Alternate Best Actor 2017: Results

5. Josh Brolin in Only the Brave - Brolin gives a consistently good portrayal of a firefighter insistent on the importance of his duty. 

Best Scene: Final fight with wife. 

4. Kamel El Basha in The Insult - Although slightly limited by the narrative El Basha finds nuance and humanity beyond the symbol the screenplay sometimes forces him into. 

Best Scene: The apology. 

3. Vladimir Brichta in Bingo: The King of the Mornings - Brichta goes all in bringing an intense and dynamic energy even if the film doesn't always give him the best path to take. 

Best Scene: Removing the makeup. 

2. Jamie Bell in Films Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - Bell has one of the least interesting parts in this lineup making him all the more impressive through the nuance he consistently finds throughout. 

Best Scene: Final goodbye. 

1. Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really There - Good predictions Ytrewq, Jonathan, Marcus, A, Luke, Anonymous, Tim, Matt, John Smith, Robert, Razor, RatedRStar, Calvin,Tahmeed, Emi, Shaggy & Harris. Phoenix gives an understated yet intensely powerful portrayal of a man defined by violence in a very particular way. 

Best Scene: The water. 

Updated Overall

Next: 2017 Supporting

Note: I will be updating other rankings later as I want to re-watch a few films first. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Vladimir Brichta in Bingo: The King of the Mornings

Vladimir Brichta did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Augusto Mendes in Bingo: The King of the Mornings. 

Bingo King of the Mornings follows the unlikely trajectory of an aspiring actor, doing softcore pornos, becoming the star of a hit children’s clown tv show. 

Vladmir Brichta plays Augusto the actor where the film opens with almost a kind of Safdie brothers like intensity as we follow him to try to get out of his particularly humble beginnings. Brichta approaches the role with a fundamental truth behind Augusto as a man who is destined for greatness, or at least he believes him. Something we see as we open the film where he is spending time with his young son just before a porn shoot. Where Brichta plays the moment with his son, towards his less than appealing job, as a hype up moment where Brichta presents not as delusions of grandeur rather this self-motivation method to a certain kind of madness of someone insisting that he'll be big. Brichta undercuts it with just a glance here or there before the hype up, showing that at this point he’s not there, but with the conviction of a man who just knows he’ll be there somehow. Where we quickly see one opportunity through a tv show, and one success of this performance is Brichta’s ability to modulate his performance per the performances of the character of Augusto. Obviously the softcore doesn’t require much of him, but in the brief tv show appearance, Brichta reinvents his presence to this very specific type of actor, where he comes across well but in a very specific alternative charisma than what we will eventually get as Bingo. Brichta effectively portrays the potential of the man as a performer, something that naturally carries to Brichta’s own performance. 

Brichta’s charisma he delivers here is very much attached to the drive of the man where in his eyes you see that insistence that he can do anything. Something that comes into play when he decides to audition for the new children’s program Bingo instead of the tv show. Where Brichta brings this predatory quality even as he darts towards this chance at fame even if it seems ill-fitting to his previous jobs in showbusiness. The intensity he delivers as he very nearly bites into the idea of the children’s clown denotes the need to find a path to his own fame. Where we see Augusto make his impression by not playing into the clown trope and in fact using inappropriate language for a children’s show, unheard by the English speaking studio bigwig, to get people to have a bigger reaction. Brichta’s approach, where this is almost an uncurrent of insanity in the “sell” of his Bingo, works though in the way there is just so much energy in his delivery, a specific chaotic energy of someone rolling with the madcap punches more than anything. Something that naturally extends to when he’s dealing with the sometimes unruly children of his show, where Brichta combines a big smile with also an often hectoring edge, but with just the right blend that he never quite becomes unbelievable, even if he is a bit more hostile than you’d expect a children’s clown to be. 

Within the world comes his fame, which initially is something that Augusto thrives with where Brichta plays into that drive now also into a self-satisfied ego, to the point of insisting he’ll easily have sex with the religious show producer Lúcia (Leandra Leal). Brichta continues the chaos with that same energy effectively though now with a bit more of a pompous stride. An element that becomes less clear for him when it becomes obvious that he cannot reveal his identity therefore limiting his actual exposure. Leading Brichta’s performance to blend that previous intensity that he used for his performance to become now this tipping towards vexing frustration. Something that Brichta effectively builds in his performance, along with moments out of makeup where you see him stewing in it against other moments of fantasizing of being able to reveal himself or have unexpected success with sex with Lúcia, neither of which happen. Unfortunately this leads me to the elements of the film which were less successful for me. One being his relationship with his son, who I’m sorry but came off as a prop to me. Other than the opening scene, I thought he was just kind of there. The other also being his fame obsessed mom, something that I also thought needed to go further. Although I think Brichta is good in showing the quiet consideration of the otherwise very blunt man to his mom, along with later his unconsolable desperation when she dies later. But even that transition seems rushed there that it doesn’t overall have the impact it should even if Brichta is certainly giving it his all. Additionally the whole path of frustration, along with his relationship with Lúcia have a lot of potential but just feel repetitive in the actual execution. Hitting the same beats too many times, and while Brichta I think remains good, I’ll admit Augusto becomes less and less interesting in every repeated bit. Brichta portrays this growing mania about him, but it never builds towards anything that is cathartic as either a failure or success…though the film paints it as all success in the end. Something that happens but it wasn’t something I felt in any profound way in terms of the realization of it in terms of the writing or direction. Brichta I never feel fails in his task but there is a certain limitation of the result, particularly in terms of his personal growth where the postscript suggests far more than we get. I will say however the moment of Augusto finally getting to wipe off his makeup, even if the build to it isn’t perfect, Brichta’s performance in isolation is moving in creating that sense of relief at finally getting the recognition he was waiting for in just the modest way he approaches the moment in each second of the reveal that he does end on a high note even if I don’t feel everything comes together in terms of the writing of Augusto’s/Bingo’s personal journey. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here

Joaquin Phoenix did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning CANNES, for portraying Joe in You Were Never Really Here.

You Were Never Really Here follows a hired gun as he gets involved with retrieving the kidnapped daughter of a state senator. 

Joaquin Phoenix is obviously an actor I have covered many times, and have covered him many times for playing men who are on some sort of extreme psychological edge. As Joe in this film this is yet another entry, yet an extremely unique entry within his oeuvre, and as I’ve written before, the great actor isn’t always about playing extremely different roles but rather finding compelling variation within similar roles. Within that idea Phoenix immediately crafts something quite different here as Joe than his earlier Freddie Quell or his later greatest hits rendition in Joker. It begins with his specific physicality and I will say while this is an expected element within Phoenix’s work in terms of an inclusion, it is completely different than expected in terms of execution. While Phoenix previously depicted Quell as the literally bent man unable to even physically stand like a healthy man, as Joe Phoenix reinvents that to create something I quite honestly wasn’t aware he could do, which is be physically intimidating. While Phoenix obviously bulked up for the role, it isn’t just that, rather the way he holds himself. Where Freddie was bent, here Phoenix reworks himself into that of essentially a lumbering brute, where all of the intensity he typically has is somehow all forced into himself as a singular shroud of protection. Phoenix wholly convinces at being someone you don’t want to reckon with, and while Phoenix has obviously been dangerous in other roles, it was usually as a live wire type situation, here, you can see him as a specific force. 

That brilliant physicality, which again just is wholly convincing and grants you something immediately new from Phoenix, it goes further as is common to Phoenix is a character dealing with trauma, but in this instance the reaction to that trauma is something quite a bit different. An overriding and callback to aspect of the character of Joe is his suicidal ideation, where throughout the film we see Joe play with methods of killing or harming himself. The film opens with a bag over his head to suffocate himself and soon afterwards, when visiting his elderly mother, he plays around potentially stabbing himself with a knife. Phoenix is incredibly disturbing in the way he handles these scenes, because there is no dramatic element to them either speaking towards intensity of the moment like say Riggs in Lethal Weapon, nor is it even say the way Freddie Quell is festering in his own anguish such as in the prison lash out scene from The Master. Rather Phoenix does something entirely differently by playing it as incredibly casually, which in terms is particularly off-putting. Phoenix portrays this unnerving comfort in Joe in these actions as though they are everyday occurrences for the man, because they are everyday occurrences. What Phoenix presents them as instead as his version, his very disturbing version, of playing with a stress ball, as he brings the same kind of matter of fact quality to these early moments, as a man who just uses that as part of his way of dealing with existence. 

There’s an idiosyncrasy within Phoenix’s approach here within his own turns but just performances in general, particularly within the revenge or vigilante genre. Phoenix makes Joe his own beast and even subverts your expectations of such a character in many ways. There is for example quite a bit of calm in his performance, and calm is usually something that denotes the badass in one way or another. While Joe has traits of such a type of character, the approach Phoenix takes ensures that you would never describe Joe as such. Part of it is the way this calm is more so the way he presents Joe as existing in his world as more so part of this near malaise of his existence that is burdened by unending trauma and violence. And in a way if you had a less intimate view of Joe, you could believe him as a badass when you see him interact with his liaisons, Phoenix delivers his lines with confidence of a man who knows the job and the routine. He has no questions or hesitations about it. Even when he goes about infiltrating the house where the senator’s daughter is being kept, Phoenix interrogates the runner for the house again as a man who is most efficient. Menacing even in his way of just so matter of factly requesting the information where the violence of the man is so innate in himself that Phoenix can barely raise a pulse in his questioning and getting set up to go in for the retrieval. Phoenix does command the space, but what he does is connect this to that same blasé manner towards his own suicidal tendencies, of a many with an eerie comfort towards death. 

That comfort to death extends to the particularly practical but also particularly brutal method of killing each time, which is largely with a hammer he buys at a hardware store. Where we see him go about his trade where Phoenix plays the sequence of killing all the men in the house with not exactly ease, but the same sort of approach someone might take to hammering down a ton of floor boards. It is absolutely routine for him, there is no weight in it, it is just what the man does. An approach that could seem like too little yet I found what Phoenix does here absolutely captivating in creating the idea of a man who in a way thrives with violence because internally he is filled with so much horror that to put it out externally is merely a continuation of that existence. As Joe is haunted by so many horrors of his own abuse as a child, the abuse of his mother by his father, death as a soldier, a mass grave in law enforcement, the man has more ghosts than people, and Phoenix is able to create this state within his performance. One where the horror is within his stare and even so within his consistency when he is killing or facing more death. Phoenix portrays someone so broken by his experience that he is a curiosity in himself and living still is also part of that curiosity. The only breaks whatsoever coming specifically from anyone who seems to try to present themselves to him in any way that isn’t violence. 

The moments where Phoenix breaks the state of Joe in any way are impactful through that consistency he crafts in his idiosyncrasy. As through his journey with his mother, we do see a loving if in no way untroubled son as he helps his mom out in her decrepit state. When he rescues the abused girl the first time, Phoenix says much in the moment where she first embraces him, then tries to kiss him. Where Phoenix in his subtle reaction creating how much any tenderness is more so a knife than what an actual knife would do to him, as he shows both surprise of the care and horror of her attempt to kiss him, stemming from her own mistreatment, where Phoenix reveals the broken psyche of Joe by how deeply each impact him, of course deeply within the malaise of Joe. The next break comes when after the initial rescue the plot gets murkier as the governor has her kidnapped again, trying to cut off all loose ends including Joe who barely escapes and finds that the men even went to his home and killed his mom. And there’s a powerful contrast between two scenes of when Joe sees his mother has been killed and when he “interrogates” one of the men who killed his mom. The former is again a rare moment of released emotion where we do see how much Joe still loves his mom even through the drama, and Phoenix is incredible in letting it eek out. It is amazing particularly since Phoenix often is so emotive, that it becomes so powerful in the way he artfully breaks the state of Joe’s mind only in these rare but impactful moments. And that is further emphasized by when, after wounding the man, asks the man if he killed his mom. Joe is back to his violence and state of perpetual trauma, and Phoenix is almost relaxed in the way he asks. Something that makes sense through Phoenix is realization of this particular state where more suffering is merely the norm. A powerfully shown element when Joe goes about weighing his mother in water and choosing her initially to join her in death by drowning himself. Phoenix’s portrayal creates the turning point of the man just going about accepting what he has been as there is comfort as he goes about his own death, until he sees a vision of the girl he did not save. Leading to the final act, where Joe seems to save the girl, who is him in so many ways, right down to how the plot realizes itself. However pivotal is the final release of his own defenses by seeing himself reflected in so many ways, and Phoenix doesn't suddenly go big. He’s remarkably small, still yet so incredible in the way he releases the emotions dormant, not as a pressurized valve, but rather this quiet erosion through the final scenes. Phoenix presents not a man with an understanding of any of it, or what to do with it, yet Joe cannot escape it. His final line delivery of repeating “it’s a beautiful day”, after being told so by the “rescued” girl, Phoenix is amazing in his underplay, of reaffirming, as an acceptance, yet in no way is it of renewed optimism or anything easy. Rather a man living within his fate of existence, as painful as it is, but speaking that it is what it is. I loved this performance by Phoenix, as much as it is a man on an extreme, Phoenix uncovers wholly new ground in crafting a different kind of tragedy and different kind of experience. Utilizing a more minimalistic and quieter choice, which pierce still so powerfully in creating captivating and unique portrait of a withdrawal of emotion rather than an explosion of it. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Jamie Bell in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Jamie Bell did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite receiving a BAFTA nomination, for portraying Peter Turner in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool depicts the relationship between faded and dying film star Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) and a much younger Englishman/aspiring actor. 

The whole film is obviously about the relationship with the uniqueness being this down to earth setting being “invaded” by a well known Hollywood actress, where Bell’s Peter Turner just happens to come across her in the same apartment building. An instance where the relationship basically begins as an invitation of the older woman who very openly entices the younger man, by only at first suggesting he dance with her. The nature of Peter as a character I think speaks much to Bell’s abilities as a performer given that in the wrong hands, say he was played by Richard Gere in the 70’s, this would be a part where just playing into potential “himbo” tropes would be easy enough. Thankfully as much as Peter isn’t the most complex of all characters, Bell approaches to play it as a real person. Where Bell smartly plays very much the simple attractiveness of getting to spend time with the old Hollywood starlet, even in her off-beat ways, as he first accepts her invitation. Bell is terrific by not making it too complicated but not simplistic either. In his eyes you see the intrigue and the attraction, though with a dash of a knowing quality that the situation is unusual. Bell plays into initially that sense of fun in a way that brings you more so into the relationship than if he created more so an immediate belief in that this a wholly normal situation. 

The first hurdle in the relationship comes in as Turner fairly blithely discounts Grahame's dream of joining the Royal Shakespeare company to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, noting due to her age she’d be more appropriate for the nurse. A tricky moment honestly for Bell to play and one where I think it would’ve been easy to lose all sympathy for the character. Bell though uses effectively to create a sense of the growth of the character through the moment. As in the scene Bell manages to deliver the words as all a joke and more so than that a lack of connection within Grahame on a genuine level. Emphasizing instead the words as coming from a young man just going with the flow of his unlikely situation and barely even considering that he’s dealing with a genuine person despite the singularity of the relationship. Bell’s reaction to Grahame lashing out as his attitude is essential in creating the initial sense of unease and the particular growth of maturity within just that reaction. Bell earns the next move where Turner decides to not only apologize but proceed with a romantic and sexual relationship with Grahame. 

 

The actual relationship is where the film comes short where the specifics don’t quite cut deeper towards any greater truths. The ideas are sorta there but one can always feel they can go further. Having said that, Bell and Bening are certainly game in their “why not” approach to their relationship that becomes a bit deeper over time. Bell creates the right sense of that curiosity that now becomes more of a genuine fascination with the older woman, and Bell is terrific in the way he expresses the simple way he is stricken by her essentially. Bell plays so well within the lines of expressing the growth of empathy as their relationship progresses, so far even to have Turner visit Grahame’s mom and catty sister. Where Bell again plays within the confines so effectively in showing, as Grahame’s sister brings up her multiple marriages including both a father and son, Bell shows not judgment but rather empathy at every turn. Bell earned the moment of Turner instead of saying something negative after this interaction instead revealing his own secret of bi-sexuality. Bell’s fantastic moment in the simple honesty of the delivery where he shows it is a man getting something off his chest but also him wanting to ease the tension away for this woman he is coming to love. 

The last phase of their relationship consists of Grahame’s failing health and her struggling mental state where she is lashing out then loving Peter, randomly, not sure what to do, denies really facing her death for much of her time, while also hiding away at Peter’s family’s home. All of this is theoretically juicy material but it feels mostly like repeated beats that never grant too much insight. Bell makes what he can of it regardless particularly in his reactions to all of it with this convincing and moving combination between frustration and that still genuine empathy. Something that he shows in these scenes as something that truly weighs down in just his physical manner as the grief begins to overtake him. Something where Bell goes further by realizing this degree of almost confusion of the young man unsure of how he can cope exactly and where he exactly sits in Grahame’s life. Bell found this strange purgatory in a consistently moving way that kept me engaged even as the film repeats itself. There’s a pseudo climax as Peter takes Grahame to perform Shakespeare together, where both are quite good in playing earnestly the moment while presenting the tenderness of the appreciation in every moment of it between them. Playing so well in the scene in the moment of the two fully just being in love it would seem for this moment, before it being broken again by Grahame needing to go home to die with her family. Leaving a heartbroken Peter, where again Bell’s slow breakdown is heartbreaking because he showed you the path of this man, and brought you to this place. Making the unlikely relationship more than a curiosity but something genuinely impactful to the man’s life. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Kamel El Basha in The Insult

Kamel El Basha, despite winning the Volpi Cup, did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Yasser Abdallah Salameh in The Insult.

The Insult follows two men, a Palestinian refugee, and a native Christian in Lebanon as they get in a conflict that begins with an insult. 

Kamel El Basha plays the Palestinian half Yasser to Adel Karam as Tony the other half. With the film opening essentially as a feud between Tony at his home and Yasser as one of the men doing construction on his building. Something that essentially begins with angry glances and some angry words between the men with a great deal of hostility. El Basha’s work in these early scenes is honestly where his character is the most interesting because he feels the least symbolic in these scenes. El Basha brings a blunt reality of the man initially just as a guy doing a job with the exasperation around that being the defining factor of the character. Something that we get within his delivery calling Tony a “fucking prick” as just a result of a man just annoyed at having to re-do the job and deal with a person getting in the way of it. An element then that is something that can be gotten over when initially he comes to apologize and El Basha plays well the note of just holding his anger in however as someone willing to accept this way out. That however changes when it becomes clear that Tony’s views are more intense in his anti-Palestianian sentiment. Where El Basha’s largely reactionary performance in these scenes becomes more intense is basically in the repressment of the anger, to the point it is boiling in his face, even if he doesn’t let any of it out until Tony openly states his wish that the Palestinian should’ve been wiped out. Leading to Yasser to punch Tony, a moment which is well realized by El Basha as a tipping point of his frustration, momentary but impactful. 

The film then shifts to become a legal battle that ends up essentially unearthing this conflict between two men to connect it to generational conflict between ethnic and religious groups. In turn El Basha has far less interesting material to work with. As he is mostly tasked with being the put upon man hounded by Tony through two different trials in order to perform some kind of revenge against Yasser but really the Palestinian people. El Basha to his credit doesn’t fall upon easy choices to become the wailing victim or too much of a righteous indignation. In his reactions he brings an earned frustration quietly stewing within himself that he slowly eases up throughout his scenes. He isn’t all that focused upon though within this and it is mostly left to El Basha to bring these changes alive. He does a decent job, particularly the quiet humility of his work when Tony ends up unexpectedly giving Yasser some help when Yasser’s car won’t start. But both men’s personal struggle ends up taking the backseat to the symbols they become within the larger struggle. What this eventually culminates in is both men basically leaving behind their personal conflict mostly as the societal one builds up with them becoming pawns in a way. Leading to a climactic personal moment eventually, which is the most compelling thing El Basha gets to work with in the latter half of the film as he meets with Tony on his own. Where he begins bombarding him with negative Christian sentiments, and El Basha is good in playing it with a certain knowing distance while selling the words. Playing the moment as basically Yasser presenting himself as Tony from the beginning of the film, not as a falsehood but a presentation of his own anger filtered through hateful means. Leading to Tony to punch Yasser, which El Basha reveals the reality of the moment, so effectively through his way of accepting the punch with a wholly earnest apology followed afterwards. El Basha presents suddenly the rage honestly having been gone and one man to another just trying to genuinely make amends through what they’ve been through. It’s a strong moment, one that makes me though slightly annoyed by how much Yasser as a character takes a backseat up until this point, given El Basha is so game to find the nuance within the character. Regardless it stands as a good performance but the writing behind is illustrative of the film’s overall shortcomings. However even with that in mind, El Basha delivers an impressive performance by accentuating the nuance whenever can. It would've been easy to fall into the easy notes, something I feel his co-star unfortunately does do, but El Basha consistently elevates and maintains complexity rather than simplicity. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Josh Brolin in Only the Brave

Josh Brolin did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Eric Marsh in Only the Brave. 

Only the Brave tells the true story of a unit of Hot Shot firefighters, who use fire to fight the fires. 

In a role primed to be poorly played by Mark Wahlberg, we instead are granted Josh Brolin as the leader of the firefighters. Brolin is most welcome as an opponent and has a fitting presence for this kind of part, as his rougher look is a natural fit for the hard hat wearing firefighting pro. Brolin in turn chooses not to try to overemphasize anything in order to be believable in the part. He doesn’t heavily adjust his presence rather bringing just a naturalistic quality in being this sort of “man of the people” type of character right from the outset. Brolin delivers a quiet leader of the crew charisma in his scenes with the men, he doesn’t make big speeches but has often the right kind of stoic certainty in his manner that would be convincing that you’d follow this guy into a burning building. He’s not the greatest leader known to man in Brolin’s performance, rather just a guy who knows what he’s doing and acts as a straight shooter in most arenas. We see him bring the fatherly warmth in moments with his men, particularly troubled newcomer Brendan (Miles Teller) who he takes under his wing despite hesitations by some of the other men. Brolin brings it directly and earnestly, never going into overemphasis theatrics instead fittingly playing very straight to the bone as the guy who wants to get his job done, knows how to do it and cares for his men in a very blunt and direct fashion. 

Brolin isn’t only the leader among the men as part of the film’s story is Brolin’s Marsh getting certification for his crew to be considered elite firefighters. Something that we see early on when Eric makes some suggestions to other firefighters, who not only ignore him but dismiss Eric as lesser than. Brolin’s performance is good in the scene bringing more modest quality in the delivery of the suggestions of someone who isn’t trying to act up but genuinely trying to help, and internalizes well the frustrations that he keeps inside yet are still evident when being dismissed. Something he brings to their eventual certification test where the observer tries to pull rank on him and push him around with the approach to fighting the fire. Brolin brings just the right controlled exasperated rage when he reminds the observer of his place, and shows within the frustrations the years of having to deal with that sort of nonsense. The controlled rage being of a mad intent on setting his flag clearly and within his mind proper justification. Brolin plays the leader of the men, but a leader who has been challenged, angered by those challenges yet willing to persevere through their rather intense challenges. 

Beyond his role as a firefighter the major conflict for Eric is the relationship with his wife Amanda (Jennifer Connelly). Where Brolin and Connelly I’d say have okay though not truly remarkable chemistry in their interactions which are a mix of flirtation and frustration. The latter stemming from her concerns for his safety and his workaholic attitude towards the firefighting job. Something Brolin again handles well in presenting just this torn loyalties where he portrays the severe conviction to his job as basically a truth, but still is earnest in his frustrations towards his wife’s concerns. An idea that ends up explored in a somewhat too little too late fashion as the film introduces very late that Eric and Amanda met as mutual alcoholics who recovered together, and leads Eric even to treat Brandon’s request for a safer gig as a potential avenue for faltering once again to addiction. Brolin is good in these moments in portraying the unease when being called out about essentially a new addiction in firefighting as the truth, where his reactions take in this quiet sense of anxiety as he tries to brush it off via his conviction of the nobility of the profession. Brolin finds the appropriate complication of the sentiment to the degree he can because this is an aspect the film could’ve explored more or at least with more depth, rather than something they bring up right towards the end of the film limiting that possible exploration. And after that the film is essentially over with only the central tragedy left, where Brolin’s performance in that surprisingly short sequence is good, particularly the growing sense of dread in his face, however it doesn’t quite leave the impact one would imagine possibly given the tragic nature of the story, although that is hardly Brolin’s fault. Brolin gives a good performance that suggests a greater potential within the material than is wholly realized. 

Alternate Best Actor 2017

 And the Nominees Were Not:

Josh Brolin in Only the Brave

Vladimir Brichta in Bingo: The King of the Mornings

Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here

Kamel El Basha in The Insult

Jamie Bell in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Results

10. Thomas Jane in 1922 - Jane delivers a solid turn in granting a curious yet honest life to his very peculiar character that manages to realize the strange state of the man without devolving into caricature.

Best Scene: A ghastly messenger.

9. Christian Bale in Hostiles - Bale's work here has the raw materials of a great performance yet he is consistently ham strung by the film's underdevelopment of every facet of his character's journey despite Bale's best efforts to sell them as this hardened soldier.

Best Scene: Burying his friend.

8. James Franco in The Disaster Artist - James Franco manages to go a bit further than just providing a hilarious impression of the strange and enigmatic Tommy Wiseau, as he does find enough of a depth within the nearly impenetrable character. 

Best Scene: Too many questions. 

7. Sebastian Stan in I, Tonya - Stan delivers a great performance here as he manages to not hold back in his depiction of the casual cruelty of a insecure man, but at the same time delivers a very funny portrayal of a fool.

Best Scene: News of the attack.

6. Jeremy Renner in Wind River - Renner delivers a brilliant turn here going against the expected approach for his role, and creating a different yet wholly convincing portrayal of a man dealing with his losses and the idea of retribution.

Best Scene: Way to make peace.

5. Robert Pattinson in Good Time - Pattinson gives a truly magnetic turn here that matches the kinetic pace of the film by so effectively realizing this man who will do anything to solve his problems except for the right thing.

Best Scene: The back of a police car.

4. Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver - Song carries this film every step of the way through his incredible performance that manages to begin as an amusing lightly comedic turn that naturally transitions to a heartbreaking portrayal of a man bearing witness to an atrocity.

Best Scene: A different kind of song.

3. Hugh Jackman in Logan - Jackman ends his tenure as Wolverine on a high note far beyond the original expectations of the role. Jackman expands beyond the limits of the past performance to give absolutely heartbreaking portrayal of a man coming to terms with his age and loss, and facing the responsibilities in his place as a "superhero".

Best Scene: So this is what it feels like. 

2. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 - Gosling delivers a masterful performance in his creation of this exact state of the replicant that seemingly is now more machine than man. His exploration of the extent of this, and the ability to change within this context is realized with such a true poignancy by this flawless performance.

Best Scene: The memory is real. 

1. Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky - Good Predictions Lezlie (x2), Charles (x2), Tahmeed, Omar (x2), Luke, Robert(x2), Nguyễn Ngọc Toàn, and RatedRStar, I will say this is not a clear cut case for me in the slightest as I hold Gosling and Stanton's performances in equally high esteem. It would pains me to deny other one the top spot. On any other day I could side towards Gosling as both of these performances are among the best of the decade. Nonetheless my #1 is Harry Dean Stanton for his swansong performance that couldn't be a more perfect send off for the actor. It is one more chance just to appreciate his one of a kind screen presence and talent with this tender, funny, and incredibly moving portrayal of man coming to terms with his age and mortality. 

Best Scene: "You smile." 

Overall Ranking:

1. Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky
2. Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049
3. Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
4. Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here
5. Hugh Jackman in Logan
6. Robert Pattinson in Good Time
7. Simon Russell Beale in The Death of Stalin
8. Song Kang-ho in A Taxi Driver
9. Jeremy Renner in Wind River
10. Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out
11. Steve Buscemi in The Death of Stalin
12. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Shot Caller 
13. Ethan Hawke in Maudie
14. James Franco in The Disaster Artist
15. Liev Schreiber in Chuck
16. Jamie Bell in Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
17. Vladimir Brichta in Bingo: The King of the Mornings
18. Jake Gyllenhaal in Stronger 
19. Steve Carell in Battle of the Sexes
20. Laurence Fishburne in Last Flag Flying
21. Tom Cruise in American Made
22. James McAvoy in Split
23. Joel Edgerton in It Comes at Night
24. Chris Pine in Wonder Woman
25. Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
26. Christian Bale in Hostiles 
27. Sam Elliott in The Hero
28. Harris Dickinson in Beach Rats
29. Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour
30. Steve Carell in Last Flag Flying
31. Timothée Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name
32. Andy Serkis in War for the Planet of the Apes
33. Kamel El Basha in The Insult
34. Michael Fassbender in Alien Covenant
35. Levi Miller in Better Watch Out
36. Thomas Jane in 1922
37. Robert Redford in Our Souls At Night
38. James McAvoy in Atomic Blonde
39. Bill Pullman in The Ballad of Lefty Brown
40. Vince Vaughn in Brawl in Cell Block 99 
41. Kyle Mooney in Brigsby Bear
42. Brian Cox in Churchill
43. Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok
44. Shawn Yue in Mad World 
45. Masaharu Fukuyama in The Third Murder
46. Kevin Harrison Jr. in It Comes at Night
47. Dave Franco in The Disaster Artist
48. Richard Gere in Norman
49. Josh Brolin in Only the Brave
50. Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner
51. Lior Ashkenazi in Foxtrot
52. Sherwan Haji in The Other Side of Hope
53. Sakari Kuosmanen in The Other Side of Hope
54. Claes Bang in The Square
55. Rajkummar Rao in Trapped
56. Domhnall Gleeson in Goodbye Christopher Robin
57. Kenneth Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express
58. Ben Whishaw in Paddington 2
59. Tom Holland in Spider-man: Homecoming
60. Ben Stiller in The Meyerowitz Stories 
61. Colin Farrell in The Beguiled
62. Sul Kyung-gu in The Merciless
63. Ross Lynch in My Friend Dahmer
64. Douglas Booth in Loving Vincent
65. Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
66. Jacob Tremblay in Wonder
67. Stephen Curry in Hounds of Love 
68. Ben Mendelsohn in Una
69. Ansel Elgort in Baby Driver
70. Adam Driver in Logan Lucky
71. Traci Letts in The Lovers
72. Josh O'Connor in God's Own Country
73. Charlie Hunnam in The Lost City of Z
74. Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories
75. Ewan McGregor in T2
76. Ben Stiller in Brad's Status 
77. Jaeden Lieberher in The Book of Henry
78. Dan Stevens in The Man Who Invented Christmas
79. Daniel Giménez Cacho in Zama
80. Miles Teller in Only the Brave
81. Woody Harrelson in Lost in London
82. Will Arnett in The Lego Batman Movie
83. Keanu Reeves in John Wick Chapter 2
84. Fares Fares in The Nile Hilton Incident
85. Cosmo Jarvis in Lady Macbeth
86. Josh Gad in Marshall
87. Colin Farrell in The Killing of a Sacred Deer
88. Anthony Gonzalez in Coco 
89. Sverrir Guðnason in Borg vs. McEnroe
90. Elijah Wood in I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore
91. Chadwick Boseman in Marshall
92. Andrew Garfield in Breathe
93. Channing Tatum in Logan Lucky
94. Miles Teller in Thank You For Your Service
95. Dan Stevens in Beauty and the Beast 
96. Bryan Cranston in Last Flag Flying
97. Nahuel Perez Biscayart in BPM
98. Géza Morcsányi in On Body and Soul
99. John Cho in Columbus  
100. Kumail Nanjiani in The Big Sick 
101. Jackie Chan in The Foreigner 
102. Keith Stanfield in Death Note
103. Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
104. Adel Karam in The Insult
105. Michael Caine in Going in Style
106. Alan Arkin in Going in Style 
107. Jason Sudeikis in Colossal
108. Joel Edgerton in Bright
109. Sam Claflin in My Cousin Rachel
110. Arnaud Valois in BPM
111. Aleksey Rozin in Loveless
112. Will Tilston in Goodbye Christopher Robin
113. Noah Jupe in Suburbicon 
114. Hugh Jackman in The Greatest Showman
115. Guy Pearce in Brimstone
116. Tom Hanks in The Post
117. Matt Damon in Downsizing 
118. Will Smith in Bright
119. Liam Neeson in Mark Felt
120. Taron Egerton in Kingsman: The Golden Circle
121. Javier Bardem in Mother!
122. Im Si-Wan in The Merciless
123. Morgan Freeman in Going in Style
124. Vin Diesel in Fast 8
125. Luke Evans in Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
126. Justin Timberlake in Wonder Wheel
127. Matt Damon in Suburbicon
128. Ben Affleck in Justice League 
129. Tom Hiddleston in Kong: Skull Island 
130. Michael Fassbender in The Snowman
131. Jason Segel in The Discovery
132. Ali Fazal in Victoria & Abdul
133. Brad Pitt in War Machine
134. Mark Wahlberg in All The Money in the World 
135. Nat Wolff in Death Note

Next Year: I'm taking a break until the Oscars, but the next year after that will be 2008 lead.

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Harry Dean Stanton in Lucky

"When I come on screen...You see whatever he's suppose to be playing. You know...and that's the gift...You can't teach that." - M. Emmet Walsh.

On September 15th of last year we lost one of the most vibrant residents of cinema in Harry Dean Stanton. The long faced actor, often sporting a hang dog expression, with a smoke in one hand and his lighter in another. Born of Kentucky though eventually training in California Stanton began his career in the early fifties which would last more than another 60 years. In that time Stanton, if he found a few seconds of screentime you'd say, hey who was that guy, a few minutes he might become more fascinating than whoever the lead suppose to be. Stanton simply became whoever it was that he was suppose to be playing. There was no time for, to quote Stanton, "bullshit" in his work. He just was whoever we saw, and was more than any bland idea from any screenwriter or director. This was a person we were meeting even for a few seconds of screentime Stanton made this character real whether it be a country singer, a bank robber, a "blind" preacher, the janitor on a star ship, or even the apostle Paul. Stanton was whatever was needed, as he never slept walked his way across the screen, when he came on this character was someone who lived a life that we might not have seen, but Stanton made us believe this person existed beyond the limits of the celluloid. Although leading roles were sparse for Stanton, we thankfully were granted one in his portrayal of Travis Wim Wenders's Paris, Texas. Stanton in that performance proved there was never too much of a good thing for Stanton as the more time we spent with him the more intimate of a portrait he could present to us, offering one the greatest performances of the 1980's in that film.

Although that was a memorable outlier Stanton more or less returned to the world of the character actor, remaining one of the all time greats in that regard, and always a welcome sight whenever his scraggly face would come onscreen. Before his passing though we were granted one last time with Stanton at the center of the spotlight through fellow character actor John Carroll Lynch's cinematic love letter to the actor in Lucky. The film proudly displaying the man in the lead as playing the titular role of one Lucky a man of Stanton's age making his way through life in a small town in the desert. A modest film in nature, and fitting to the nature of Stanton who needs no more than that to deliver a performance that could be only from the man himself as Lucky shares much in common with the actor that only seems to make this performance all the more special. Stanton comes on the screen in the way that defines Stanton as he is compelling just in his singular way of lighting his cigarettes while walking across the sandy sidewalks of the town like an old tumbleweed making its rounds. There is something inherently fascinating in Stanton as this unique performer who simply is well fascinating in himself. We see Lucky, we see him walking, and he already has more character than hundred disposable caricatures from most films. Stanton represents seemingly the very idea of life in his worn expressions, and just that gait that is Stanton's personal stride as he makes his way in his own damn time, thank you very much.

The film itself is representative of Stanton in making the possibly ordinary so very extraordinary in its own modest way. Stanton is right at home then, endlessly watchable as we watch Lucky go about his day that usually starts with a few exercises, a cigarette, then stop by for a cup of coffee and a crossword puzzle at cinemas proprietor (Barry Shabaka Henley here going by the name of Joe)'s diner. Stanton is of course an effortless delight as he goes about trying to solve the puzzle briefly with his perfect little aside of a "three letter word for asshole starting with a J" when his particular puzzle solving skills are questioned by Joe. Lucky seems to solve most things with a walk to his next stop along the way to each which has its own little history that Stanton provides just in the brief words he shares with whatever who or what he comes by. Whether that be his slightly more contentious attitude towards Joe, or his more overt pleasantries to the local shopkeeper and his commenting on her son's name of Juan Wayne. Stanton finding just a bit comical nuance while offering the more appreciative warmth to the rather unusual use of the name. The one thing that seems a bit of a sour note is Lucky occasionally stopping by at one point on his walk, towards an initially unseen sight, to utter an expletive. There is a harshness from his lips naturally, but a real anger in his eyes evoking some tale of woe to whatever this may be though we will not know for some time. Even with cruder moments there is almost a certain, for the lack of a better word, cool that Stanton offers this old guy who is just going about his day in the way he knows how.

His nights all lead to the same place a bar called Elaine's filled with its own color and not just the bloody Marys that Lucky prefers in his choice of drink. Lucky seems there just as much for the conversation as he waxes on one of his crossword answers, realism. Stanton's particular delivery of the examination of the word by Lucky is a marvelous bit of idiosyncrasy that could only be offered by Stanton's particular way with words. He captures this philosophical emphasis on the idea of looking at things as they are, and in Stanton's eyes there is a man pondering what exactly it means to see things completely clearly. All the same simply in his way with the words itself has a smoothness that is pure Stanton and just wonderful to hear him ponder away on "what you see is not what I get". In every interaction in this bar though there is that distinct life that is Stanton in every little exchange whether it be with the bartender, the tough as nails bar owner Elaine (Beth Grant), or her longtime companion Paulie (James Darren) you can feel the years really of Lucky passing the time with this most unusual crowd. The most notable of them being Howard played by David Lynch, and though we were just talking about realism it seems surrealism follows the director where ever he may wish to traverse. Stanton and Lynch were frequent collaborators in the directors own work, and seemingly the camaraderie of that experience shines right through the screen as old Lucky so genuinely offers comfort for Howard and his loss of his old tortoise, President Roosevelt, who "ran" away.

I will admit that I probably could watch a whole film of just Harry Dean Stanton hanging out at Elaine's and engaging in just a few conversations. There is that vividness of his performance that just grants such a pleasure to watch this man who has such abundance of experience exuding from his very being. The film grants us more though as Lucky has a fall that perhaps changes what realism means to the old timer. This is initiated through a most fascinating and most humorous meeting with his doctor (Ed Begley Jr.), who can't do anything for Lucky but to suggest he keep living while while also suggesting he reflect on his age. Stanton's blend of sardonic asides with a bit of genuine confusion at the most unusual advice of the doctor is but a little gem of a scene. Stanton finding this exasperation in the explanation of his situation, yet a more serious curiosity in the doctor's suggestions that he can't do anything for him that wouldn't hurt him, placing Lucky in a state being as old with nothing he can do about it. This is right down to the idea that he might as well smoke since it hasn't harmed him at this point in his life. Stanton from his moment though creates this sense of introspection in Lucky as he must now examine what it is to be his age, and what it is to have lived the life he has lived. Lucky maintains more or less his routine, but Stanton shows that it is no longer in more or less the same way. There is now a different type of contemplation not of discovery of a word like realism, but rather facing the idea of realism in the examination of life and death.

Naturally enough Stanton finds this quiet struggle, and makes this conflict of thought so very palatable as he examines this even as he just attempts his simple little crosswords at the diner, or goes back to his bloody Marys. There's not a comfort within this though as Stanton finds the real difficulty in examining mortality that is something truly remarkable in his eyes that say much in each and every sorrowful glance. The one thing that initially rips him from this state Stanton so elegantly finds in a bit of sudden anger as he finds Howard making out his will with the help of a lawyer Bobby Lawrence (Ron Livingston). Stanton still of course manages to be hilarious in his quick ripping into the poor lawyer trying to set up Howard's estate to give it all to his missing tortoise. The bluster that Stanton brings is terrific in this evocation of perhaps a bar fighter of old as he so effectively pesters and prods the rather meek little man with jokes and more direct threats for what he sees as hectoring his friend. Stanton finds though in this anger that same sorrow that itself projects less amusingly as he tells Howard that his tortoise is not coming back. In that moment Stanton instantly finds just the seemingly sadness in this, as this loss seems so cold in Stanton's voice as a man projecting his own pain. Stanton's reaction to Howard's breakdown though is both moving and pretty funny as he brings such concern in his eyes for his reptile loving friend yet fashions through towards almost bubbling over in anger towards a somewhat baffled Bobby Lawrence esq. who has barely said a word.

It is the way that Stanton breaths truth into every word though that has defined his career in a way, and helps to define this performance. Stanton finds what there is in the past and summons it towards the center while he so effortlessly brings us this state of Lucky nearly stuck in this unease. This can be more tumultuous as found when Lucky tells the story of having accidentally killed a mockingbird due to his inaccurate BB gun. Stanton in his eyes and his delivery of these words brings us to this point in his life in heartbreaking detail. He fashions the vividness of the event in his mind of just a boy losing all joy of a moment in this loss of life that led to only a silence. This idea of silence though is what Stanton attaches Lucky's sad state to, although even this is wonderful in the way he doesn't allow it to artificially overwhelm his work, but rather so naturally turns it into this recurring thought. The silence makes the mind ponder his past mistakes, even as simple as mistreating Liberace in his mind, and Stanton's performance conveys this sense chagrin towards the foolishness of youth as it places him in this uncertain future. The one moment of a real breakdown is so modestly yet powerfully realized in Stanton's somber cry of "I'm scared" that reflects this state of Lucky who is temporarily caught up in his own feelings of self doubt and pondering what is to be both alive and what it means to eventually die.

As notable as Stanton's work is when he is the focus, as also typical to Stanton, his work never stops even when he is simply listening to some else. Stanton always creates this awareness that again is of a man taking what their saying not waiting simply for his next line. This is essential within his work though in Lucky's journey isn't a descent but rather uplifting in the end. This seemingly begins when he is able to explore the idea of a mortality with a much younger man, and a man he just so brazenly disrespected in ole Bobby Lawrence esq. Stanton is wonderful in every word of the man's own story of near death he takes in and within his eyes there is this growing appreciation not only for the man, but also this idea that he's not the only one who need to contemplate death nor need he contemplate it as a stark sorrow. One of the best moments in this film comes when Lucky spots a fellow veteran in the form of old Alien co-star Tom Skerritt. This scene is pure beauty though in the two old timers coming together as Skerritt and Stanton find such a warming pleasant chemistry that they realize so perfectly in their war tales. Lucky's tale as a cook on a naval ship, a history he shares with the real life Stanton, Stanton finds the appreciation for the past again in his more pleasant tale of the war of avoiding potential death. Skerritt's is far more heart wrenching as he describes a Japanese little girl's smile while believing she is embracing death, while it his moment as intended, Stanton naturally knows when to support and when to lead. His work stays quiet, and I don't mean because he doesn't speak, but he truly supports Skerrit's work by in every moment so clearly reflecting the meaning of every word in Lucky's mind that makes the scene all the more affecting.

Stanton's performance is a distinct pleasure and something wholly poignant to watch as he finds Lucky losing that sorrow and just fully embracing a joy in life by appreciating the journey. In a scene of Lucky going to a Mexican fiesta is a particular joy for us as well as Stanton regales the party but really all of us with a song. This is one that is an unforgettable moment as Stanton delivers one so purely from the heart. Every moment of the song finding this profound jubilation in the very act, as Stanton finds Lucky embracing his life to its fullest. This is not by blinding himself from the realism, so to speak, but rather finding in the song an acceptance of discovering happiness even when there may be sadness in one's mind. This idea though could still seem alien though until Lucky's final visit to the bar where he hears of Howard's acceptance that his tortoise had to go somewhere, and he decides to try to light up which is strictly forbidden. Lucky, in his attempt to explain the "truth" of the matter of the claimed expulsion from another bar, the very place he habitually utters an expletive to along the street, he falls into his philosophy of the life and death. The verbal gymnastics of falling into this discussion of bar loss to life loss couldn't be more natural in that this is who Lucky, and Stanton so flawlessly delivers that through his performance. What is more downright awe inspiring though is as he speaks about life amounting to technically nothing, and that we all must eventually go into a dark void, is that Stanton's delivery of this with the most perfect of loving smiles makes the idea of staring into nothingness downright inspiring. He seems to comfort us all in these words and it is a marvel onscreen that could only ever have been created by Harry Dean Stanton who so embodies simply the act of living. That's what he did in every one of his performance and this is culmination of that talent. Not since John Wayne in The Shootist, or perhaps this supersedes it, has a swansong leading turn been such a flawless representation of a performer. I want to end this on just the Stanton's final scene in the film as he breaks the forth wall to show a truly happy man staring at us. He says adios without word but fitting to Stanton with all the emotion you would need. Of course we're going to miss him however we can only say goodbye right back, and appreciate the time we spent with him.

Alternate Best Actor 2017: Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049

Ryan Gosling did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Officer KD6-3.7 in Blade Runner 2049.

Blade Runner 2049 is the outstanding sequel to the 1982 film about a future defined by the existence of androids called replicants that humanity uses and disposes of as they see fit.

I will admit upon initially hearing of the sequel to the original film I had some concerns. It easily could have been a lazy cash grab similair to Ridley Scott's Alien Covenant. What gave an obvious glimmer of hope though was that it was being helmed by director Denis Villeneuve whose previous efforts were that of a devoted filmmaker who only seems interested in projects with at least some ambition. Coming into the film the first time I had no idea exactly what to think, though I was developing some random theories in my head, where they were going to take the original story given that the promotional material was more focused on images than the actual plot. My theories of where this film would take us was instantly turned on its head from the opening scene of the film where we meet our lead played by Ryan Gosling. I suspected he was going to be a replicant but I thought it was going to be a revelation further in the film. This is one of the many brilliant decisions in the narrative as it begins with an alternate perspective as we follow this Officer with the serial number KD6-3.7 known for short as K. The replicant who works as a titular Blade Runner aka a police officer who specializes in retiring replicants who have committed any form of rebellion from their original intent. Unlike Harrison Ford's Deckard from the original film, who may or may not be a replicant, here we know that Officer K has the job of killing his own which offers a very different viewpoint in which to broach this vision of the future.

If I had known more clearly of this casting and character I might have had some concerns. Obviously Ryan Gosling is one of the most talented actors of his generation however, despite loving his turn in Drive, his performances as more understated characters were starting to become a little stale, and in 2016 he thankfully offered two memorable extroverted turns. The concern of this return of course could never inspire itself since I was not aware of it until I was already engrossed into the film, and more importantly, in regards to that concern, Ryan Gosling's performance. From the outset of his performance a great task is impressed upon his work, and to a slightly lesser extent Sylvia Hoeks's performance as the replicant Luv the girl Friday to the malevolent creator of the replicants Wallace (Jared Leto), which is to realize this new form of replicant that is described in the opening text of the film. A replicant that does not run, and is no longer like the rather emotional androids we found in the original film through Sean Young's Rachael or Rutger Hauer's Roy Batty. They are suppose to exist in a different way in which free will is not a concept. Gosling's portrayal of this not only establishes that but perfectly differentiates his work from his previous minimalist turns. Gosling's work is fascinating here in this exact creation of K from the opening which is to define K essentially through his profession, which is as a blade runner obviously.

Gosling's performance finds this way of the new replicant which is this almost exact amount of humanity required for existence and interaction. Gosling's performance is incredible in this consistency of the portrayal of this as he makes K enough of a human in that he would not be overly off-putting to actual humans, but also separated enough to clearly denote that he has been made rather than born. In his opening scene where he interrogates and then executes a rogue older replicant Sapper Morton (Dave Bautista), Gosling portrays the part with essentially this exact precision. Gosling projects this manner of an intelligent though perhaps too direct detective in the way he speaks to Morton. He does not do it in a truly robotic way, but almost a too effective of a fashion in terms of the interrogation. It's remarkable as Gosling reveals a machines way of being the perfect detective, which includes the right bit of humanity. He offers just a bit of that in his gentle small talk for a moment when he speaks about not wanting to try Morton's garlic until he's done with the "harder part" of his day. There are no mistakes in this act as Gosling shows the efficiency of someone not bread but created for the purpose of being a detective. This includes just enough of the courtesy, that most humans would appreciate being there, but only enough of a courtesy. Gosling shows this small talk as basically part of the detectives method as he attempts to calm the man into giving himself up, but when he doesn't Gosling is equally effective in delivering the cold brutality needed for a hired killer.

Gosling's performance is amazing in how well he fashions this state that establishes what is this future replicant. After he disposes of Morton Gosling portrays again this directness in K as he surveys the area to fully understand the situation as required by his duty, though again with just enough of a bit of comforting asides for his superior Lt. Joshi (Robin Wright) when describing his injuries from fighting Morton. This little aside though is again so effectively portrayed by Gosling as this enough of an emotion not to be eerie when describing the situation, but not enough that K could ever define himself as a person to another person. When returning to the station Gosling only all the more develops this compelling idiosyncratic creation of what a replicant is now. K, even as he walks by hostile humans, Gosling grants a retiring subservient body language as he almost hides from those calling him a "skin job" as confronting a human would be against his very nature as programmed. He is instead is attuned to avoid and stay very much in his place. One of my favorite scenes in this film, in which I have many, is when K is run through his base line test as though he is a computer where he is given a series of potentially emotional prompts that require a mechanized response. Gosling effortlessly depicts this strange juxtaposition where he hones these pointed delivers, and nearly vacant stare, but only with just this threadbare connective emotional tissue Gosling gives the most minor evocation of as though it is a required cushion for the replicant, an ever thin one.

Although K is clearly designed for a purpose we still follow him as he goes about his day even past working directly as a detective. Gosling uses essentially that programming baseline as this anchor as a starting point for use to remove that distance, as even though he is clearly not a human there is something human there. Again though that human factor seems a comfort for the replicant to function correctly as we see him go home where his only company is a hologram designed to be anyone's company named Joi (Ana de Armas), and he lives a life of very slight escapism within his small apartment. Gosling carefully does not change the nature of K outside of performing his duty and properly still portrays the replicant that is K even outside of his work. Gosling instead exudes just the right degree of contentment in this escapism again that is this certain core within K, but also faint in a way. Gosling naturally discovers this unique dynamic within his performance as he shows enough of a detachment in these moments to still be artificial, but he places that beyond what lies in his eyes that grants just that undercurrent of the stabilizing emotional connection required for such a complex being to exist at this level. Gosling's work provides such an unique foundation for who officer K is. He creates an understanding of how this replicant works and behaves, but also provides how there may be more though in very atypical way.

The first hint of the core of emotion perhaps shifting within K comes when he along with the lieutenant figure out that Morton was part of a group of replicants hiding a child born by a replicant. The initial breakdown of the information Gosling again delivers quickly and efficiently as K once again doing his job just as as a loyal worker should. When Joshi tells K to continue the investigation and find and destroy all evidence of this child, that breaks the very nature of the replicants, there is just a glimpse of something else. It is a brilliant moment of acting by Gosling as though his state is suddenly momentarily broken, as he holds in this gasp of emotion that Gosling seems to show as this conflict between the programming of subservience against that baseline of more empathetic emotion. Gosling realizes this in a second long reaction before portraying K seemingly having reestablished himself as a servant when firmly stating that K is incapable of saying no to the request. He seemingly then begins the investigation to destroy the child. The investigation is not performed alone though as K brings Joi along with him as he tries to uncover the mystery. Gosling's performance is again wholly remarkable in the way he subtly reveals this minor change within K as he reacts to the idea of this child born yet still of the same nature as him. The transition of this is so carefully and delicately handled by Gosling's work which so effectively realizes the emotional crux of the film.

There is no moment in the investigation that is taken for granted by Gosling's astonishing portrayal of K slowly unraveling the truth. This is in part in that relationship with Joi where I would argue Gosling and Armas have the most heartwarming chemistry out of any onscreen couple from 2017 despite neither character being human, in fact one barely has a physical form. The two together though find something so special by finding the limitations and creating this very specific form of expression that comes within that. On Armas's end it is interesting as she seems to show here move past Joi's base programming by having moments of not just overwhelming simplistic affection but rather something more complex. Gosling matches this through his depiction of K slowly having more than just minor comforts in his interactions with Joi. He begins to look her as more than just this distraction from the hellish landscapes around them, but in his face he grants a deeper meaning as he looks at her that conveys a definite love as they go on their journey together. Gosling gradually creates a growing attachment that he offers a more defined concern and care for her, even though she technically is just a hologram. Although most even disregard his choice in having a "fake" girlfriend, Gosling finds the attachment along with Armas that makes Joi seem so much more than just this pleasure hologram. Their relationship seems to mean more as K looks to her as a true companion while she attempts to give more than an idea of a life, even trying to give him a real name by calling him Joe instead of just the first letter of his serial number.

The investigation leads seemingly to K's implanted past involving a memory of his as a boy where he hid a wooden horse. When Gosling originally delivers the story it is in that fashion of the machine recounting it on the surface as something phony just to grant him solace, however Gosling infuses the words with a certain haunting quality quietly within that at the same time as K knows the memory to be false however he does find a type of comfort in it still. Gosling's work is stunning as he maintains that replicant status, but tests it. The first being when the mystery leads him to seemingly the same wooden horse that he remembers from his false memory. Gosling again has such a simply incredible singular moment as he portrays this internalized burst of emotion, that he plays as this withdrawn outburst as though it is the machine trying to maintain the man, yet is struggling to do so. Gosling shows this way the emotion changes though as that undercurrent switches from this core of comfort to now an almost searing pain. Gosling in the second baseline test in his expression now attempts vacancy yet a terrible intensity lies within it, his words attempt repetition to suit the programming of robotics yet malfunctions as even the mechanized response now seem messy with sentiment. Gosling's portrait of this barrier breaking as the function against emotion is becoming imbalanced is absolutely awe inspiring. My favorite moment of this is when he has his memory of the horse tested to see if it is real. When he is told it is Gosling delivers his only major overt moment of expression and it is earth shattering. Gosling's single moment of this primal yell of sheer anguish is heart wrenching as not only is it so flawlessly implemented and earned within his performance, but it also captures this torment of K both in regards to what the memory means but also as it clashes against what is to be his very nature through this expression.

K chooses to follow this revelation, that he is the child, and therefore the son of Rachel and Deckard from the first film. K tracks down Deckard in his hideaway in an abandoned Las Vegas. Gosling carefully maneuvers this scene in portraying this passivity again in K, but now with a different intention within it. K tries to not harm Deckard, even when he originally attacks K thinking he has come to kill him, and Gosling shows this as not a programming design rather a genuine desire. When they speak eventually about his past Gosling is outstanding in finding this nuance in the way he speaks of the child with this level of curiosity and concern. He speaks underlining some hopeful intention to see this connection between them particularly with his almost loving delivery of "stranger" towards Deckard, after Deckard had explained that sometimes to love and protect someone you have to be a stranger. Finding Deckard though leads to nothing but tragedy though as Deckard is captured by Luv and Wallace who wish to dissect his child, and Joi is "killed" by Luv. If this was not enough K is left to learn that he also was not the child, since it was a girl not a boy. Gosling's work is devastating by wearing the sheer impact of this within yet still staying true to K's character. It leaves all the greater impact because Gosling exudes this within this internalized way still realizing the nature of his origin still, but now the emotion overwhelming the center of his being.

One of the most moving moments is when there appears as respite as K comes face to face with a "living" advertisement for the Joi program. For a moment in Gosling eyes there is a comfort as he looks at her that turns to all the greater sorrow when it calls him "Joe", and Gosling conveys K understanding that possibly Joi was only acting on her programming the entire time. Gosling though finds this conviction through the emotion to be more than the machine making it entirely convincing that he would go to save Deckard from his captors. There is a very simple moment at the end of the action sequence after K has saved Deckard, but it is the evidence of the greatness of Gosling's work. Oddly enough though it comes from Deckard as he calls out to see if K is okay by calling out his name as Joe. It isn't so much Ford's delivery, although there's nothing wrong with it, but I find the moment so very affecting because of Gosling. The reason though is Gosling's work through the film gradually granted such humanity to K's journey to the point that seeing him recognized as a person and not a machine is a deeply poignant revelation. Gosling's creation of this arc couldn't more graceful or resonate. He gives the story of Deckard's child its real power through his reflection of what it means within this individual finding his own purpose and sense of self through it. His final moments of the film one no longer sees  a detached machine making its way through the world, one sees a man finally finding contentment fully on the surface. Gosling's performance is masterful as he gives us the machine in his realization of the replicant that is K in the opening of the film, but by the end of the story he reveals the man within.