Wednesday 22 February 2012

Best Supporting Actor 2011: Results

5. Jonah Hill in Moneyball- Jonah Hill's performance is functional enough, but it never really stands out as anything that needed to be awarded.
4. Nick Nolte in Warrior- Nolte tries hard and gives a descent performance, but as with all of his performances, he never completely realizes the potential of his part.
3. Christopher Plummer in Beginners- Plummer's performance almost seems misused in the course of the film muting his emotional impact, when Plummer is on screen though he gives an effective enough of a performance.
2. Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Although he is in a very bad film, and must support an awful actor in the lead, Sydow's performance is the best part of the film creating a moving and mysterious portrait of a man who refuses to speak due to his past.
1. Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn- Branagh tops this weak year, although there were plenty of not nominated supporting performances. Interesting enough the order of the nominees is almost the reverse order of how I would rank the films the nominees, something that rarely happens I must say. Branagh stands as my choice with his good but not perfect impersonation of Laurence Olivier. What really gives him the win though is his ability to actually turn Olivier into a compelling character despite the sever limitations of the script, as well as have the potential problem of getting caught trying to make just an impression.
Deserving Performances:
Albert Brooks in Drive
Bryan Cranston in Drive
Mark Strong in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in The Tree of Life

9 comments:

RatedRStar said...

r u going bk to 1945? cause I think that was a good choice as its very tricky to predict.

dinasztie said...

I have to disagree here. I didn't really like Branagh. He remained way too much on the surface of Olivier though he was quite charismatic. My pick is Plummer who's really great.

My real pick and the ugliest snub here is not Brooks, IMO, but Brad Pitt in TTOL though I think he's more leading. Leading or supporting, brilliant. Then comes Brooks, then Plummer.

moviefilm said...

I completely agree, but I would maybe rank Hill the fourth and Nolte the fifth, though I disagree, this was a weak year. They were all fantastic, but it´s only my opinion.
BTW: How would you rank best supporting actress category? I just did it on my blog... :)

Anonymous said...

great reviews...branagh was the only performance ive seen, and i thought he was fantastic. but i also enjoyed his movie. this ranking gets me curious to watch the other nominees, especially since branagh's performance is probably the most ignored of them all. Could you please do 2005 next? Im really curious to see what you think of Clooney's winning performance.

dshultz said...

Have you seen the Tree of Life Louis? If so, what would you rank Brad Pitt's performance? I thought it was the best of his career, without a doubt.

Anonymous said...

Yes! Branagh had to win! But I think he deserves a 5, he was perfect in my opinion but I don't know Olivier as much as you do since you've reviewed most (or all) of his work.

Louis Morgan said...

RatedRStar: Yes I will still do that year.

Dinasztie: We must disagree on this one, I just did not see the "brilliance". I felt Pitt was supporting since the son was the main character. Pitt was amazing there, but Brooks remains my personal choice.

moviefilm: I really did not feel strongly either way about any of the nominees so it is difficult for me to do a ranking I would have to re-watch them, although I have not seen McCarthy.

Anonymous: Thanks 05 won't be next but it will be soon.

dshultz: Yes I have seen it and Pitt gives his best performance.

Michael Patison said...

What did you think about Tom Hardy in Tinker Tailor? I finally sat down and watched it a month after the DVD came in from Netflix. I totally agree with your pick of Oldman and inclusion of Strong as deserving in supporting. I, however, really enjoyed Hardy's performance in the film, especially his speech to Oldman about his time in Moscow with Irina. I even preferred him to Strong and his surprisingly strong portrayal. After reading your review of Oldman, I consciously looked for how he was there in a scene but didn't steal your attention and I couldn't agree more.

Louis Morgan said...

I like Hardy a whole lot as well, and I would probably rank him third in the cast. Mark Strong though stands as my favorite of the terrific supporting cast though.