Best Supporting Actor 2013: Results

5. Bradley Cooper in American Hustle- Cooper both underplays and overplays his performance. He is often overshadowed by his co-stars, yet when he tries to be flamboyant he randomly overacts wildly.

Best Scene: Richie is taken off the case.

4.
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club- Jared Leto gives a moving performance with just the right amount of flamboyance, even if I would say he is slightly overshadowed by his co-star.

Best Scene: Rayon visits his father.

3. Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street- Hill gives a fine performance throughout his film offering the right humor within his grotesque character, but leaving enough nuance in there to avoid becoming only a caricature. 

Best Scene: Lemmon Quaaludes.

2. Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave - Fassbender gives a vicious depiction of his character's brutality, but he as well gives compelling portrayal of the attitude of the day to day slave owner.

Best Scene: The whipping scene.

1. Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips- Well this year for me came down to the two villains, and what I love about both Abdi and Fassbender's performance is although they are both very effectively in depicting their character's behavior but they also find what is behind this behavior. Barkhad Abdi, even though it is his film debut, gives a very assured performance in which he makes a dangerous villain, but as well a moving portrayal of a desperate man.

Best Scene: "Maybe in America Irish"

Best Supporting Actor 2013: Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Jared Leto won his Oscar from his first Oscar nomination for portraying Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club.

Jared Leto plays the role of a homosexual who wants a sex change, who has AIDS, who is dying and  is drug addict as well. He has all that going on but he is actually the supporting character to the main story about the individualistic Ron Woodroof played by Matthew McConaughey who tries to fight against his own diagnosis by trying every drug to help his condition even though they are not supported by the FDA. Leto in a way reminded me of John Lithgow's Oscar nominated performance in The World According to Garp. In both films the main protagonist is at first repulsed by them, but slowly they act as a very supportive element within the film.

For much of the film Rayon back up Ron and acts as his sidekick of sorts as they run a business of selling unapproved drugs to HIV patients, while they use the money to survive and research new way to fight off the virus. Leto's is very good in not overplaying the obvious flamboyance of his character. Leto makes Rayon a peculiar sort most definitely, but everything he does in his creation of Rayon feels wholly natural. Leto handles his accent especially well in playing both Rayon attempt to sound like a woman while actually having a slight Texan accent as well. Leto finds his tone by definitely having the flamboyance to Rayon, but never letting it overwhelm the character.

Leto  is very good in being the supportive presence in the film to McConaughey's more confrontational portrayal of Woodruff. Leto and McConaughey have a terrific chemistry in the film in creating this friendship between two extremely different people. Leto is very good in being the warmer of the two who always seems to be trying to be cheerful in at least some sort of way, while as well being the far more fearful of the two. Leto balances the two qualities beautifully in his depiction of Rayon that plays off McConaughey's performance very effectively. Importantly as well though Leto does have just the right bit of snark in showing that, even though they have found a common cause, there definitely is a disconnect between Ron and Rayon.

Leto here also did remind me of William Hurt's greatest, and Oscar winning, performance in Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Both are very troubled souls who seem to find solace in their choice of clothing, although Hurt's Molina only occasionally wore them where Leto's Rayon wears feminine clothing in every scene but one. Rayon has more problems than just his virus as he consistently takes drugs even if that makes less and less likely that he will live for very long. Leto is very moving in portraying Rayon as an individual who basically wants to live, seen in his attempts to be cheery, yet knows that he is not going to, shown in his fear that only grows stronger as his health begins to decline more and more.

Jared Leto's best scene actually though is when he drops any of his Rayon mannerisms, as well as the dresses when Rayon goes to see his father in an attempt to try to help keep the Dallas Buyers Club going. Leto's performance is excellent in this scene as he shows the unease of Rayon out of his usual element. There is more than that though as Leto suggests Rayon's uncomfortable and troubled life with his father before he ever came in contact with Woodruff. Leto is terrific in this scene as there is nothing really cheery about Rayon here and he allows for the fear to more fully overwhelm him, and Leto expresses not only how much that Rayon does not want to die, but how much he wants to live as well.

If I have a complaint, and it's not really so much about Leto, is that the impact of his performance is somewhat diminished by Ron Woodroof's story. This is particularly true in Leto's last scenes that are very abrupt, since they are tailored made more in regards to creating conflict in Woodroof's story rather than giving Rayon a proper sendoff as a character. Unlike Fassbender and Abdi who I felt stood toe to toe with the lead performances they supported in every scene they, I did feel that Leto at times was overshadowed slightly by Matthew McConaughey's leading work. I do not want to sound dismissive toward Leto's performance though in anyway as his portrayal of Rayon is a remarkable piece of acting which finds the humanity within his character's flamboyant exterior.

Best Supporting Actor 2013: Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips

Barkhad Abdi received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Abduwali Muse in Captain Phillips.

Captain Phillips is an effective thriller about the hijacking of a cargo ship by Somali pirates. I would say though it drags a bit once it gets to the lifeboat.

Most of the notable first time film actors nominated in this category tend to be in extremely sympathetic roles like Haing S. Ngor in The Killing Fields or Harold Russell in The Best Years of Our Lives, but that is not exactly the case with Barkhad Abdi in this film. Barkhad Abdi plays the head of the group of four pirates who decide to try to make money by attacking the ship run by Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks). The film is about the two captains Phillips of the cargo ship, and Muse who runs his own boat. Abdi is almost co-lead with Hanks in this film as it does bother to show him before the hijacking and even gives him perspective beforehand as he chooses his men then chooses to proceed with his plan.

Muse is definitely a villain in the film as he does shoot at, and threaten to kill people to make his money, but the film does show where he is coming from. It allows you to sympathize with him if you choose to, which is one of the strengths of the film. Abdi does not necessarily play him in an overly sympathetic way actually, even if Muse's desperation is an essential part of the film. Abdi plays the part correctly from the begging as he is a pirate who plans on making money no matter what even if it means hurting people. In his early scenes Abdi plays Muse as a bit of the silent gangster and is effective in conveying his underlying determination to get on Phillips's ship even with resistance from both Phillips's and his crew as well as many hesitations from fellow Pirates.

When Muse and his men finally infiltrate the ship and confront the Captain Abdi is brilliant in his magnetic portrayal of Muse in the scene. Abdi plays it as a bit of an act, although an act in the character of Muse. Abdi makes the right distinction in his performance as Muse basically tries to act as the very calm and cool leader of the men, who will not be taken as a fool by Phillips. Abdi is great because there is the performance in him of wanting to be considered the man in charge with his delivery of "I'm the Captain Now" which is flawlessly handled by Abdi. Abdi makes Muse the Pirate who definitely should be taken seriously, but at the same time he suggests that this is in an underlying way that this is not exactly who Muse truly is, rather it is his way of trying to control the situation.

After Muse's attempt in controlling the ship goes far worse than he would have hoped, and instead decides to kidnap only Phillips aboard the cargo ship's lifeboat, and attempt to get some ransom somehow. Abdi is terrific in portraying how his failure to take the ship has hit Muse very hard. Abdi rightfully drops Muse attempting to be in control and effectively begins to show the desperation in the man instead. At this point Abdi suggests he really does not have have any point for the act, and instead just tries to lead his men while it slowly becomes obvious that his plan is going to fail. Abdi matches Tom Hanks in terms of his realistic reactions as the tension increases. Abdi is exceptional in portraying Muse slowly failing attempt to control his men as well as Phillips.

As his plan only seems to become worse as they are surrounded by the U.S. navy Abdi is rather moving in his portrayal of Muse attempt to rationalize still going further with the plan. Abdi is great because he shows the effort as Muse tries to keep on a brave face in face of an obvious defeat and there is such sadness, although a properly restrained form of it, in Abdi's delivery of the line ""I go too far, Irish". Abdi shows that Muse really does know he's been defeated but this pride and desperation will not allow him to admit, so he keeps attempting to keep a brave face. There is even such a tragedy as Abdi still gives off the faint confidence as Muse claims that he will probably get millions from his plan which will allow him to be rich in America. 

Abdi's very best scene though comes in a trade off in philosophy between the two Captains as Phillips tries to ask Muse if this course of action was all that Muse could have really done with his life. Abdi fully realizes the desperation in Muse in this scene as there is such a resignation in his words as he basically tells Phillips that he believes there was no other option for him to take. Abdi vividly portrays the state of the man and alludes to his history of Somalia where he likely found very few other ideas other than piracy, and further controlled by his elders who he refers to as his bosses. Abdi's performance of this scene shows the depth of this man as more than just simply a man trying to make money, but rather a series of circumstances that have brought him to this place. 

Barkhad Abdi despite this being his screen debut gives a very assured performance. Abdi creates an fascinating character out Muse, by never overplaying an aspect of it. The part could have easily been played as just a constantly angry pirate, or he actually also could have been played as overly somber to gain sympathy. Abdi's performance rises above any of that because he creates a fuller portrait of Muse. He makes Muse the villain he should be with the right intensity suggesting the danger his character does present for Phillips, but he as well manages to show what makes this man the danger he is, which is definitely not simplistic evil. Barkhad Abid gives a great performance as Abduwali Muse, and succeeds, along with the writing, in bringing a greater complexity to this story.

Best Supporting Actor 2013: Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave

Michael Fassbender received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Edwin Epps in 12 Years a Slave.

This film marks Michael Fassbender's third collaboration with director Steve McQueen, although it is first time he is in a supporting role, and the first time that he has found himself Oscar nominated for his performance. Fassbender plays Edwin Epps the second owner of the kidnapped former freeman Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Where Solomon's first owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) showed at least signs of being a decent man, there is no such luxury when it comes to Edwin Epps the cotton plantation owner. In our first glimpse of Epps we see him reading scripture and claiming that the passage gives him the absolute right to whip any of his slaves if they do not serve him as he sees fit.

Plantation owners tend to be portrayed a certain way usually as the southern gentleman who wishes to be charming but is truly a brute, that is the way Leonardo DiCaprio played such a man in Django Unchained for example. Micheal Fassbender takes a completely different route in his portrayal of Edwin Epps who is anything but charming. Epps, in terms of the writing, is not an extremely complicated man. It is very easy to see how he could have easily been portrayed as an one note brute who just goes from one terrible act to another. Fassbender avoids such a path in his depiction of Epps. Fassbender attempts to find a little more to the man when he has a chance, but as well gives a very interesting portrayal of the man's actions throughout the film.

As is usually the case for Fassbender, this is a very physical performance, and Fassbender does a great deal to create Epps through his movements. Fassbender doesn't make Epps a gentleman, but instead often presents him to be man-child. This is especially well shown in the way he interacts with the slaves from moment to moment. Fassbender never looks at them really in the eyes nor does he position himself in a man to man fashion. Fassbender instead always plays it as Epps is constantly looking down them as if they were animals rather than people. Fassbender goes even further with this point in the way he speaks, and will be even strangely casual, like when he leads on one slaves head. Fassbender shows that Epps does not just say they are his property, he believes it.

One of the qualities behind the man that Fassbender suggests is that his slaves have made him a truly idle man. Fassbender is pretty brilliant in how he shows Epps to be just one lazy man. Fassbender often has him lying around watching everyone else do the work, there is often a sense of malaise in the man. Fassbender rightly is not always the barking monster as working with the slaves is a day to day life style for him, to always be a villain would just be too much effort. Fassbender realizes the results of a man with too much power over others by portraying how the man himself has been formed. The one scene Fassbender plays as Epps absolutely invested is the cotton counting, which makes perfect sense as Epps definitely cares about his money.

There is of course Epps's relationship with his slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) who he constantly praises, rapes, and even states that he prefers her over his wife (Sarah Paulson). Fassbender again derives the complexities of Epps's treatment of her. Fassbender portrays it in the cotton counting as almost a man priding over his best horse. When he rapes her though Fassbender does not just show it to be lust, although there is plenty of that to go around, there is a conflict in him. Fassbender gives a sense that Epps loves her, but fights within himself as he does completely see slaves as his property. Fassbender makes sense of his disjointed behavior as he is man who fights within himself as he can't quite comprehend exactly how to handle his situation.

Now past all that, the part he is most there to fulfill is to be the personification of the brutality of slavery. Fassbender is brilliant here because he actually shows the day to day of the everyday slaver. Epps dishes out whippings on a daily bases, and Fassbender shows it as just business as usual. Fassbender makes the daily routine in the way changes from scene to scene in a way one would expect from a man who really does not know what to do with himself, and in all truth is very immature. Fassbender, through this unpredictability, makes the threat of Epps all the greater. Fassbender is terrific in his drunken moments as he bluntly makes Epps a bad drunk. Fassbender becomes a slob who basically trips on himself, but a slob to be feared as might kill in such a daze.

There is one particular chilling moment where he interrogates Solomon. Fassbender plays Epps as a calm and controlled here, as the situation does technically involve money again. Fassbender builds the tension well by keeping Epps again so very casual in his style as he talks to Solomon in almost a slightly warm fashion, yet oh so well conveying that murderous hint in the man. This is very different from his inebriated scenes but Fassbender connects the pieces properly and makes every behavior natural to his Epps. This includes even one brief moment where Epps is about to whip Patsey. Fassbender is incredible in just one moment expressing that conflict in the man. It is a striking moment as Fassbender does give Epps the tiniest hint of humanity. Fassbender gives it a real power though by bringing such an intensity as Epps must force himself to believe his philosophy to get over his moment of hesitation.

Michael Fassbender's work here is being taken for granted I think. Edwin Epps technically just needed to be a vicious character who just acts vicious for awhile until he exits the film. Fassbender certainly does that with a great ferocity as he does not hold back making it to the point of Epps's inherited mentality. Fassbender though goes further with his performance though. Fassbender depicts Epps as an evil man, and there is no question about that, but he actually in part alludes to where some of this comes from within him. His Epps is not just brutal because he's a bad man, although I must stress again that is definitely true, but he is a bad man who's behavior comes in part from environment that has taught him and turned him a certain way. Fassbender's performance is tremendous as he realizes the slave owner for all that he is, and turn makes this great film all the stronger.

Best Supporting Actor 2013: Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street

Jonah Hill received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Donnie Azoff in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Jonah Hill somehow has managed a second Oscar nomination after his suitable enough but unimpressive performance in Moneyball. In that film Hill played the right hand man to Brad Pitt's Billy Beane who wished to streamline his baseball team, Hill this time plays the right hand man to Leonard DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort who wishes to streamline the stock market to make as much money as possible whether or not it happens to be ill gotten gains. Donnie Azoff of The Wolf of Wall Street is a far cry from Peter Brand in Moneyball. After all the first thing we really learn about Donnie is that he married his own first cousin because he believed he should be the one to have sex with her, soon afterwards he decides to smoke crack, and really we just keep going from there.

Hill certainly does more than he did in Moneyball which begins right with his creation of Donnie. He plays the part with a somewhat course voice in attempt to play a certain kind of businessman of the period. It almost seems like he is trying to play the part as perhaps Joe Pesci would have if the film had been made exactly when it occurred. Now I could see Joe Pesci in this part easily and he probably would have been absolutely brilliant. Well Jonah Hill is no Joe Pesci, and Jonah Hill attempting to be Joe Pesci does not come anything close to Joe Pesci, that does not mean he is bad though. Hill wears the accent well enough and he does get into his character, and does become part of tapestry of debauchery as he should.

Donnie Azoff basically seems to be the worst of the worst among their group of men who decide to try about everything they can with the money they have. The story of Donnie is mainly being as disgusting as possible without a bit of shame in it. Whether it is using prostitutes, taking loads of drugs, or eating the fish of a poor guy of a guy who wasn't focused enough, he does it without blinking an eye, well unless of course the drugs make it hard to keep one's eye open. Hill again does well enough in these scenes as he does throw himself into them with a great energy, and properly conveys just how much joy Donnie gets from his own antics. Hill's portrayal of these antics though are just not ever nearly as memorable as Leonard DiCaprio's portrayal, although the reason for that is for another time.

There is a little bit more to old Donnie than just when he ingests into his body though. There are scenes of Azoff actually doing the job of trying to make money. Hill is pretty good at being the obnoxious hustler, and does the purposefully overdone salesman speak correctly. He's of course very annoying, but I will grant him that is the point of his character. There is a little more though when Donnie comes down a little from the various substances he is abusing, and stops abusing other people. The businessman in a rather precarious position is well handled as he tones down Donnie in the right way. This bringing the appropriate nuance within the near "monster" of a strange sort that we see in the general comedic portrayal.

There are a few questions that need to be answered in regard to this performance. Does it make it less egregious that Jonah Hill has more Oscar nominations than Toshiro Mifune, Donald Sutherland, Richard Attenborough (in acting), Guy Pearce, Ewan McGregor, and Brendan Gleeson combined? The answer is no. Is he the best supporting actor in the film? No once again, certainly not over Matthew McConaughey's brilliant almost one scene wonder or Jean Dujardin or Kyle Chandler. Is he consistently overshadowed by Leonardo DiCaprio's performance and Martin Scorsese's direction? The answer is yes. Could someone else have been better in the role? Yes. Is it a more than decent performance with good enough moments? I would say yes to that too.

Best Supporting Actor 2013: Bradley Cooper in American Hustle

Bradley Cooper received his second Oscar nomination for portraying FBI Agent Richard "Richie" DiMaso in American Hustle.

Bradley Cooper has found himself once again nominated after his lead nomination for his previous collaboration with David O. Russell in Silver Linings Playbook. Cooper, rightfully, turned some heads with his earlier performance proving himself quite capable in a dramatic role, and more than just a face. Apparently Silver Linings Playbook may have brought him too much acclaim as his performance in this film is that of a man who believes himself to be an infallible actor, but in reality he is quite a fallible fellow. This is not helped by the way Russell directs American Hustle which is to try to give his actors as many Oscar scenes as possible even if they make little sense in context to the plot of the film or even really the character.

The role of FBI agent Richie DiMaso, at least on paper, seems to be quite a meaty role. He is the man catches who catches the con artists Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) and Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), he comes up with the scheme to use them to catch corrupt politicians, he gets his ambitious arc, and he even is allowed to be the villain of sorts of the film as the power of his position goes to his head. Well Cooper here simultaneously falls short and goes over board with his character. It is an odd combination and it seems perhaps the praise of Cooper's last perhaps went to his head, as Cooper's performance here seems like that of a man who believes he can do no wrong. 

It is rather odd how Cooper's work plays as much of the time he just seems rather boring. There is a distinct lack of ambition in this overly ambitious man at times. Cooper delivers his lines, but there is not the drive there to really suggest a man trying to make a name for himself. He is often upstaged by his co-stars including Amy Adams(who I'm not crazy about either), Christian Bale, and especially Louis C.K. in their scenes together, there is strange lack of passion at times as he does things in the basest of ways. This is also the case for another kind of passion, the first time Adams's character makes a suggestive remark to him, Cooper's reaction is terrible in that there is no power in his lust yet he still comes off like a teenager rather than a grown man.

Cooper oddly downplays too much yet overplays his part too, a combination you don't want. There is no method to this attempted madness as he will be thoroughly uninteresting in a scene then at the end of it will make a bizarrely over the top face to end the scene. The first I think of is his first scene with Louis C.K. as his superior at the FBI and Cooper goes through the scene in a very to the point fashion without any spice or surprise to be found in either his voice or facial expressions. Then at the very end of the scene Cooper decides that the natural end of the screen should be contort his face to a most unnatural expression. There is purpose to this expression but it certainly is distracting especially since Cooper does this in a few other scenes as well.

Cooper's performance lacks the rhyme or reason for the randomness of whether he will play a scene straight and dull or as if he is some mad dog. I have to say there seemed to be something missing from this character, something that would cause him to be so erratic, like a cocaine addiction for example. I'm very serious about this point as it almost seems like they thought of doing it but wrote it out as it was already pretty hard to believe that Richie wouldn't be fired for his antics. There one scene in particular where Richie is marching to confront Sydney and I could swear Cooper was playing it as if he was DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, since no cocaine is involved though Cooper's acting is excessive just for the sake of it (on re-watch I noticed a brief cutaway where he snorts something, but if it is suppose to be an influence on his behavior one would think they'd establish it better). It's only made worse because as usual he drops that choice suddenly without explanation.

I'm just going to say it, everything is off about Cooper's performance here. In his portrayal of Richie's lust it seems no existent in one scene then it is all that consumes him as he wildly moves around to suggest his uncontrollable frustrations. In his portrayal of Richie's rise of power there is no charisma to Richie as he builds himself up so when he gets broken down the satisfaction is a bit lost. Richie as a villain is an utter failure too because Cooper only suddenly tries some menace for one scene and in that one scene he tries to hard frankly. It should be from the ambition that menace is derived, but Cooper's method is the unremarkable version where Richie just feels like being a real jerk for just that scene. Don't worry though he'll be exceptionally calm because Richie's quad-polar or something.

You know it really I would not mind the randomness if Cooper was at least entertaining with his decisions, but his ACTING here flounders badly. It is painfully self aware in style and he fails to even be funny despite obviously wanting to be in several scenes. If Cooper had been funny this still would not be a great performance, as it would still be a disjointed mess, but I would have liked if there had been at least scenes of something worthwhile. A mess it is but not in the way that I assume was intended. I could easily see a performance that could have brought some of these elements together to make Richie into a brilliant mess that should have had the through line of his growing ambition, but Cooper forgets to bring the right stabilizing factor to his characterization.

It is a shame that Bradley Cooper was nominated for this film as it would be an even bigger shame if he ever gives a performance like this again, and fails to remember what he did right with his previous Oscar nominated performance. This is very far from one of the best supporting performances of the year, firstly because he is not good, secondly because you could easily make an argument that he is co-lead with Bale, and thirdly because he is not even the best supporting performance in the film. Louis C.K. and Robert De Niro are better in their limited time, and if the Academy wanted recognize someone it should have been Jeremy Renner for his heartfelt turn as a politician who believes that the ends justify the means. Renner's performance feels like a real man throughout the film. Renner took his brief time to find the substance of his character and give a moving portrait of a flawed politician, Cooper's took his ample time to give a pointlessly flashy and shallow performance that seems to try for a few too many yuks. 

Best Supporting Actor 2013

And the Nominees Are:

Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips

Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave

Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street

Bradley Cooper in American Hustle