Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2020: Bo Burnham in Promising Young Woman

Bo Burnham did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Ryan Cooper in Promising Young Woman. 

Promising Young Woman is a great film about a woman Cassie (Carey Mulligan) seeking revenge for her friend who was raped in College. 

One of the brilliant strokes of production in the film is that much of the supporting cast are typically comic actors that offers a unique angle within the world of realizing the movie creeps. These one's are a bit less overt in many ways than the traditional one. Now seemingly that doesn't appear to apply to standup comedian as Bo Burnham, as Ryan Cooper, doctor, and former college classmate of Cassie, the latter whom never finished college. I'll admit I was less impressed with Burnham previous performance in The Big Sick, that largely played off of his stage persona. Although this always goes to show the rule of context and a whole lot of "it depends". This is because Burnham is legitimately terrific here. And the thing is he is playing with his stage persona, to an extent, however more balanced here. I actually think he finds a marvelous mix here as we follow him seemingly as the true "Nice guy" within the film. This as we have a meet cute as he reconnects with Cassie at a coffee shop. Burnham's performance does really three things at once, which is fairly impressive. On one end he seems to fulfill the role of the modern romantic lead as he brings that kind of awkwardness in his banter as he asks Cassie out. He though kind of subverts this as well, because he's genuinely funny in moments of playing around with it a bit basically just how he accentuates certain lines, or riffs on others. Thirdly though at the same time we get a sense of seemingly genuine interest for Cassie. He speaks with sincerity of his crush on her long ago, and he brings the right kind of earnestness. He seems the ideal alternate to Cassie's current existence of going out a night to strategically get under the skin of creeps.  

We have fun with Burnham just as Cassie has fun with Ryan. The two really have a great chemistry together in blending their energies of this mix of sardonic and the kind of earnest. They really make that rhythm work wonderfully well. Again it helps that Burnham's comic timing is stellar here. This as the laughs from his performance come so naturally in his moments of self deprecation or extreme sarcasm. It's a great blending of that stage personality that he really makes natural within the character. This as he never brings it to the wrong moments. This as he effectively tempers it showing really that when Ryan is being serious he is indeed serious. Burnham plays these moments well such as when initially Ryan almost immediately screws up the relationship by suggesting he and Cassie sleep together almost right away. Burnham in the moment showing naturally a side of perhaps less nobler intention, though with a quick pull back towards some self-loathing that diffuses the situation as the two do eventually reconnect. Although this is almost immediately screwed up by Ryan seeing Cassie on one of her night missions. This again as Mulligan and Burnham are so good together, that you wholly buy the moment of tension and eventual reconciliation. They're genuinely sweet with one another, even when actively participating in the romcom scenario of going to a pharmacy. This as Burnham and Mulligan become the ideal modern romcom couple, and you totally believe it too, montage and all. There is something hanging over all this, even as you might not seem to be able to notice it. This as Ryan talks about their old college friends, who either were directly involved with the rape or had some quality of guilt associated with it. This is key though as Burnham delivers these scenes though as though never ever was wrong, or seemed to have gone wrong. Everything was perfect back then and there is no element of concern whatsoever. This ideal romcom scenario shattered as a video of the rape of Cassie's friend reveals that Ryan was present for it and watching it. The confrontation scene is brilliant work for Burnham. This in he immediately pulls into himself towards instant defense and fear for himself rather than any genuine sense of guilt. Burnham effectively losing any real composure within the moment, and just the weak will of the man to do anything to save himself. His "you gotta forgive me" have the same pathetic weakness that Burnham accentuates so effectively as again this selfish fear again without any true understanding of his own faults within the reaction. This as even his former mentions of the old friends has a new light on it, as you see a man who holds no attachment to the past and has no second thoughts of any of the crimes around him. His angry retort to Cassie at the end, being just a final defensive outburst of showing the man who within everything can maintain decency only when nothing involving his own prospects is on the line. Burnham through this gives a terrific performance that is both a proper romcom lead and a potent deconstruction of it.