Tuesday 17 December 2019

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1999: John C. Reilly in Magnolia

John C. Reilly did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Officer Jim Kurring in Magnolia.

Magnolia follows the intertwined stories of the various desperate people heading towards a biblical connection. John C. Reilly is an actor who has had a rather atypical career. This in that he hasn't exactly ever been set within his place as a performer, even though he's not quite a character but isn't exactly a leading man either. What that does though I suppose is leave Reilly as an actor who can surprise, and was able to surprise throughout his career in terms of the roles he would play. Before the 2000's attempted to pigeonhole him somewhat as a comic sidekick, something he did well but even that has only been part of his career, he was more so directly a reliable character actor for mostly indie fair in the 90's. The highlight of this portion of his career being his collaboration with then up and coming wunderkind Paul Thomas Anderson. This in his secondary leading turn in Anderson's debut Hard Eight, a memorable supporting turn in Boogie Nights, that in someways would prelude his later comic turns, then finally here as one of the essential characters of the film, being the focus of his thread of the overarching tapestry. This thread perhaps attempting to give you the most hope in humanity in showing us Reilly as officer Jim who opens the film as he attempts to investigate a domestic disturbance.

Reilly is wonderful as Jim even in these scenes in the very professional respect as he does his job. This as Reilly makes the most of his voice, which often is used for comedy for a reason, with its certain softness and general affability. Reilly wields that particularly effectively here though in delivering his lines of the officer with that general affable quality though constricting it slightly. This making Jim's statements do command the appropriate authority as he speaks. This with Reilly making this very specific emphasis on words of Jim doing his job, portraying well this sort of confidence in attitude approaching doing his work while also presenting the man as attempting to disarm any hostilities at the same time. Reilly manages to make a convincing combination between a man who is enforcing the law but also attempts to do it in a way that does create hostilities if necessary. I especially love how Reilly manages this as it would been easy to make Jim come off as a jerk, but creates the right balance. This as even as Jim becomes rightfully flustered at a woman hiding a dead body from him, Reilly even asks the necessary inquiry of  "what the hell is this, Marcie?" regarding the body, he still suggests it as not an immediate judgement by rather offering the opportunity for explanation even as Reilly portrays him as rightfully shaken.

The crux of his performance though relates to when Jim comes across the daughter a famous game show host, Claudia (Melora Walters), based on a noise complaint. There is many a detail Reilly gets impeccably right about this, but the first of them may be his absolutely sincere expression of love at first sight when he initial opens the door and sees Claudia. It is a pitch perfect closeup by Reilly as he instantly expresses his instant infatuation with her. All the same though Jim attempts to do his job first and foremost, and again it is on the surface where Reilly does also excel. This is that Jim not only investigates the disturbance but also technically lectures on it. This seen earlier as he asks a little boy, attempting to give him clues, to not swear and when talking to Claudia and asking her to remember to keep her music low to respect her neighbors. The sort of lecturing tone though is one of the best things Reilly realizes though as he manages to deliver these with a sternness but this underlying warmth. It is just a bit though as Reilly manages to accentuate this positive sense of concern even as he pries about a visitor that upset her. Reilly is able to create again that balance that is definitely of a police officer who takes his position seriously, however no one who abuses his power, but rather someone who wants to make sure that everyone is safe and can live their lives.

The first scene of Jim actually is preparing for his day, where we also hear him leaving a message for a dating service that helps to define the character, and Reilly's performance. Unlike many of the things that may cause a desperation, we don't actually see this in Jim truly, rather even in this opening this need is delivered as a hopeful statement, essential in creating what is at the center of the film a beautiful, if troubled relationship. After that initial reaction I love that Reilly doesn't pile on the infatuation but does portray Jim making sure he does his job first and foremost. This all except the immediacy of his concern of her earlier domestic disturbance, that Reilly delivers with such strict sincerity as he asks her not to joke about a murder police code. Reilly eyes evoke only the absolute concern, although even this is not of purely someone he is smitten with but also just as a caring police officer. This is until he leaves where he does ask her for a date, and I love basically how scared Reilly makes Jim in this moment. It is this wonderful combination of desperation and affection, of a man who knows the situation is not ideal, but also conveys this need to make a potential stand towards happiness. Although between then and the date, Jim unfortunately gets lost in the rain, into a fire fight and loses his gun. A moment of complete desperation where Reilly is moving by making this anxiety even has the same earnestness of a good man, in a rough situation. The date itself is one of my favorite scenes, in a film I love, given that both characters are operating on a different wavelength, yet the same one at the same time. I love it as clearly as Walters portrays Claudia on the verge of a breakdown, Reilly portrays solace in the complete and utter fascination he has in her as a man genuinely in love. This is even as he reveals his own desperation, Reilly is able to even speak the words with a sense of comfort not to explain himself as broken, but rather show he too is in no way perfect. Reilly throughout the scene is great because he portrays Jim's love so directly against the cautiousness of Claudia, right down to that perfect immediacy of his "yes I do", when she asks if he wants to kiss her. I love Reilly's work here as it carries such a real tenderness, particularly in his final narration that underlines each word as a man, a police officer, who doesn't define his life through judgement but rather concern.

61 comments:

Jack Narrator said...

John WINS!!!

Emi Grant said...

Fuck yes! I love this performance so freaking much. Walters is wonderful as well.

Louis: Any additional thoughts/changes with the cast?

Matt Mustin said...

A beautiful performance, as are almost all of them in this film.

Emi Grant said...

I think another reason why I love this performance is because of how Reilly manages to portray an officer asking out a woman on a date while on duty without ever coming out as creepy, but in such endearing way instead.

Álex Marqués said...

My favourite performance in the film, and my 1999 personal winner.

Anonymous said...

Star Wars Rise of Skywalker at 53%, oh dear.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I'm still seeing it tomorrow night. I'm not shocked by the response.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: Are you going to do a review for The Rise Of Skywalker.

RatedRStar said...

I get to see it in VIP friday, so at the very least I will enjoy the food lol.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I’m seeing it Thursday night, and am dreading it at this point.

Henry W said...

Everyone: I got to see it... suffice it to say, it deserves its low scores.

Let me know if you guys were as conflicted with it as I was. Poor Rian Johnson getting death threats and calls for his head on a platter even though his work in TLJ was pretty ballsy, although things could have been better with regards to Johnson's direction lets be honest.

Unfortunately, JJ "Jar Jar" Adumbo tried too hard to "fix" Johnson's work instead of rolling with it, and the result is a cluttered, overly fan-subservient piece of turd that starts off slower than my pet snails in the first half, then ramps up in a rushed last third or so. Absolute garbage film.

Anonymous said...

Louis: your director and cast for a 80’s version of Knives Out?

Jack Narrator said...

Louis and others

What is your ranking of scores for Thomas Newman? Which movie should he have won Oscar?

Bryan L. said...

Anonymous: He gave that Knives Out cast here http://actoroscar.blogspot.com/2019/11/alternate-best-supporting-actor-1999_28.html?m=1

Bryan L. said...

Luke: Your thoughts on Mark Rylance as an actor, and your ranking of the performances you’ve seen of his? Ratings too

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Unless you want to save it for later, where would this rank among Reilly's best performances?

Anonymous said...

Louis: Just noticed, you gave the win for ensemble to Topsy-Turvy instead of Magnolia, any particular reason why?

Matt Mustin said...

Anonymous: Because of Julianne Moore.

Bryan L. said...

Anonymous: From what I gather, Topsy-Turvy's ensemble is more airtight in Louis' book, as even the bit players there are good, where Magnolia indeed has Julianne Moore.

Bryan L. said...

Louis: For your 80s Blade Runner 2 cast, who would be your choice for Lt. Joshi? And for cinematographer, Deakins still?

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with Julianne Moore?

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Is it possible for me to recommend Season 1 of Sherlock (which aired in 2010) this time around. It's three 90-minute episodes, and the Emmys treat it as a miniseries.

Luke Higham said...

Seen the Tenet first look images and I'm getting Nolan vibes from Pattinson.

Bryan L. said...

Luke: I know right? Like with Leo in Inception. The first trailers' supposed to drop tomorrow too.

Luke Higham said...

Bryan: A brilliant actor with one of the greatest TV performances of all-time and his body of work in theatre deserves to be seen.

1. Wolf Hall
2. Bridge Of Spies
3. Dunkirk
4. Angels & Insects
5. The BFG
6. Intimacy
7. Ready Player One
8. The Other Boleyn Girl
9. The Gunman
10. Anonymous (Pretty good 1 minute cameo)

Luke Higham said...

Louis: Your TV Top Tens of 2019.

Mitchell Murray said...

Louis: What would be your expanded thoughts on your top ten supporting actress of 1999 i.e. thoughts/ratings on each performance?

Also, I'd just like to say I'm even more anticipated for Sam Rockwell's probable reviews next spring.... I say this having just watched a film called "Mr. Right" (because I really had nothing else to do this afternoon), and being once again re-affirmed of the man's talent. The movie itself is really standard and not as enjoyable as it might seem, and Anna Kendrick is rather weak in her central role. Thankfully the ever consistent Rockwell is by her side, and he brings that expected energy and Rockwellian style to his performance. I'd actually describe it as a more toned down version of his "Seven Psychopaths" turn, which of course means he's a great deal of fun, and he even makes the movie's badly conceived romance somewhat digestible.

It's simply a good turn in a forgettable film, and so I'm again anticipating a review of an even better Rockwell performance in a much better film, whichever one that might be.

Mitchell Murray said...

Also..."Cats" is currently at a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Is anybody here surprised by that?...because I sure as hell am not.

Michael McCarthy said...

If Reilly’s a 5 than Hall’s gotta be. Also I watched Richard Jewell. It’s definitely a movie that should have come out at a different time, but on its own terms it works fairly well. It can be cringey at times, but definitely not as much as The Mule was, and Hauser’s performance is miles better than anything from that aforementioned film.

Emi Grant said...

Mitchell: I'm not gonna lie, I feel morbidly curious to see how much of a mess it is.

Louis Morgan said...

Emi Grant:

No other changes, still love to like everyone else, except Moore who I still think is atrocious.

Tahmeed:

Let me hold off on that for the moment.

Yes, though that'd have to be your one recommendation.

Jack:

Should've won for The Shawshank Redemption (although that would've taken away oddly Hans Zimmer's only win). Also would've been more deserving than the actual Oscar winners for Wall-e and Road to Perdition.

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Road to Perdition
3. Wall-e
4. The Green Mile
5. Little Women
6. Finding Nemo
7. The Lost Boys
8. The Player
9. American Beauty (I'll admit that one's a tricky one for me, due to my aversion for the film probably gives me a more negative inclination to what is a memorable score.)
10. Skyfall
11. Cinderella Man
12. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
13. The Adjustment Bureau
14. Real Genius
15. Little Children
16. Scent of a Woman
17. Spectre
18. Passengers
19. Less Than Zero
20. Bridge of Spies
21. Saving Mr. Banks
22. The Iron Lady
23. Finding Dory
24. In the Bedroom
25. The Help
26. Fried Green Tomatoes
27. Meet Joe Black
28. Revolutionary Road
29. Erin Brockovich
30. The Judge
31. Pay it Forward
32. Side Effects
33. Brothers
34. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

I'll say I don't think ambient music is his strong suit, the more grandiose the better.

Bryan:

Veronica Cartwright and yes.

Mitchell:

I think I've give n them somewhere or another.

Luke:

Series:

1. Chernobyl
2. Barry
3. Watchmen
4. Silicon Valley
5. Legion
6. Peaky Blinders
7. Fosse/Verdon
8. True Detective
9. What We Do in the Shadows
10. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Actor:

1. Bill Hader - Barry
2. Dan Stevens - Legion
3. Sam Rockwell - Fosse/Verdon
4. William Zabka - Cobra Kai
5. Cillian Murphy - Peaky Blinders
6. Mahershala Ali - True Detective
7. Thomas Middleditch - Silicon Valley
8. Benedict Cumberbatch - Brexit
9. Kayvan Novak - What We Do in the Shadows
10. Matt Berry - What We Do in the Shadows

Actress:

1. Regina King - Watchmen
2. Michelle Williams - Fosse/Verdon
3. Sarah Goldberg - Barry
4. Rachel Keller - Legion
5. Natasia Demetriou - What We Do in the Shadows

Supporting Actor:

1. Stephen Dorff - True Detective
2. Jeremy Irons - Watchmen
3. Jared Harris - Chernobyl
4. Tim Blake Nelson - Watchmen
5. Stephen Root - Barry
6. Anthony Carrigan - Barry
7. Jovan Adepo - Watchmen
8. Zach Woods - Silicon Valley
9. Navid Negahban - Legion
10. Tom Hardy - Peaky Blinders

Supporting Actress:

1. Jean Smart - Watchmen
2. Jessie Buckley - Chernobyl
3. Emily Watson - Chernobyl
4. Maya Hawke - Stranger Things
5. Stephanie Corneliussen - Legion
6. Hong Chau - Watchmen
7. Lauren Tsai - Legion
8. Millie Bobbie Brown - Stranger Things
9. Amanda Crew - Silicon Valley
10. Aya Cash - Fosse/Verdon

Anonymous said...

Louis: Thoughts on this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCVnWStLrg

Luke Higham said...

Louis; Your thoughts on Little Women (1994) and ratings/thoughts on the cast.

RatedRStar said...

Cats is getting great reviews....NOTTTTTT lol

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

Considerably better than the high budget version, though perhaps some of its logic is just as wonky.

Luke:

That isn't some recent re-watch, saw it in 94.

Luke Higham said...

Louis: What films do you plan on seeing this week.

Louis Morgan said...

Luke:

I'll be seeing Uncut Gems tonight, and honestly I'm probably going to watch Bombshell before I see Star Wars, which I have little to no interest in seeing. I'll see it eventually, but I'm in no rush to do so.

Louis Morgan said...

It also sounds like CATS could be a Serenity type situation, which means I will watch eventually, I'm just not going to be paying full price.

BRAZINTERMA said...

The new Overall Rank of Best Supporting Actor of 1999:

1. John C. Reilly in Magnolia
2. Tom Cruise Magnolia
3. Sam Rockwell in Galaxy Quest
4. Robert Carlyle in Ravenous
5. Harry Lennix in Titus
6. Bryan Brown in Two Hands
7. Philip Baker Hall in Magnolia
8. Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest
9. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley
10. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia

Razor said...

Louis: Your current top 15 TV episodes of 2019?

Anonymous said...

Louis, Speaking of Reilly, your thoughts on this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JAPkvnyso

Luke Higham said...

I saw Marriage Story, I love you Joaquin but they better give Adam that damn Oscar.

Luke Higham said...

And Johansson's fantastic as well.

Bryan L. said...

Luke: Your thoughts on the film, and your ratings for the cast?

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Luke: Agreed 100% on Driver.

Luke Higham said...

Bryan: I thought it was very good on the whole, I do think like everyone else here that those three caricatures hurt the film immensely.

Driver/Johansson - 5
Alda - 3.5
Liotta - 3.5
Dern - 3
The Caricatures - 1

Tahmeed Chowdhury said...

Louis: Have you settled on a rating for McConaughey in Serenity?

Bryan L. said...

Louis: Thoughts on the trailer for Tenet?

Matt Mustin said...

Bryan L: I think it looks great, personally.

Luke Higham said...

Saw Rise Of Skywalker, I'm in no mood to talk about it right now.

RatedRStar said...

Luke: Just one question since Adam Driver was great in Marriage Story and The Report, it appears to be his year, how was he here?

Louis Morgan said...

Well I LOVED Uncut Gems. Some might find it exhausting, I found it exhilarating in the Safdies once again extremely kinetic approach to telling the story about man who forces upon a ledge that he believes he'll be able to find a way out of. Although a similar thematic starting point, I loved the alternate exploration to sort of a "higher class" schemer, and the exploration of the man that I found endlessly fascinating and thrilling every second of the way.

Kevin Garnett - 3
Menzel - 3
Stanfield - 3.5
Fox - (I feel I need to see another performance from her to properly judge this.)
Bogosian - 3.5
Hirsch - 3
Richards - 3

Razor:

1. Vichnaya Pamyat - Chernobyl
2. ronny/lilly - Barry
3. The Extraordinary Being - Watchmen
4. Chapter 20 - Legion
5. Please Remain Calm - Chernobyl
6. The audition - Barry
7. Open Wide O earth - Chernobyl
8. Little Fear of Lightning - Watchmen
9. Exit Event - Silicon Valley
10. Mr. Jones - Peaky Blinders
11. berkman > block - Barry
12. The Janitor Always Mops Twice - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
13. 1:23:45 - Chernobyl
14. What?! - Barry
15. She was Killed by Space Junk - Watchmen

Anonymous:

I often hate Oscar bits, but that one is legitimately great, both as a musical bit, hearing Reilly's pipes is always a plus, but also just a fun commentary on the nature of Oscar winning roles, as well as specifically Reilly's diversity of roles.

Tahmeed:

That film defies traditional expectation and criticism. McConaughey's performance is unintentionally hilarious, though only because he brings so much conviction to such nonsensical scenes. I still have a difficult time saying he's bad, because to not come off as so entertaining would've required phoning it in, which should never be praised.

Bryan:

Well that was certainly a series of compelling images, though I have no idea what is going on, it looks fascinating. Washington also looks very promising, I just hope Nolan's not wasting Pattinson in a Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Inception type role, and that he actually has some meat to his part.

Luke Higham said...

RatedRStar: Very Good once again but there's so much wasted potential with his character though I didn't have much of a problem with the way his arc finished.

Ridley's MVP.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: I think the thing I loved most, is that it made me like a completely hatable person, because there were other people worse than him so I wanted him to win that big bet, I really liked Fox as well and think that she is pivotal to Sandlers breakdown scene.

Calvin Law said...

Glad to see you loved the film, and that Garnett’s an athlete who can act (or at least isn’t bad at it).

Calvin Law said...

And yeah that Tenet trailer looks fascinating and I wouldn’t worry about Pattinson and Debicki even though they didn’t show much of them here, feel like this will be one of Nolan’s twisty films.

RatedRStar said...

This was only a teaser trailer though, so I would think Pattinson and Debicki will appear more in the official trailer.

RatedRStar said...

Louis: You know how you said you were gonna do like a suggestions, after you finish 1999, you dont mind if my suggestion is from a year you have already done?

Bryan L. said...

Matt: Same here. I’m also curious about what Göransson will deliver with Nolan score-wise, because the bits we’ve heard so far are...interesting.

Robert MacFarlane said...

I saw it.

Well, at least Daisy Ridley was great.

(Also, I never want to hear any of you badmouth Last Jedi ever again.)

Louis Morgan said...

RatedRStar:

Don't mind at all.

My hesitation with Fox is that she does have some flat deliveries, however they work within the idea of supposed vapidness of the character, so it is hard to fully judge on that. Although she is just genuinely good much of the time anyways.