OVP: Best Supporting Actor (2023)
The Nominees Were...
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert de Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey, Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
My Thoughts: And now we officially are in the acting races! I've noticed slightly less traffic to this series than normal, which I'm chalking up to this being right after the 96th Academy Awards, so you're all tired of the field and would prefer something more retro (don't worry, in June we're be going to do our first foray into the 1990's, so there'll be plenty of nostalgia for everyone). But, I'm hoping that today and tomorrow will be a fun discussion. The supporting races at the Oscars were such a foregone conclusion that, quite frankly, it feels like these lineups were under-discussed more than anything else.
For example, did it feel like we were having a moment for Robert de Niro last year? Nearly fifty years after his first Oscar nomination for The Godfather, Part II, he got his ninth acting nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon, playing the unfathomably evil patriarch of a crime syndicate. De Niro is giving his best performance...maybe in my lifetime, honestly? It's spectacular stuff, with the way that he shows his hands repeatedly (this is a man who feels unexpected and yet doesn't have much of a poker face), and yet you are always caught off-guard by his ruthlessness. Really good stuff, and surprisingly strong chemistry with DiCaprio.
Ryan Gosling gave what might end up being his most memorable role at the end of his career. Gosling's winning celebrity combined with his lousy box office returns (save Barbie) means that he's been one of our most consistent actors and has done so in genuinely good movies. That's true here, giving us the best version of his handsome goofball. There was some press about how "Ken got nominated but not Barbie" in 2023, but that's because Gosling steals literally every scene in the movie he's in, embodying a himbo energy with a silly, broken man. It's a masterclass in comedy.
This isn't the case for Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo was once the Ryan Gosling in movies (compare his work in You Can Count on Me with Gosling's in Blue Valentine...you'll find the similarities), but Gosling is better at over-acting. Ruffalo's work here isn't enough. I kind of liked some of his earlier scenes, where he plays a lothario who is just intent on getting into Emma Stone's pants, but when he's asked to play wide in the latter half of the movie, he whiffs more than he connects. There's too much silly, especially compared to the more sophisticated "big" acting that Stone is doing next to him.
Robert Downey, Jr., like his Avengers costar (it should not be lost that 60% of this category has Marvel credentials given our next nominee was in Black Panther), can suffer from "too much" acting, but that's not the case with Oppenheimer. I don't think this ranks amongst his best work (which, for my taste, is either Tropic Thunder or Ally McBeal), but it's also a very respectable way to give him an Oscar. He plays his villain with a sense of entitlement (but also coordination) that feels like a DC creature, someone who is always ready to spring forward with his next line-of-attack, the next ploy for a promotion. It feels custom-made for him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't ace it.
Our final nominee is the problem. Sterling K. Brown is not just the worst of these nominees, he's the worst of all 20 acting nominees in 2023. I am not someone who cares that much about if straight people play gay roles, but they do need to be believable as gay people, which he is not. He plays this role as too stereotypical, frequently feeling like he has no sense of being attracted to men other than "it's in the script." To be fair to him, this is the most phoned in character in Cord Jefferson's script, and is filled with a lot of really rough stereotypes about gay people (making him a man-crazy, irresponsible drug addict), but it's so flat, and truly, an egregiously bad performance that would feel more at-home at the Razzies.
Other Precursor Contenders: First off, I hate that the Globes expanded to six nominees per category, as it's such a copout due to a bunch of online whining (news flash: there are more than five good performances in a year...it doesn't stop being a good performance if they're not in the Top 5). Downey won, besting de Niro, Gosling, Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe (Poor Things), & Charles Melton (May December). SAG stuck with five, giving it to Downey over Brown, Dafoe, de Niro, & Gosling, while BAFTA also picked Downey atop de Niro, Gosling, Jacob Elordi (Saltburn), Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers), & Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) (side note, but this is one of the best lineups I've seen from BAFTA in a while). The sixth place was undoubtedly Dafoe, though I also think Dominic Sessa was probably on more ballots than his precursor run would let on...it's the kind of co-lead role that gets into this category.
Performances I Would Have Nominated: Both of the supporting men in All of Us Strangers (father Jamie Bell, boyfriend Paul Mescal) are spectacular. In a year where we spent a lot of time discussing whether both Poor Things actor would get in, we should've been focused on the supporting men of Andrew Haigh's brilliant picture.
Oscar’s Choice: Downey won by so much, you honestly could make an argument for pretty much anyone (save Brown) in second...and no, it isn't automatically Gosling (de Niro is a legend who has been waiting for that third Oscar for 43 years, Ruffalo is clearly going to win at some point, and this was a big picture for him...either of them could've been the runner-up).
My Choice: Depending on the day, it'd be Gosling or de Niro, but more days I land on the latter, so I'm giving it to the villain of Killers of the Flower Moon (both are showing in my My Ballot, and either would've ranked amongst the best winners of this category). In third is Downey, followed by Ruffalo and then Brown.
Those are my thoughts-what are yours? Do you want to attend Senate hearings with Robert Downey, Jr., or do you want to join Robert de Niro & I in Oklahoma? Ryan Gosling & Mark Ruffalo both feel like inevitable Oscar winners at this point-who gets it first? And was it Dafoe or Sessa in sixth place? Share in the comments!
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