5. George Clooney in Up in The Air- Clooney tries to ride almost his whole performance on his charm, I myself don't see any charm, but either way because he fails to bring any real conviction to the role.
4. Morgan Freeman in Invictus- When one hears Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela one probably would say, perfect casting. Unfortunately Freeman's mannerisms, and voice he uses for the role are inconsistent, and weigh down the entire performance.
3. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart- Bridges is certainly good and believable as the country star most of the time, but certain aspects of his performance do not really work. His relationships with Colin Farrell's character is a bit overdone, and his relationship with Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in many ways feels like a plot contrivance.
2. Colin Firth in A Single Man- Firth's performance is one that strikes me in a different way than every other performance on this line up. I most certainly though it was a strong effective piece of acting, with some amazing moments, but at the same time the performance always left me wanting more, I never felt it lackluster, but many moments I always felt he could have gone even further in his performance than he did.
1. Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker- A performance that one first glance may not seem the most, but that is part of what makes this performance so special. Renner never seems to act in his performance, and despite the fact that he really is given few moments solely devoted to character development Renner still creates a three dimensional complex character. Renner always stays very understated in his approach to his character, and because of that he gives a truly fascinating portrait of a man addicted to his very dangerous job.
14 comments:
Awesome. Could you do 73 or 99 next please? :)
You need to see moon and two lovers as the perfs are way better than anything here.
Agree with mrripley, especially in Two lovers. Good ranking, although my pick is Firth
1990 or 1973 plz =D x
It will be one of those two.
You should totally watch the Road. Hard to sit through, but the performances are great. Can you do 2002 or 1990 next?
really curious as to whether you liked Ferrer or Depardieu most, whats everyone elses thoughts on Cyrano?
Joseph Gordon Levitt in 500 Days Of Summer was fantastic too.
Now that I think of it, Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach in Watchmen was amazing. J.E.H. is sooooo underrated as an actor.
These would have been my 2009 nominees:
Viggo Mortensen in The Road
Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
dshultz: I found Haley over did some aspects of his performance, although his work was not entirely without merit.
RatedRstar: Well I liked Ferrer I will get to Depardieu.
Sage: I forgot about him, and he was quite good so I will add him.
I totally disagree with Clooney, who is my winner. His lack of conviction is him actually acting. His character lives a life devoid of conviction and meaning, but he is too blind to see it. That's the whole point of the film. In my opinion he is near perfect, doing exactly what he needed to do. I do agree with your rankings of the other 4, though.
What did you think of Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man and Michael Sheen in The Damned United?
I liked Stuhlbarg I have not seen Sheen.
I like your ranking for 2009, it's certainly different. The only change I'd make is putting Firth as No.1, and Renner No.2.
I've been checking out heaps of your yearly choices, and I dig them. It's great to finally read less than stellar opinions on performances that many consider 'masterful.' (Even if I think you're too hard on poor old Spencer Tracey). haha
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