Friday, 28 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: Chow Yun-Fat in A Better Tomorrow

Chow Yun-fat did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mark Lee aka Brother Mark in A Better Tomorrow. 

A Better Tomorrow follows the somewhat convoluted story of an ex-gangster dealing with his family and his old gang ties. 

I’ll admit I had a slightly strange experience watching A Better Tomorrow where I found it just kind of unfocused and clunky, then suddenly quite captivating and stylish. When it was the latter it almost always corresponded with when Chow Yun-Fat is on screen as Brother Mark essentially the best friend/enforcer for the ex-gangster. Something that Chow just owns naturally with such a fantastic cool to his performance, particularly in his earliest scenes where indeed his lighting his cigarette with a counterfeit bill is just a certain kind of cinematic cool that is difficult to achieve. Chow matches the idea and despite being the supporting character here, is the one who comes to life with the striking presence of the proper cool gangster we’d want to follow as he takes on a more nefarious mobster. Chow, for me, very much is the film as it also came to life when he walked on screen each time, partially because Brother Mark seems to move the plot forward in the most compelling fashion, but also because of that presence of Chow’s. Something however that is a mix of badass with a few other elements because it isn’t just the wielding two guns in the and firing, as cool as that is and as well as Chow performs those moments. 

It is around those moments where Chow actually shines, such as the scene where he goes in guns ablazin’, however first setting up some additional guns for himself as he casually walks in. A moment where Chow makes much with the little grin of his in his planting, knows exactly what he’s doing and plays a bit of fun in the moment, before unleashing his fury in the actual gunfight, which is both him shooting down fools and getting injured in return fire. Something where we get the other side of his performance which is presenting some vulnerability, less emotionally but just physically as he literally gets shot. Afterwards then reflecting that state within the character where as much as Chow must be functional at times in terms of progressing the plot you are granted a bit more for his portrayal of Brother Mark’s increasing critical nature as he interacts with a fundamental determination in his moments. Chow’s performance moves from just cool to more so granting the gravity of the situation as the tensions overall raise, to the point Mark is even beaten severely where Chow shows the physical pain combined though with that quiet certainty of his conviction and loyalty regardless. Leading to eventually the final battle where Chow is again great as an action performer in very much selling the action in every little beat he is giving with this time greater intensity and less of an overt cool as he goes about mowing down the gangster’s men one by one. Chow successfully depicts this progression of his character largely through action and creates a compelling character that consistently anchored me to this story despite being a supporting character. In a way it suggests director John Woo figuring out that Chow was the person he always should’ve been focused on in his later films by the promise shown by Chow here. 

Sunday, 23 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: Clancy Brown in Highlander

Clancy Brown did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying the Kurgan in Highlander. 

Highlander is a very dumb film about various immortals that must cut off each other's heads to be the last immortal standing. 

The Kurgan plays one of the leading candidates of the immortal battle royale who actually is the one who makes our strangest sounding Scot who ever lived, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) realize he’s immortal by stabbing him during a battle. Brown’s performance as Kurgan really has two phases, which story wise don’t exactly make sense, but I’ll get to those in a moment. The first phase is very much playing the barbarian throughout time, which is a natural fit through his imposing physique and his famously deep voice. Brown offers as such the right degree of sadistic intensity as we see massacre along the battlefield and just as quickly goes about stabbing Connor. The Kurgan continues throughout time to pester Connor, including murdering his mentor Ramirez (Sean Connery), where Brown is more beast than anything in his portrayal. Brown portrays just a vicious predator type of approach to each of these scenes with just focusing on just creating this demon that needs to be slayed, which he backs up with again his deep roar and his always slightly insane stare offering each time. There’s slightly more in his battle with Ramirez where Brown briefly though effectively portrays genuine surprise and fear when Ramirez almost pulls off a killing blow against Kurgan by slicing his throat. Although even modern day it is this same sort of beast mentality even when renting a sleazy hotel room his reaction to a prostitute Candy coming up to see him isn’t at all different from the breath of the monster of old as he notes “of course you are” when she tells him her name. The few scenes where he attacks Connor or kills a different immortal, Brown very much is the same character. That is until Kurgan stabs a man who interferes with a duel leaving him a wanted man, leading him to shave his head and go after Connor directly. Leading to a scene where they meet up in a Church for reasons unknown, but now Kurgan for the rest of the film isn’t just evil he’s wholly irreverent in his manner to everyone and everything. Although I would say the transformation doesn’t exactly make sense, who cares, Brown having a blast. As he brings just a sliminess to every manner in his putting out prayer candles just for fun, licking a priests hands with the most sleazy of smiles and loudly boasting about having murdered Ramirez and about having raped Connor’s deceased wife. Brown is putting all his energy being the absolute worst and is definitely entertaining as such, with a great capper to the scene, supposedly improvised by Brown, which is to exclaim “It’s better to burn out than fade away” while also essentially doing a dance movie. A theoretically silly moment, that is kind of amazing and probably the best part of the film just to the gusto in Brown’s performance and makes it work within the chaotic framework of this second phase to the Kurgan. Something we get more of when he kidnaps Connor’s new girlfriend to draw him out where Kurgan drives her around as recklessly as possible, where again Brown is having a blast in just being ridiculous but it works in creating the sense of the character’s psychotic nature. Leading to the final duel which is mostly just to expectation except for Kurgan’s death, where Brown gets a little more out of it when Connor gets the final blow, and Brown instead wrenching in pain or outraged at the loss, smiles as almost the Kurgan’s saying “good for you!” with the same type of chaos. While I wouldn’t say this is an unforgettable villain turn it is a fun one that is one of the genuinely worthwhile elements of the film. And yes, does he kind of change his performance midway, sure, but it makes the film better by doing so, so it's fine by me. 

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Alternate Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor 1986: William Petersen & Tom Noonan in Manhunter

Tom Noonan did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Francis Dollarhyde aka the Tooth Fairy in Manhunter.

Re-watching, and fully appreciating the greatness of Manhunter, one can use this film and Silence of the Lambs as examples of how there is not a single pathway to success for material, as Michael Mann and Jonathan Demme make two great adaptations of a novel and its sequel, both which could be just ridiculous exploitation nonsense in the wrong hands, hello Ridley Scott, yet are masterful in the specific handling by each director. And it’s fascinating because both have a level of reality, yet a subversion of that, but in completely different ways do the two implement their styles. And the funny thing, both kind of falsely, not a criticism, create the grounding of reality, in what are technically heavily stylized films, just in ways where it specifically earns them by utilizing the style so specifically. Demme’s film one would argue is more overt with the impact of the style, particularly when you contrast the two versions of the Hannibal character, where Demme and Hopkins very much plays into a larger than life figure, where Mann and Cox focus on a blunter reality. I think even the performances contrast Cox's barren, small, run of the mill white prison cell against Hopkins’s large, looming, at the end of a dungeon, summarize such a specific choice by each director, and the great thing is, both choices work. Something that plays into the character of Francis Dollarhyde aka the Toothfairy played by Tom Noonan, who plays the actual main antagonist of the film as the serial killer that our lead Will Graham (William Petersen) is trying to catch. A character who makes his first appearance after having abducted tabloid journalist Freddie Lounds (Stephen Lang), and wanting to give Freddie a primary source account of why he does what he does. Noonan’s approach in the role is very much of his own while being within the specific style of Mann, which on one end makes so much of this story matter of fact. Noonan’s amazing because in this scene he manages to be extremely creepy by not trying to be creepy in the slightest. His tone is casual, very calm, almost as though he is genuinely showing someone’s slides from a recent vacation, sadly for Freddie they are in fact slides regarding his demented psychosis regarding William Blake’s Red Dragon painting and images related to the families he has brutally murdered. Noonan says every word as straightforwardly as possible, which as strange as that sounds only makes his Dollarhyde all the more off-putting in the way he presents himself as a man who has no shame in himself or what he is doing. Rather Noonan portrays it as a man all too comfortable with it, and with this specific almost scientific curiosity when he describes his method of “transforming” women, which for us is brutally murdering them, but for them is a calm action. Noonan is disturbing because his delivery is of someone who knows everything he is doing is completely sane, to himself despite being wholly deranged. 

However after that initially horrifying scene we quickly see Dollarhyde at his work, where he begins to interact with a blind woman Reba (Joan Allen). Noonan’s vocal approach makes this relationship already more believable because there isn’t anything creepy inherently in his voice, only what he is describing in his voice that makes it creepy. So it is easy to believe that Reba would find him seemingly someone of interest just from only hearing him, however their initial interactions are exceptional work from Noonan. As it is all about the reactions within Noonan’s performance as Reba begins to speak to him with genuine interest. Noonan’s great by his reactions playing into the thoughts of Dollarhyde having no idea how to react to someone seemingly showing him interest and kindness. He begins with a quiet suspicion, though then there’s a sense of frustration and even confusion as she begins to continue to show tenderness. When this goes further and they actually have a date, where Dollarhyde very creepily looks at his serial killer slideshows while she sits unknowingly with him, Noonan’s exceptional in the realization of the twisted mind that becomes temporarily satiated. As when he’s looking at Reba at first there is a quality of his work as though he is examining him more so as a specimen as he seems to be accounting for each part of her in his glances, not unlike the likely approach he took when murdering women. However when she only shows tenderness and even reaches out to him, there’s a break that Noonan plays wholly in silence where he creates the sense of the temporary calming of his impulses as he begins to react to her earnestly as a woman. Something where Noonan is curiously almost like a lead in an off-beat romantic film in the way he begins to play the scenes with genuine normalcy, with genuine happiness, and something that is fascinating to watch given how we opened with his character. Something that builds towards the climax of the film, where we see Dollarhyde almost happy looking upon Reba, as just a man loving a woman, until his twisted brain misinterprets an interaction between Reba and another man as not only betrayal but more than that as we see in his specific twisted visual perspective, in again what is clear overt style from Mann that breaks the matter of fact reality so brilliantly. Noonan’s also essential to the moment in portraying the switch to suddenly that festering mental state returning and we see his mind twist, again almost entirely silently as he says every little from this moment to the climax. Where Noonan subdued work is chilling in the way we see the quiet intensity him, though there is just a glint of hesitation/humanity in his eyes that gives reason to his hesitation to killing her though still twisted, as it is less of a clear empathy and more a confused state, while contrasting showing no hesitation or concern when coldly dispatching anyone else who interrupts him during his strange personal ceremony. Noonan gives a striking performance here, not by playing up to the rafter, but rather keeping it a disturbingly quiet portrait of insanity. 
William Petersen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Will Graham in Manhunter.

But I would be remiss for not mentioning William Petersen’s performance as Will Graham, and giving it its proper due. A performance that I liked the first time, but did not fully appreciate what Petersen does here in terms of portraying the very specific frame of mind of the character. And part of the reason why is this performance is not your typical leading man portrayal in any way whatsoever, rather what Petersen is dealing with the actual ramifications of the character of Will Graham. As Manhunter makes the choice, and a choice I appreciated all the more this time around, to portray Graham very much having already been permanently scarred by his existence as an FBI profiler, specifically having already caught Hannibal Lecktor despite almost having been killed in the process. What Petersen delivers is alluding to the man that Graham once was, without being that what he actually is in his current existence. In turn, Petersen is not particularly charming or at least traditionally charismatic in the role, however what he is doing instead is presenting someone who exists nearly in a numb existence, in order to exist at all. And what Petersen is doing overall supports this idea, because he really does an exceptional approach in playing the surface against the internalization. As when we see Graham with his wife and his son, to which there is more than a little distance, but it isn’t just distance. Rather what Petersen delivers on is brief moments of connection, where you see some semblance of the old loving husband and father, but Petersen meekly performs these moments. It is there in him, the glint is there, but it is a struggle to be normal, as the moment we see him starting express a bit more emotion, Petersen’s reactions suddenly feel with a quietly brewing pain, suggesting the state of the man who is best to shut himself off entirely rather than genuinely deal with the real emotions he’s going through.

And the cause of the emotions he’s going through are his job as the profiler of serial killers, which we get a few different sides within the character as an investigator. There is the more expected FBI man, though colder if not even slightly aloof seeming as he speaks to other agents, and deals with the case on a more professional level. There is an incisiveness to Petersen’s performance, but it is almost entirely in the eyes where there is this specific conviction within his work. We see the burden of it, as he deals with people like Lounds trying to exploit his situation where Petersen’s performance expresses years of exasperation within just momentary reaction of immediate subdued yet potent anger lashing out against any pestering quickly but with specific intensity of someone wanting to close it all off as soon as possible. Something he cannot avoid when meeting with Lecktor in this version, who he seeks advice from to try to catch the Tooth Fairy. Petersen’s amazing in playing the levels of the situation where Hannibal is constantly hectoring him, and trying any way to basically set Graham off. Petersen comes in with a very straightforward delivery trying very much to present himself as the FBI profiler, something that Hannibal refuses to accept and tries to poke at anything he can. Petersen's great in playing both the notes of pushing against Lecktor's games and being impacted by them. By turning phony praise about who’s smarter, with Petersen’s cold cutting noting Lecktor’s disadvantage due to being psychotic, but bringing so much within his expression of the pressure within himself as Lecktor continues to press him. With Lecktor noting that Graham himself started to touch the same mental space as the killers striking the most, where Petersen’s reaction is truly great in expressing real anxiety over the idea. 

The idea being a key to Petersen’s performance and creating the full sense of the history of his situation. What Petersen does is begin with a man who has gone beyond the pale, hence his cold, often detached moment, and the reason this is obviously a choice is what Petersen does in the scenes where Graham specifically goes about thinking in the mind of the killer. Every single one of these scenes is absolutely amazing work by Petersen. As he begins perhaps as you’d more so expect of a detective tracing the steps of the crime and trying to figure out where the killer went and how he went about the crime. Petersen goes further than that in showing Graham fully immersing himself into the killer’s thinking. Something that begins as inspiration as he begins to speak to the killer directly, but also as himself, and it doesn’t just go from thinking about it, it goes to becoming it in the moment. Petersen in these moments where he goes fully insane himself are absolutely captivating because you truly see someone fully embodying the deranged spirit in order to figure out the crime, and taking lines that could have seemed potentially even ridiculous, absolutely chilling because he lets you in on the frame of mind every time. The final sequence of trying to figure out the crime, just as the final clock is ticking is particularly stellar work from Petersen. Every moment of just trying to figure out from the clues, running down what the killer somehow knew, touching the idea, while also expressing his own intense frustrations at it, Petersen’s natural flow of such emotional extremes is flawlessly performed, where he goes from the cunning FBI agent, to the criminal profiler embedding himself in the madness, to just the concerned and frustrated man who knows someone will die if he doesn’t figure it out, and the cold attempted holding off those emotions in the in-between. Petersen is absolutely captivating to watch but he also makes the essential realization of what it means to exist within the world of serial killers. Petersen showing why Graham would have to almost purge his own humanity to avoid falling into that madness. Something that makes sense of his one big scene with his son where he explains the situation quietly, where Petersen’s performance is what you might describe as low energy, detached, but what Petersen brings in that scene is the internalized reality of the man who has to speak as such to his son, lest he fall into that madness he’s trying to keep at bay. There is a tenderness in Petersen's performance,, that tenderness of a father, but buried so deep along with almost all his emotions to hold himself together in this self imposed exile from the void. The whole idea of “becoming the villain” can often be an alien, melodramatic or even silly idea, but what Petersen’s performance does is make it tangible and powerfully real. This is truly daring work, to essentially close himself off from the audience but to do it worth purpose, and a tremendous payoff in crafting the very real rot in the mind of a hero who must submerge himself in darkness. 

Sunday, 16 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: John Goodman in True Stories

John Goodman did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Louis Fyne in True Stories. 

True Stories tells various offbeat stories in a Texas town. 

John Goodman plays one of the people in the town, and honestly you couldn’t ask for a better performer for the very specific tasks of this film, which has an unusual tone to say least, so who better than Goodman who can go from dramatic to comedic roles with such ease…often being comedic while dramatic and vice versa. Something that comes to play almost immediately where in the early scenes of the film he is more of a seeming random point in a pseudo documentary element, as we are greeted by him as one of the workers in a factory. Where Goodman delivers an overly familiar greeting with a Texas, fitting for the over enthusiasm of someone thinking they’re on TV. Goodman naturally maneuvers this to slightly more subtle when Louis starts talking about himself a little bit with a certain bashfulness, where Goodman is indeed funny when speaking about his woes in his dating life. Something we also see in a quick montage of some failed dates, where we get some perfect comic timing from Goodman, first in his squeamish reaction to rowdy kids of one date, to his great physical maneuvers as he suffers various yoga positions of another. Goodman is equally effective on another ill-fated one, where his date mentions that she had a tail, and Goodman’s reactions to this very unexpected revelation are absolutely hilarious in the subdued shock and disbelief as he tries to maintain a “I’m on a date” face. 

We see Louis again in a “real” situation at a club where he bemoans the dating scene, and Goodman's natural modification of his performance is done so naturally. Goodman doesn’t overplay the note of his frustrations, but just lays it out with a quiet bluntness and a low key dejectedness of just stating that his situation seems bleak. Goodman balances the frustrations with a sincerity in his performance of speaking his genuine interest in finding a life partner in a woman and the bright spark he brings to his eyes, that Goodman creates a person within the silliness. As we also get him awkwardly lip synching, where Goodman is wonderfully fumbling in his ways, or his completely sincere, though in this instance now hilarious, delivery of explaining about how he cares about his appearance. Goodman isn’t in the film for awhile, but he comes back very much as the climax of the film in a way where we get a few different scenes of Louis still on his quest for romantic happiness. Something that includes a whole different angle to play as we get Louis doing one of those 80’s dating videos, where Goodman’s excellent in playing the comedic note of the certain stiffness and general awkwardness of describing himself as some sort of sales pitch, including his maintenance of a consistent “panda bear” shape, which Goodman’s delivery is truly comic perfection how directly he says something so strange. 

Goodman’s better than just being funny in that moment though, as silly as the scenario is, as in his eyes there is still the very real subtle need within his performance that as much as the situation is comical, there’s a real person within it. Goodman takes this balance even further in another failed date scene, however this one more merging the comedic and the dramatic. As when he states his love of country music, Goodman brings such genuine passion in naming his favorite artists, even while still bringing this nervousness behind every word, that he still struggles to share himself going so far as to share his unfinished song. In this version the song is “People like Us”, is the work of a master of tone, because he is able to make it funny in his stumbling around in the song, but there’s also such real pain in moments of the lyrics where you can see they are truly personal to Louis. Which leads to a heartbreaking moment where the woman rejects him for the song being sad, Goodman’s truly great in his initial pride in having shared himself, that he articulates such desperate unease within himself as he realizes that she is rejecting him on a fundamental level, with his delivery of “I’m sorry” being filled with just so much pathos of a guy who has learned to apologize for being himself. Something that follows is when he’s seeking help from a mystic, where Goodman is amazing in his fully dramatic moment of stating his “I want to share my life” with such moving vulnerability in the words, and as much as Louis had been used for comic vignettes he makes you truly feel for him. Thankfully the mystic seems to give him an amulet and some words of wisdom, which maybe breaks down to be confident in one’s self, which leads to Goodman’s full performance of “People Like Us”. Where now Louis believes himself, and Goodman is outstanding in just bringing forth this in every moment of his musical performance. There’s no shame in himself, instead someone putting his passion for country music and singing for everyone to see. Goodman puts so much heart into every word of a song and creates what is absolutely the standout segment of the film. As Goodman doesn’t just sell the song, he succeeds in giving such pitch perfect climax to his character that creates a true ownership of the film’s tone in the best way possible, because he is funny, he is sad, but he’s also something so much more than either of those two things alone. 

Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: Rutger Hauer in The Hitcher

Rutger Hauer did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying John Ryder in The Hitcher.

The Hitcher is a rather terrible film about a young man, Jim, traveling cross country (C. Thomas Howell) who picks up a hitchhiker, who unfortunately is a psychotic killer. 

Rutger Hauer unsurprisingly plays that psychotic killer, which watching this performance made me notice that when Hauer does fully an American accent, though his native accent slips in just occasionally, he sounds just like Paul Newman. Not that this is particularly important to this performance really, but was worth noting. As otherwise this is dumb film where Hauer plays a role that truly exists in a screenwriter's limited imagination, but lacks any reality, nor genuine inspiration. The film I think wants us to believe he is more so a demonic force, if not Death incarnate, which would make sense in that he is omnipotent in so many scenes, however at the same time I guess to beat death you just run him over, and shoot him a few times. Additionally the film does nothing with this idea, it isn’t though we get a bit of insight or interesting philosophical discussions, rather it just feels like an excuse for Ryder to basically do whatever he wants for the course of the film until he dies, and thankfully the film ends. I mention that because Hauer isn’t really working with a character as a just a slasher killer who exists on getting to the next kill logic, rather than any logic of reality or even of some supernatural approach. What the film does have is the fact that Hauer is an extremely captivating performer. There’s an innate charisma to him that lights up the screen, there’s also an innate intensity that just as quickly darkens the screen to grant such striking menace the second he decides to turn it on. Hauer does bring a natural variation in his scenes and is very playing around in the role, because honestly the scenes of what he’s doing are pretty repetitive, he does something to pester the poor kid, he brutally murders someone out of the blue, then taunts him some more. There’s no arc or exploration, really what Hauer presents more than anything is the idea that his character is just kind of bored. So Hauer is just having fun, by showing Ryder having fun, and coming into every scene with an intention to give some kind of chaotic energy to them. Hauer doing it all with such ease, as when he is taunting his hectoring is horrible in a most effective way with the smugness of his sneer, he can suddenly then be extremely cold as though he is giving the young man a lesson (though script wise he’s not), and whenever the killer comes out, Hauer can be a complete sadist loving every minute of his carnage, or the coldest of psychopaths where we just the most vicious directed intensity that is chilling. Hauer plays around with what villain Ryder is effectively to keep his performance unpredictable which keeps his character unpredictable, although the writing is more random than genuinely unpredictable where there’s an honest logic behind it all. Regardless Hauer holds up his end consistently to try to make something out of his scenes, even though the film itself isn’t at all worthwhile nor does it really make his character go anywhere interesting. Hauer does his job though, elevates his film consistently even though he doesn’t save it. 

Sunday, 9 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: Dean Stockwell in Blue Velvet

Dean Stockwell did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Ben in Blue Velvet. 

Dean Stockwell falls into a specific subset of Lynchian performances where an actor is tasked for brief screen time or a brief scene to make a substantial impact, and Stockwell is game for the part. Stockwell appears during the long night sequence where our hero Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) is brought along for a ride by the psychotic Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) with his gang and the lounge singer Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini). The latter whom Frank is controlling due to holding her husband and child as hostages. The group arrives at Ben’s, which appears to be a brothel of a strange kid that Ben runs. Stockwell doesn’t have much screen time to work with so he doesn’t waste much time in instantly establishing a unique presence to the film and Stockwell. As we see Ben who perpetually wears a robe, carries his cigarette holder and most bizarrely his face is caked with white powder makeup for reasons unknown. Stockwell amplifies the elements with his completely atypical to his typical presence in almost every facet. Stockwell is extremely affected here, though in the best possible way in his way of almost always casually crossing his arms in an overly relaxed yet oddly specific fashion, along with his casual movement throughout the scene where Stockwell makes Ben a strange lord over his very particular domain. Such a manner perhaps living up to Frank’s description of Ben as “suave”, which Stockwell is suave though suave in a way that Frank would find suave, given Ben seems to be the one person that Frank respects in any way throughout the entire film. The specificity of Stockwell’s performance doesn’t end there with his extremely satisfied expression as he glides about his place, and an expression that seems to indicate a state of normalcy where the world of Ben and Frank seems anything but. Stockwell’s vocal performance amplifies this all the more with his extremely gradual way of speaking all his lines with a considerable calm wrapped into every word. Stockwell’s voice would be more suitable for an affected art dealer in some ways yet here as the brothel running drug dealer there is a particularly fascinating quality to his strangeness. Particularly as the scene develops where he receives praise from Frank, which Stockwell’s reactions are both hilarious and off-putting in the very modest acceptance of such coarse yet adoring descriptions. Keeping that manner in mind even as Frank verbally and physically berates Jeffrey for daring not to toast to Ben, something Ben briefly joins in with by punching him as well, though so perfectly weird as Stockwell keeps Ben as calm as ever even in the act of violence. We even get a particularly bizarre moment where Ben even feeds Frank some drugs, where Stockwell is glowing in the moment and the two look more like a pet and a master. All of this oddity would be wonderful where Stockwell crafts such a idiosyncratic creature in Ben that is fascinating to behold, but what takes the performance the next step towards absolute brilliance is when he chooses to serenade everyone with Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” using the original track and a work light. Stockwell truly makes lip syncing an art form where he is captivating where he might as well be singing the song with how hard it is not to fix upon every single moment of Stockwell’s performance of Ben’s performance. Stockwell takes this idea further in his motions specifically towards Frank where Stockwell’s performance brings this kind of pestering if not controlling motions seemingly to mess with Frank a bit the lyrics clearly mean more to Frank than even people who love the song. My favorite moment from his performance is actually the moment that suggests all of this might be some kind of facade of Ben’s when Frank’s reactions to the song start to become violent. Stockwell’s “Oh shit” expression is perfect as though Ben suddenly realizes the danger of messing with Frank too much and is genuinely concerned, before the music stops and Stockwell returns to Ben’s old manner however now keeping to himself away from Frank. A great moment because Stockwell through the reaction suddenly opens more about Ben’s relationship with Frank and lets us in a bit behind the curtain albeit for a moment. A moment within a scene, and what a scene it is, with Stockwell being an essential facet through his singular creation of Ben that once you’ve seen his work here, you simply don’t forget it. 

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1986: Michael Caine in Mona Lisa

Michael Caine did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Denny Mortwell in Mona Lisa. 

Michael Caine had a decent show of range for 86 between his Oscar winning performance as a fussy intellectual type going through an affair with his own wife’s sister in Hannah and Her Sisters, and the extreme shift away from that here as a gangster Mortwell, who gives recently released from prison George (Bob Hoskins) a job chauffeuring high class prostitute Simone (Cathy Tyson). The full backstory we get from Mortwell and George is relatively limited though with key hints within just a few lines of dialogue, and through the performances of Hoskins and Caine. Caine’s work has largely a singular purpose here as the central villain of the piece but what can elevate things is a keyed in performance which is what Caine delivers here. On one hand this is an entirely successful villain turn by Caine. He is menacing, particularly using his height against Hoskins to very much emphasize that presence in their scenes together, or even with Tyson as well. Caine enforces himself in certain scenes and very much presents himself with the inherent threat of Mortwell within his presence. Caine calling back, but artfully twisting his work from Get Carter, where you have that same kind of cold intensity within his work, which like that film is remarkable in itself given Caine’s common cinematic presence is charming and approachable. Caine here isn’t charming, he’s not approachable, and he is intimidating by removing those extended presence elements, yet unlike Get Carter where he is the protagonist, Caine shortens the leash that much more to make his depiction of Mortwell that much colder and contained. Which in a fascinating way the less Caine does, the more oppressive he becomes, as Caine looking at someone usually is affable, here when he stares, there is a soullessness about him that unnerves you. 

Caine is the effective villain which would be enough for this to be a good performance but what makes this a standout Caine performance is creating the sense of history and internal life within Mortwell that adds color to the role and the film. I love Caine's way of creating the story of Mortwell where we are granted the sense of basically a gangster attempting to elevate himself beyond that of the street thug, but is struggling to do so. Something we allude to in his background with George where we get the sense, George took a fall for the sake of Mortwell with the promise that Mortwell would take care of him. And what we get from Caine in one of his early scenes is a man attempting to reinvent himself, despite still being himself, as we see him talk with George with a skewed and phony grotesque version of how someone like Mortwell would believe “high class” would be. Caine’s amazing in a way by muting his own charm instead presenting someone like Mortwell failing to be charming. Caine has a smile but there’s an obvious sleaze behind it. There's a way of chatting up George like he has big plans for himself, but Caine delivers the words as empty platitudes. What Caine shows is more comfortable, or at least more natural is the violence sleazy gangster beneath any of that. Such as when George trespasses on Mortwell working a deal, Caine in a second's notice shows the real truth of Mortwell as he shows his teeth quickly and you see the vile man beneath that. Contrasting that is Mortwell pushing George to get blackmailing info on a client of Simone’s where again the asking moment is with phoniest kindly quality in Caine’s performance that perfectly sets up a gangster pretending to be far more than he ever could be. Again we see the real man, where Caine is so brutally honest by being horrible in the just barely held together raging frustration as George fails to perform what he has asked. Whenever Caine appears he makes an impact, and one of my favorite scenes honestly is when George rescues Simone’s fellow prostitute from a house Mortwell is overseeing, and we just see the silent reaction of a calm menace that is perfect work from Caine in showing the calculations in Mortwell without saying a thing. Leading to the ending where we get great acting from Caine where he begins by being terrifying by starting so quiet, letting the menace just ooze by only using the implication of danger (IASP reference intentional). As Caine presents essentially any civilized quality of Mortwell being forced and breaking down as his portrayal of the snap is not a gradual build up but just the natural reveal of the reality of Mortwell as he begins to openly threaten her and browbeat George, before physically assaulting her. We get a great subversion of this, however where the moment Simone fights back, by shooting him with a hidden gun, I love that Caine shows all the bluster and immediately leaves Mortwell and his delivery of his screams to George to help him are just a genuine pathetic man begging for his life. Caine delivers a great micro reflection of Hoskins’s work, by instead of slowly revealing the good man within the thug, Caine reveals only more sleaze, darkness and insecurity within the “respectable businessman”.