Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2020: Ben Mendelsohn in Babyteeth

 Ben Mendelsohn did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Henry in Babyteeth.

Babyteeth is a good film about a terminally ill teenage girl Milla (Eliza Scanlen) who befriends an older delinquent, Moses (Toby Wallace). 

Ben Mendelsohn, who unfortunately has fallen into "cast all foreign actors as villain" trope in Hollywood more recently, though he's had a better go of it than many, but nonetheless it then becomes greatly appreciated when it gets to go beyond that, something that more frequently occurs when he returns to his home-turf of Australia. This is one such opportunity as Henry the father of dying girl along with his wife Anna (Essie Davis). We open with a decidedly un-Hollywood Mendelsohn scene as psychiatrist Henry meets with his wife in his office. It must be noted first one rarely see better sandwich eating acting then we see of Mendelsohn here. This is really a fantastic focal point to the naturalism we find in the chemistry between David and Mendelsohn. This as even in his sandwich eating you get a sense of really the relaxed quality of their chemistry, even their sexual chemistry with one another. The two really dance around so many different things in this one moment, from just commenting on his own job that Mendelsohn brings a slight bemusement in trying to stay focused to with his disrobing wife in front of him, though also years of love just in the ease of their moment together even their brief bit of sex. The two of them even so gracefully ponder their daughters health in a brief moment of sincere warmth. It is really masterclass from both as you see a married couple, a mother and father, and two really life long friends in this brief moment. This is so natural in every regard, and for me the sandwich sums it, as Mendelsohn delivers his lines through it, like two people who can chew with their mouths open in front of each other, given they just are that comfortable with one another. 

Now the a major conflict of the film comes in part from the family's reaction towards Moses, a drug dealer, hanging out with Milla. This with a natural tension from their first scene together. Mendelsohn is great in the first scene as she brings Moses over for the first time. This as Mendelsohn couldn't be more artful in being kind of a silly dad, trying to relieve tension with this delivery of astute kind of casual manners, while also in his expression still reflecting his own discomfort in the situation. Mendelsohn is especially great in his little reactions towards Davis, where her Anna is immediately far less comfortable with the arrangement, his reactions convey the sense of concern for his wife, and he delivers with a simple calm trying to keep his wife from reacting too strongly. In the scene Mendelsohn conveys a father willing to present the basic support for his daughter, even when making a seemingly bad decision, while also still showing a father's natural concern for such a decision. This becoming difficult with Moses showing their home into the night to steal from them. Mendelsohn's fantastic in again showing this dad trying so hard to manage the situation. This with frustration, but also kind of a attempt at a logical distance. This in Mendelsohn's manner really reveals a truly loving father as he speaks that there should be some consequence, while also speaking a way that manages his own wish to try to do right by his daughter. It's brilliant work because Mendelsohn really makes this idea, which really could come off as totally forced in the wrong hands, seem both natural and actually an incredibly moving display of paternal love. 

Mendelsohn's work then is showing this man trying his best to deal with a very difficult situation, and in turn presents nothing easy in this attempt. This in even presenting a slightly more than flirtatious relationship with a neighbor Mendelsohn expresses so well as this frustration of just all the emotions of dealing with his daughter's situation. A later moment of looking for their daughter together, Mendelsohn is great in expressing his frustrations, with his daughter's condition, and his wife's way of coping, mostly by using drugs. This as he balances them with a quality of strength just as he shows the anxiety of it. His delivery is of it as pent up, but also spoken as someone who has this strict conviction when he speaks of every action for Milla. I love Mendelsohn's work as he expresses really the difficulty of this attempt at been selfless for his daughter. It isn't easy for him, even as everything he does there is the strong sense of love to it. It's hard and Mendelsohn makes it so poignant by showing it as such. His speech of "You cannot lose it yet" to Anna, is greatness by Mendelsohn as he manages to not sound at all pompous in it. Rather he depicts a sincere need in the man to try so hard, no matter how painful it is for them, to do what they can for their daughter they are slowly losing. This is to the point Henry goes to gather Moses to be with Milla, even willing to write him prescriptions for drugs. Mendelsohn is entirely convincing in the moment, this as he speaks towards his distaste for the man so pointedly however restrained, but even more pointed as he speaks towards his motivation to making the end of his daughter's life as wonderful as he can make it. 

 

Mendelsohn manages to capture this even in just his moments of looking on. There is concern but also this sort of stoic stability of the father watching over his daughter and hoping beyond hope, that he is doing right by her. There's an outstanding simple moment in this regard when both parents hear from Moses that Milla has a lump that she hasn't shared. Mendelsohn's reaction is perfection, this as you can sense all the anguish beneath the surface, as though he still maintains Henry's just holding together best he can in his smaller reaction. It is all there in Mendelsohn's work, even as it remains understated. We see something similar in his final reaction as he sees his daughter has died. Mendelsohn is heartbreaking in the beautiful simplicity of his reaction. There is heartbreak of course in his eyes, but the focus is on love in just his tender moment with her. This just holding her as he would've so many times in her childhood. His moment with her wholly an expression of his deep affection before finally succumbing to the grief. Thankfully the film doesn't end on a wholly tragic note, this as it flashbacks to a time the group spent on the beach, seemingly one more joyful moment, and we get perhaps all of them as they probably were at one time. Mendelsohn couldn't be better in the scene. This as we see him overflowing with happiness as the anxiety has mostly subsided for a moment. This as even his taking photographs like a just any old goofy day, leaves a real impact in showing how the man was at one time when his troubles were more limited. Mendelsohn is so good in this scene, simply outstanding as he and his daughter talk seemingly fully for the last time. Mendelsohn's instruction even on just how to use the camera is great acting. This as he tries to just give her the how, there is the wavering voice of the man knowing the truth of it, as he tries to be his best. When she asks him to take care of Moses after she's gone, Mendelsohn pulls your heart right out, in one pure moment of release of his sadness, albeit brief, yet so powerfully so. Still he shows the man trying so hard to hold it together, and the simple release of it even so briefly, is cathartic even by expressing his sadness with still this expression of love as he smiles at her, even as he tries so hard to hold back the tears. Mendelsohn showing both the smile and the tears to be absolutely real. I adore this amazing performance by Ben Mendelsohn, It is such an eloquent balancing act by Mendelsohn. This as he not only makes the central conceit entirely convincing, which is not an easy pill to swallow on the surface, he makes it something truly poignant and impactful. This as he makes this a wholly honest and utterly devastating portrait of a father trying desperately to hold in his pain, to ease his daughter's own.