Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1990: Fred Ward in Miami Blues

Fred Ward did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Sgt. Hoke Moseley in Miami Blues.

Miami Blues is a strong sorta comedic movie about a criminal who pretends to be a cop while romancing a prostitute. Although I can appreciate a unique effort, I didn't really enjoy it. 

Character Fred Ward plays the cop who is kind of after Alec Baldwin’s Frederick J. Frenger Jr. despite being a less than reliable sort himself. I have enjoyed some of Ward’s character actor bits in the past however his rare leading turn from 1990 in Henry & June wasn’t particularly impressive. He probably is more at home here in coming occasionally into the film as the man sort of on Junior’s trail rather than leading the whole film. Ward, in his early scenes, though has the same challenge that Baldwin struggles with here and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Junior’s prostitute eventual girlfriend does more than decently with, which is the film’s off-beat tone. It wants to be funny despite dealing with crime and violence. The problem is it isn’t I didn't find it terribly funny just more of weird and not in a way that I found all that engaging or endearing. Ward’s performance within the film I think is largely fine when we just need him to say a gruff line or two and be generally sloppy as the cop who is far from a professional himself. It’s supposed to be a bit funny I think, Ward’s not overly but he’s not actively unfunny either I guess. Ward comes in and he’s fine as very much being the general ramshackle cop type. I don’t think he makes a memorable impression in truly fashioning something unexpected that makes the tone sing by any means. He becomes slightly more interesting when he directly interacts with Leigh as the Sergeant is trying to learn more. Ward fashions a phony charm as he tries to get more info from her, and he is entirely alright is finding a bit of smarmy charm. I found noting exceptional in Ward’s performance, but he delivers on the basic requirements. Eventually there is a showdown between the cop and the criminal where the Sergeant bests junior. Ward brings a dogged intensity in the scene that is fine in selling that moment even if it doesn’t add up to too much. Then he has a button moment where suddenly the sloppy Sergeant is beaming with confidence after having vanquished his foe particularly compared to the tired over the hill guy we saw before. Ward again presents the switch to the stronger posture and a big smile effectively enough, but still not overly memorable. Ward gives a performance in this film that I thought certainly existed. It isn’t bad, I didn't find it especially remarkable, it’s fine. 

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1990: Jon Polito in Miller's Crossing

Jon Polito did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Giovanni “Johnny Caspar” Gasparo in Miller’s Crossing.

A funny thing that can occur with a character actor is that you sometimes mistakenly believe them just to be that character they are most famous for or the style of performance. Polito falls into such a strange situation, though probably helped by the fact I’m guessing a lot of later directors might’ve asked him to “do Johnny Caspar” because of how distinctive his delivery and manner is here, that isn’t at all how Polito actually speaks or even moves around. Polito constructs such a unique character for the character of Johnny Caspar, the Italian gangster who gives the opening speech of the film. What Polito’s performance essentially is doing is creating the contrast between what Caspar wants to be taken as to what he is, which is more than a weight deficit between those elements. Polito very much does not choose to emphasize a tough guy gangster type nor the cold businessman, but rather portrays the falsehood that Caspar is trying to create. Polito’s screeching voice, his beetle like movements, they both are revealing of an innately pathetic man, yet behind all of that is the passion of someone who demands to be treated seriously as an honest threat. 

In the opening speech we get the whiplash of Caspar’s perspective of himself as he first delivers a long speech about how he thinks things should go in the underworld where he states his need that everyone follows certain ethics, albeit criminal ethics, and someone who cheats those ethics, bookie Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) be killed for violating that code by not abiding by how fight fixes should go. I love the rhythm of Polito’s speech where at first he does get into a somewhat believable directness of a proper gangster albeit still somewhat of a put on, however as a man who can help himself, he starts festering with rage over Bernie giving his hand away completely as the man who desperately wants to be taken seriously as a force to be reckoned with yet can’t quite fit the part. When head Irish gangster Leo (Albert Finney) disregards his desire to abide by “ethics”, Polito loses it more though with this very specific way of trying to adhere to this certain command yet just letting the rage seep out again and again. I especially adore his delivery of “I’m sick of getting the high hat”, as a man trying to be in some kind of control it yet seething with a uncontrolled desperation for what he wants to achieve yet is denied. 

Polito presents Caspar as a man, an Italian, who basically wants to be in charge of the world, as he sees it, presents himself as capable of it through his approach to the criminal world, yet just like his American name versus Italian name, it is very much a facade. That isn’t to say Caspar isn’t powerful or dangerous, he is, but in a way his power and danger comes from that degree of instability created by the facade that Polito reveals so effectively in every choice he makes throughout his performance. A performance which needs to be said is also very much in creating the strange nature of the man, a strange nature that feels consistent within Polito’s performance. You take any moment with Leo’s right hand Tom (Gabriel Byrne), who Caspar wants to switch sides, where everything is about glad-handing the man he respects. Polito’s wonderful though in the way his glad-handing is so phony in how over the top it is, and correctly so because if need be Caspar has no scruples of having Tom either beaten or even killed at times. All of those are merely un-pleasantries however which Polito again plays as a hand wave as though it isn’t something major to Caspar in his warped perception. A common element, and one random aside I love is Caspar’s advice to get a cold shave where Polito delivers such certainty, such stupid certainty, that it is the best kind of shave as though he is this genius man about town, rather than just a fool pretending he is one. 

The strength of this performance is fitting to the Coen Brothers which is the success of idiosyncrasy. There are no gangster performances quite like Polito in this film, it is entirely its own beast yet works in his own particular way. Where we have actually a pretty fascinating juxtaposition where the “heroes” of the film are the ones who are scheming and making choices just based on personal wants, everything Caspar does show that he does genuinely believe in his ethics, which quick aside Polito’s way of delivering that alone deserves special mention as a gold bit of performance gold, despite his ethics being that of a criminal. His “honesty” makes him a prime target for Tom’s manipulations by making Caspar think his right-hand man Eddie Dane (J.E. Freeman) is betraying him. That prodding results in some excellent reactions by Polito where you see his mind trying to comprehend the idea, first with a quick disbelief then the nagging frustration and eventually that rage against a betrayal of ethics. The rage scene is a terrific moment from Polito because you see again that limited facade break as Polito looks like a bursting pressure cooker as he goes about killing his most loyal man and even loudly proclaims the importance of putting “one in the brain” as a grandiose gesture. Polito makes it this great explosion of that rage of being given the high hat that very much defines him where his attempted “wisdom” of killing this time is delivered as the ravings of a violent madman that Caspar fundamentally is deep down. Jon Polito delivers a truly great performance as he creates a wholly new take on essentially a well worn “genre” of a character. Polito creating a dynamic portrait of a man who knows all the required notes to play the part of boss but maybe doesn't know how to play them. 

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1990

And the Nominees Were Not:

Brad Dourif in The Exorcist III

 

Fred Ward in Miami Blues

Bob Hoskins in Mermaids

 

Jon Polito in Miller's Crossing

 

Thomas F. Wilson in Back to the Future Part III 

Alternate Best Actor 1990: Results

10. Jacky Cheung in Bullet in the Head - I unfortunately I found Leung progressively less convincing as the film went on. 

 

Best Scene: Arriving at the wedding.  

9. Al Pacino in The Godfather Part III - Pacino has some good scenes throughout unfortunately he's saddled with a script that doesn't do Michael justice for the most part.

 

Best Scene: Confession. 

8. Robin Williams in Awakenings - Williams gives a modest and moving portrayal of a caring doctor that better sells the sentiment of the film than anyone else. 

 

Best Scene: Discovering the first awakening.  

 

7. Danny Glover in To Sleep With Anger - Glover gives an effectively unnerving portrayal of a man who seems to only speak in poison. 

 

Best Scene: Conversation about his past.  

 

6. John Lone in Shadow of China - Lone consistently elevates his inconsistent material, convincingly playing both the cold businessman his character is and the caring revolutionary he used to be. 

 

Best Scene: Reunion.  

5. Wojciech Pszoniak in Korczak - Pszoniak offers a moving portrayal of a man who adamantly gives warmth and decency in the most cold and indecent of times.  

 

Best Scene: Long march. 

 

4. Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder - Robbins manages to balance the tones of his film effectively by portraying both a sense of the real horror and a genuine emotional pathos. 

 

Best Scene: The ladder.  

 

3. Nicolas Cage in Wild At Heart - Cage wonderfully goes out on a limb that quite effectively matches the eccentricity of his director. 

 

Best Scene: Injured motorist.  

2. Jason Patric - After Dark, My Sweet - Patric gives a great performance that manages to so convincingly portray the truly damaged psyche of his character in so many different compelling ways. 

 

Best Scene: Ending.  

 

1. Gabriel Byrne in Miller's Crossing -  Good prediction Brazinterma, Robert & Shaggy, Byrne gives a brilliant portrayal of every different side of his Tom, the real, the fake, and the often in-between. 

 

Best Scene:  "What heart?"

Updated Overall

 

Next: 1990 Supporting 

Alternate Best Actor 1990: John Lone in Shadow of China

John Lone did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Henry in Shadow of China.

Shadow of China follows a former revolutionary who had to flee to Hong Kong whose life is upended again as his old love from that time comes back into his life, meanwhile, China itself is going through the attempted democracy reform movement that ended in the Tienanmen Square massacre. 

John Lone plays Henry whom we first meet near the end of the end of the cultural revolution where he must flee with his seeming fellow idealist and potential romantic partner Moo-Ling (Vivian Wu). This first sequence is indicative of the rest of the film where the setting and ideas are interesting yet you always wish it would dive a bit deeper and a bit more effectively. Here we’re in a rush to separate the pair to set up the present day story without nearly enough time establishing them in their young relationship and in their time as more revolutionary sorts. Lone is good in the scene in playing the lack of confidence of a scared younger man where the fixation is on survival, something only shaken by his anguish for really the death of any hopes of revolution. Lone conveys that quickly along with just a bit of ardent, uncomplicated, sincerity in his chemistry with Wu in this sequence. Lone is good but the film doesn’t truly let him explore this version of Henry beyond a basic setup point. Lone delivers on that, makes us believe the plight for the few minutes we’re in it, but we’re gone very quickly. Lone does what he can but what he can do is only so much. 

We then flash forward to the present day where we find Henry now a powerful Hong Kong businessman. Lone of course excels with this new type of Henry, and does very much bring that powerful presence we saw earlier in Year of the Dragon. Although a key difference is the level of darkness that Lone brings here. Henry is a bit lighter overall but Lone has that dominating quality within his work. He just has that strength of presence where you sense the power innately of Henry and Lone also just controls scenes with such natural ease. Lone nicely avoids being one note as well as we briefly have a flirtatious moment with his white girlfriend where Lone pretends it’s a business call. Lone so naturally switches to a different color of still that dominating power but with just the right undercurrent of playfulness in every delivery where you can sense the flirt even as he is pretending otherwise. That is in contrast to the pure businessman moments, where we soon learn that Henry isn’t just a legitimate businessman either, where Lone brings such sharpness in his eyes of a man truly looking for essentially the killer stroke to become a more powerful man in the world. 

Henry’s ambitions are complicated when Moo-Ling comes back into his life along with her companion Akira, a Japanese journalist. Lone is great in any scene with Wu in playing so naturally the layers of Henry in this situation. As his physical manner eases up away from the calculating businessman, his eyes are a bit wider, he’s altogether more expressive and from it all you instantly are granted a sense of the old love between them. When the conversation ever turns to the changes Henry has undergone, Lone is excellent in the way you see the shield of that man quickly reestablish itself right within his delivery that goes from warm and loving to cold and exact. Lone though is so great in the way then he brings an in-between smile of Henry catching himself and trying to still be the old Henry she knew even as you see him in his mind working that tension all the same. The chemistry between the two is remarkable as you are granted such a natural sense of the connection do share but also that specific separation between Henry who has become a far more cynical man against Moo-Ling who still has those old idealistic beliefs that once brought them together and apart. 

The film’s progress is a little repetitive as we go from Henry moving in a dark path of power but broken apart with Moo-Ling’s optimism as well as her friend Akira who becomes keenly aware of the real nature of Henry’s business. Going back and forth between the two in a way that never quite goes deep enough in either. Lone however stays captivating as he can be within the limitations of the scenes he’s working with regardless. We get for example a great scene, for Lone, where he controls an auction where the power exuding off of Lone is unquestionable as there is such an incisiveness  in his eyes and every delivery has such innate yet wholly effortless force about it. Lone dominates with such ease that frankly reminded me a bit of Pacino in The Godfather Part II, unfortunately he’s not working with even half as good of a script. I found the ending in particular sloppy where spoilers Moo-Ling is killed during a gun fight between Henry and his rivals, then essentially Henry is fully reformed and gives a hopeful promise about a new revolution. It all feels a little rushed to say the least. I’ll give credit to Lone in that he conveys the initial conflict within himself with emotional nuance in their final conversation then his reaction to her death is heartbreaking enough to convey it maybe as the reason for the fairly swift reform. A reform that is at least sold well because Lone’s final firm hopeful delivery is truly great. Unfortunately the power of all it is a bit diluted because the writing makes it all so spotty. Lone delivers a very good performance that elevates everything he’s working with, I just wish he had to do a bit less elevating overall.