race unexpectedly and probably meant he was breathing down Oldman's neck.
Actors I Would Have Nominated: I don't entirely know if Franz Rogowski was eligible for his singular work in Undine, but at some point the Academy needs to recognize that he might be the most promising new actor of the past five years. His work here is yet another fantastic achievement.
Oscar’s Choice: In one of the biggest recent shocks at the Oscars, Joaquin Phoenix quietly read "Anthony Hopkins" name when all of America (and especially Steven Soderbergh) was expecting a win for Chadwick Boseman.
My Choice: It's Hopkins, and it's not close. The only way Hopkins wins here is if he's giving a performance SO good that it's simply impossible to argue with, and this is not only the best performance of 2020, it's the best performance in at least the last four years. Behind him I'll go Oldman, Boseman, Yeun, & Ahmed, in order.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Does everyone think that this was Hopkins, regardless of his past win (and this being a way to cap Boseman's legacy?), or do you think someone else deserved it? Why do you think that Oscar is so particular about which posthumous awards are handed out (it's very rare)? And how close was Mads Mikkelsen from getting his first citation (you know a nod is coming at some point)? Share your thoughts below in the comments!
Also in 2020: Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, International Feature Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound, Original Score, Original Song, Production Design, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2020
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