Best Supporting Actor 2023: Results

 5. Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction - Brown gives an entirely good traditional supporting turn, where he provides the right dramatic and comedic chemistry with his onscreen brother. 

Best Scene: Talking to Monk at the reception.

4. Ryan Gosling in Barbie - Gosling gives one of the funniest performances of the year in throwing himself headfirst into Ken's journey in a mix between silliness and a strange kind of earnestness. 

Best Scene: "I'm Just Ken" 

3. Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer - Downey gives an exceptional portrayal of the facade of professionalism slowly giving way to a personal vindictiveness. 

Best Scene: Outburst. 

2. Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon - De Niro gives a surprising and disarming portrayal of evil, where there's an ease and lack of hate, creating a particularly chilling portrait of a man who kills purely for profit. 

Best Scene: Final scene in jail. 

1. Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things - Good predictions Oliver, Luke & Perfectionist. Ruffalo tops this impressive lineup for me which included another very funny performance, but this one just took the laugh rate to the extreme as where Gosling was one of the funniest performances, Ruffalo is THE funniest. Ruffalo gives a convincing portrayal of a smug cad turning into a mad fool, but what's more important is every moment he's onscreen he finds a way to be hilarious in a way that only amplifies that journey. 

Best Scene: Duncan makes one more appearance. 

Best Supporting Actor 2023: Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things

Mark Ruffalo received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying Duncan Wedderburn in Poor Things.

Poor Things is a wonderfully bizarre tale of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a woman reborn via an infant brain, discovering the world.

Mark Ruffalo isn't an actor I have always praised the most here, in fact frequently quite the opposite for his mannered turns like his previous Oscar nomination. Of course his Oscar nomination before that, and his work in Zodiac were also heavily mannered, and I liked those quite a bit, because it's not about if one is mannered, rather how they are. And with Ruffalo it also might not be if he's mannered, but who is directing him. As in those aforementioned ideal cases, a very talented director in each, and perhaps he just needs the right director to put his talent in the right direction. Well in the case of Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos is the right director for this job. Ruffalo here instantly makes an impression as Duncan Wedderburn the lawyer called upon by mad scientist Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) to set-up the very specific marriage to surgeon in training Max (Ramy Youssef), and is most intrigued by this woman to be kept away from the world. Ruffalo's impression here is utterly ridiculous, and utterly brilliant. As one may question his absurd accent that is essentially the most ridiculous English cad accent fashioned in the style of something Peter Sellers might do at his most broad, and I mean that as the highest of compliments. Ruffalo doesn't just do the accent, he luxuriates in it. And if that were not enough, his whole smarmy smiling expression, even when setting up the legal proceeding is with the most wonderfully ludicrous sneer, and immediate lustful glance as he becomes intrigued by this woman. Only to walk off with his needlessly raised hands, but they need to be raised because it makes it all the more amusing particularly as he immediately pratfalls as he seeks out Bella Baxter.

Ruffalo only continues his hilarity as he goes about seeking Bella and conversing with her in his most unabashed manner where he makes his desire immediately known. And his delivery of "I'll have to pinch you to see if you're real" with just the utmost sleazy desire, that is also just perfect in setting up his not at all remotely hidden ill-intention for Bella. Ruffalo beautifully embraces the dumb in projecting the romantic, while obviously being just the lusting cad, towards Bella, such as when he invites her to her roof, where even just the way he glances around outside her window is worth a few laughs thanks to the ideal randomness of it. Ruffalo though isn't just funny, though he is that wholly and completely, as he delivers this sort of invite for Bella most falsely sincerity in his eyes only registering one idea, as he makes his overtures of romantic notions of seeing the world which Ruffalo delivers dripping with enticement. And Bella is granted the leave to go off with Duncan, though the idea is to eventually return and marry Max. Of course much furious jumping first as we see Bella and Duncan have sex every which way one can think are off in Lisbon. Ruffalo's comedic mastery here is something I can't get enough of with his delivery even of the most extreme smugness of Duncan as he denotes his sexual prowess which Ruffalo doesn't put even a hint of modesty. Ruffalo's delivery of "furious jumping, I love that" in his reaction to Bella's description of sex is just beautiful work of pure indulgence, only topped by his equally hilarious eye shifting when he ponders the limits of a man's sexual virility when Bella ponders why he can't keep having sex with her. 

Ruffalo is terrific in the way he effectively portrays the true controlling cad in every moment as even the way he has Bella eat pastries is as an indulgence where the indulgence is his teaching of her as he pleases with an emphasis on control. But for Duncan Bella isn't all that easy to control and we get another hilarious note for Duncan to play as he has to try to instruct Bella to be part of "polite society'. And Ruffalo's comedic timing again is perfection in his reaction to every one of her lines of portraying the unease and distress just pitch perfectly. Ruffalo wonderfully being the complete opposite of the indulgence before and just the right sense of the unease of the man as he fails to have any control over her. Ruffalo is as funny as he is, which frankly few performances make me consistently laugh as much as this one does, he is equally strong in still creating the sense of his character as he now tries to control Bella to the point he can. Ruffalo brings out an intensity in the desperate need to control as he instructs Bella to only say a few kew phrases that he wants her to say to be "proper" in his view, leading Bella to slap him. A moment that deserves special mention as a pure comic gold in first just how funny his face is mouth agape, then followed by the complete flawless timing of the slight delay with an eye movement before his purposefully phony "ow". Things only get worse for Duncan as Bella continues to be unpredictable, speaking of unpredictable, she leads Duncan into a dance that is marvelous, delightful and crispy insanity. Ruffalo's dance and expression being silliness on an epic scale rarely seen and rarely seen as complete wonderful madness. Ruffalo going in full force, no hesitation and none needed as he's just thriving in the ludicrousness of it in the best way possible. 

Things don't get better for Duncan with Bella finding more freedom including more men becoming interested in her where Ruffalo is just splendid in he manages even to play Duncan's overblown jealousy in a way that conveys the dissolution of the man's pompous control of the situation, while again being very funny. Ruffalo shifts instead to the emotional distress we see as the insecurity in him over not being able to control Bella becomes obvious...and this is also just still hilarious. Ruffalo's playing the anger with a boneheaded recklessness, but also even his emotional breakdown when Bella was talked into sexual behavior of another, the way he cries is convincing yet also ridiculous. Every choice of Ruffalo in a row being a big swing, but also a homerun. Leading Bella to become discontented entirely with Duncan's controlling nature, but Duncan tricks her onto a cruise ship. And again I could name frankly every individual reaction by Ruffalo, but I do have to at least single out his reaction to Bella hiding in the bathroom after a request for disrobing with his "jilted lover" head turn being just simple comic brilliance.  A brief second in his performance but what a second it is. And Ruffalo's increasingly pathetic state as Duncan continues into a marvelous mess, as we see him gamble and drink more. Ruffalo accentuating the sheer miserable desperation just oozes out of him in every scene, as this drinking and gambling seems to gradually remove any remaining sanity away. The tipping point being Bella giving his gambling winnings away, where Ruffalo's horrified and equal parts blistering anger being absolute genius work in showing a man being completely on an edge, while being this again in a way that is never not amusing. What is perhaps most impressive is that Ruffalo manages to go lower and lower, even though he's already pretty low, as they get left off in Paris where Bella turns to whoring. Ruffalo's breakdown somehow goes even further, yet never losing the path of his character, the comedy of it, and more importantly the impact of it. Ruffalo conveying this insanity in his eyes, an insanity as not only has he lost all control over Bella, Bella mentally controls him, even indirectly. Ruffalo brings this lustful obsession still while marked with a broken psyche and just a man completely lost in his mania mixed with obsession. Every physical movement, every expression on his face, creating vividly, and again hilariously, this state of a man whose whole command of even the smallest mental space seems out of his grasp. Ruffalo manages to tie so much within his work in having this physical state as though he's about to burst out of his skull, and his eyes essentially traumatized by his inability to remotely understand Bella, or how she's done this to him. Ruffalo creates a completely convincing dissolution of that confident pompousness of his first scene, to just a festering puddle of nothing as we see him rotting in a mad house. This would all be enough already for me to call this one of the most dynamic performances of the decade, and with an especially high laugh per second average, but just for good measure, let's throw in one more scene. That being as Bella is about to marry Max only for Bella's body/mother's husband (Christopher Abbott) appearing to stop the wedding, due to being told of the strange situation by Duncan. The scene is masterful for Ruffalo as every spiteful line delivery couldn't be slung better nor could his manner in the scene. I love how Ruffalo basically summarizes Duncan's pettiness and cowardice, as he hides behind Abbott, to only peek out to send out his insults in a rage, looking like the worst henchmen, and doing it all as just one last bit of comic glory. And just another example of Ruffalo looking for any excuse to be hilarious in a scene, and succeeding for every second of it. In case it wasn't clear, I loved every second of this performance where Ruffalo delivers the most winning tight rope act in his portrait of a man intending on making use of a woman as he pleases, only for him to be turned inside out by her in the process instead. 

Best Supporting Actor 2023: Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer

Robert Downey Jr. won his Oscar from his third Oscar nomination for portraying Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.
 

Sometimes it is all in the casting, or at the very least casting can provide an immediate shorthand if not innate dynamic which the audience can identify within a certain actor. And Robert Downey Jr., who was featured little in much of the promotional material for the film, has the second most screen-time out of any actor in the film, providing a deuteragonist which allows for the one firm alternative perspective from J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy)'s own personal perspective. And what is the most familiar presence that Downey is known for general audiences at this point? Well likely Doctor Dolittle, but more likely I suppose, is Tony Stark aka Iron Man of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And who is Tony Stark, an arrogant, but also goodhearted genius who is a hero through and through. And that is where Christopher Nolan utilizes the outset of Lewis Strauss by placing Downey in this role. As we open the film with Strauss as a nominee under President Eisenhower for secretary of commerce, Downey comes into the film with a very specific choice in the amount of charisma he uses to realize Strauss. Downey of course has charisma to spare, being of the most charismatic actors on and off screen currently, so what we have here is a purposeful regulation of that to be more fitting to who Strauss is as a person. That isn't to say Downey rids himself of that charisma, in fact he uses just enough of it to immediately disarm you about Strauss in the opening scenes of the film, that he makes Strauss seem likeable enough. There's a slight seeming self-effacing quality as he talks to his aide (Alden Ehrenreich) about his relationship with Oppenheimer as just a professional relationship any other, if not even some sense of pride in the association before we flashback. 

The first flashback between Strauss and Oppenheimer is key to the film but especially essential to Downey's performance as Strauss, where Strauss is attempting to get Oppenheimer to take a position at Princeton. And the first scene is where Downey is creating the man we see and the man we come to know. A scene where every interaction is of Strauss attempting overt cordiality to get Oppenheimer into the position and seemingly every response by Oppenheimer being some slight rejection or accidental insult to Strauss. And Downey on the surface is putting on the reduced though still very present charm with every delivery being an invitation for good feeling towards Oppenheimer, which is somehow dashed each time. And in every statement that Downey makes is eager and wanting to make a connection overtly, there is more going on with his performance that will establish what will in fact be the real relationship between the two. And Downey's fantastic in this way he begins very subtly in the dismay of this as even his correction of Oppenheimer's mispronunciation of his name there's just a hint of annoyance as is his correction that he is also Jewish regardless of pronunciation. His moment of needing to state his lack of being a physicist and a self made man with a little more internalized frustration. And the moment where they do seem to make a connection about Einstein's Theory of Relativity, there's a genuine smile on Downey's face before allowing a modest remark of choosing to sell shoes instead of training in physics. But the biggest blow then is Oppenheimer's response to call Strauss a "Lowly shoes salesman", though in fact probably a statement of admiration in a way, Downey's delivery and reaction of "just a shoes salesman" speaks volumes of the very real dismay at the comment. Only for one more insult as he still puts on a smile as the prospect of getting to introduce Oppenheimer to Einstein, only for one more blow as Oppenheimer bluntly states he has already known Einstein for years, and Downey's glare at the two meetings without his intercession shows the real seeds of bitterness quietly. But overtly Downey just shows a more general frustration of a man just hoping to get Oppenheimer to work with him. A brilliantly acted sequence by Downey because he manages to give it all away about Strauss in the margins, while not overtly giving any of it away.

Chronologically the next we see Strauss and Oppenheimer together are as members of the Atomic Energy Commission, of which Strauss was chair and Oppenheimer a key member. And there are two key scenes, the first seemingly a small but important one in a hearing where Oppenheimer again humiliates, perhaps more intentionally though perhaps not as maliciously as Strauss believes, Strauss by showing his expertise over Strauss on isotopes, and again Downey plays two shades at the same time, one being just the gentle modest smile of man accepting a hit, and the eyes where a hostility is ever growing. The second scene is more fundamental where we see a group meeting between the members over the discovery of the Soviets having successfully tested their own Atomic bomb, therefore leading to both questions about security on the creation of the original bomb and the potential of creating the Hydrogen bomb. And Downey's great in the scene by again playing two sides but playing two different sides in this instance. On one end he's bringing the passion of a potential lead of a different film, that Strauss might've written himself, as a man intensely dismayed at this outcome with a real fervour in his voice to make sure his country's safety is secured. His eyes convey a man with this belief and determination of someone who is ready to do what it takes in doing what he believes is the right thing for his country. BUT, Downey also accentuates parts of lines that skew towards some pettiness towards Oppenheimer, some direct passive aggressive emotion, not overtly but part of it. And within his delivering creating the moments not just of disagreement over policy but directed anger towards the man. Downey creates the duality effectively of just the man perhaps concerned genuinely for what this development is, and the man who just hates the man who seems to belittle him at every turn, even if largely unintentionally. 

The framing device of Strauss follows his testimony before Congress for his potential appointment and we see the phases of essentially what Strauss presents to the public. And Downey initially again seems humble, funny even in his way of being more than willingly to accept merely knowing the great man of Oppenheimer, speaking about this relationship with almost shades of nostalgia. When questions continue over his potential part with the security clearance inquiry for Oppenheimer, Downey plays just this befuddlement of any idea that he could have anything to do with it. Presenting as the trustworthy Downey one would expect from the day of Tony Stark, even his way of saying "he's easy to blame" is just waiting for someone to say "no you're not". Downey though shows the facade slowly breaking first in his idea of saying he fought Oppenheimer and "the US won" though this as just an imagined almost playful idea. But again Downey again alludes to a break as he comments on who the scientist who might be testifying on the matter of Oppenheimer may be, as first asking if Chicago, again as just curiosity seemingly sincere just to find out, but then proceeds to mention Los Alamos, Downey again is doing clever way of just barely holding the bile in as he notes those scientists to be in the "cult" of Oppenheimer, but just a little bit at the end of the sentence. And through this though is revealing in plain sight that Strauss has always been the man who undermined Oppenheimer, something I knew before going into the film, but still found it wonderful how Nolan utilized the presence of Downey to craft this twist. And it isn't just presence, though it starts there and Downey knows how to use it to create the wool to blind you into believing Strauss as the innocent man of circumstance, but also how Downey blend that with the real truth of the man throughout the film. 

 

Downey creates the effective double meanings to every action of Strauss between the phony surface and the real. A fantastic moment in this regard when Strauss is revealing to an already down Oppenheimer that one of his scientists was a soviet spy. Downey puts on the perfect face of a phony sympathy while in his eyes loving every minute of the humiliation of the man, and just holding back the slightest smile that he just barely keeps inside. And when we see the truth of the man orchestrating this attack on Oppenheimer, Downey shifts completely to the master politician in his performance, detecting every movement as the master tactician with an ease of every manipulative suggestion and a determination of a different kind. No longer the man who is confused by the accusations or humbled by his connections, but we see the true ego of the man displayed with an intensity in his vindictiveness in every decree. But the other true side of the man we see even more bluntly as it is clear that his nomination will not come easily or at all, and Downey explodes in a moment his performance has been leading to throughout the entire film through every single instance of the quiet bitterness and the hints of pettiness that come to a climax. It all comes out in his portrayal of anger, which is outstanding work by Downey. The reason it is great is because Downey isn't conveying a single type of outrage at Oppenheimer. There's self-righteousness as he denounces Oppenheimer's moral faults surrounding the bomb, there's jealousy in every word as he mimics Oppenheimer's words as false, there's personal bitterness as he so venomously notes that Oppenheimer turned the science community against him, but most of all it is a near petulant manner of the most fragile yet oversized egos in his nearly breaking voice. Where Downey speaks the heart of all of it, is just feeling slighted and never being able to be the "great man" so many viewed Oppenheimer as having been, as he speaks it with indignation but also a sad resignation all the same. Downey delivers one of his best performances. It goes beyond a return to being more than Tony Stark for him once again, as the measured restraint he utilizes properly builds towards this most explosive finale (no pun intended). Crafting a dynamic unwinding of a parallel portrait for Oppenheimer of a man not haunted by his ambition as the titular man, but rather haunted by his failure to coexist with such a man.  

Best Supporting Actor 2023: Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert De Niro received his eighth acting Oscar nomination for portraying William King Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon. 

Killers of the Flower Moon follows the story of the murder that transpired around the indigenous Osage nation after they had become unexpectedly wealthy from having discovered oil.

I will admit coming into the film I pretty much thought I was going to know how Robert De Niro was going to approach the role of William Hale, one of the most evil men of history, and to the credit of the great actor he instantly surprised me the moment his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) stepped on his estate after having returned from being a soldier in World War I. The first being De Niro's accent, which in the tricky mid-west to southern regions it is easy to become overwrought very quickly, perhaps even a co-star of his is, and maybe even De Niro fell to this trap in his last Oscar-nominated Scorsese turn, but here De Niro's work is on point. De Niro's accent not only makes him simply fit the setting of Oklahoma it also oddly disarms you within the character. As De Niro's accent isn't just of the period, of the area, it is also surprisingly welcoming innately. There's an ease in his voice that seems to want to invite everyone into his good company, not just his kin even, he appears to be the man of the people everyone says he is within the story early on, not the monster that you'll learn he is throughout the film. Take the first scene, where yes Hale is welcoming his nephew back, but De Niro's whole demeanor is just exuding a generous warmth towards him, but just also seemingly to the world as he tries to accentuate every positive in Ernest's story of war, which mostly involved feeding other troops and almost dying of a burst gut. And on rewatch De Niro is simply brilliant here in what he is doing, in actually immediately creating the full intention of Hale even as he seems like just a man being happy to see his nephew again. But when going through specific motions about Ernest's prospects, De Niro eyes shift towards a more incisive stare at times, and you can almost see the calculation in his head processing what value the nephew may have for him. 

The surprise of De Niro's work resonates even more towards the scenes where we see Hale in public. And in public De Niro exudes a charisma that is so specific to period and kind of the time of this man about the community. And part of this creates the suspect in plain sight because his performance is so much as seemingly a good man, but the thing is, which is the choice I find the most fascinating, is this isn't entirely a facade as played by De Niro. Not just because he's convincing either, which De Niro is, as take this as a different film, remove some scenes obviously, and you'd think that Hale was merely the wise old man who everyone can trust. In the sequence where Ernest marries the Osage woman Mollie (Lily Gladstone), who is heir to a substantial fortune, De Niro is, for the lack of a better word, lovely. First in his advising Ernest as he'll be married with frankly a sweet sense of encouragement, then at the wedding where Hale reminisces of seeing Mollie as a little girl, his eyes are filled with nostalgia, his manner as a man just encouraging love, because De Niro's delivery is with this earnest quiet conviction and more than that the surprising warmth about the man. De Niro from the outside perspective doesn't leave you any room to even suspect the man would be anyone but a good man. When the man is stating his own claim to support the Osage when they offer a reward money to discover the perpetrators of the local murders, De Niro appears to be absolutely sincere though with this specific accentuation of "come see me", where De Niro couldn't be more inviting. His big speech to the support of the whole nation in the moment, De Niro's eyes glisten with optimism, hope and affection. He seems like a man who genuinely, absolutely wants to help. And historical spoiler alert, I guess, Hale is the mastermind behind all the murders.

De Niro's choice in respect to the outward Hale and the inward Hale though is I think the genius of this performance. Because here's the thing, within the way De Niro expresses this it isn't entirely a facade, even though Hale is actively advocating for the murder of multiple people. Therefore part of him is most definitely lying in terms of the wanting the killers found, however De Niro doesn't entirely portray the hospitality of Hale as completely false. Partly this is because the man is truly disarming as he speaks and you wouldn't immediately suspect him so there is the completely successful ruse as such, but De Niro I think gets to something more insidious within Hale through this approach. De Niro does not portray sadism in Hale towards the people he's killing, in fact he only shows them warmth, and for me the twisted brilliance of his performance is that Hale isn't lying entirely. Rather De Niro presents a man who loses nothing in his warmth, but the warmth isn't something that keeps him from orchestrating the murders. De Niro though presents Hale as treating them as merely obstacles to him, and as such their deaths are meaningless, while also not having the meaning of even hate to them. He can say he "loves" them even, even as he says it's time for them to die, because De Niro accentuates that it is all just merely something that needs to be done for his benefit, which is merely the profit from the murders. There isn't a single scene where De Niro voices a hint of venom to the natives, he saves that for Ernest, but rather leaves it to Hale's actions. And as odd as this seems, Hale is truly vile by showing a man who is entirely detached from it. De Niro expresses in his performance that killing the natives is something to happen, Hale has no ill-feeling towards them, but he also has no ill-feeling towards their deaths either. It is just merely a step in his horrible plan. 

De Niro's choice to create a charismatic villain for the piece not only is dynamic, it is particularly essential because so much of the film he needs to carry the scenes featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio's very mannered performance falls into the category of many of his Scorsese directed performances, which is going off on the wrong end. I actually find that DiCaprio's performance, while in itself not ideal, is made worse by his influence overall on the film which is centering on Ernest Burkhart as the main character. And while I had reservations the first time in this regard, it was only exacerbated the second time around for two main reasons. One, there isn't anything interesting about Ernest. You can have a fool as a main character, but you either need a fool with more going on or just briefer runtime. Ernest is a big nothing, whose motivation is simple and his conflict feels frankly false. What does make this even less ideal is DiCaprio's performance, and I'll say this is a constant for me with lesser DiCaprio performances, where his more obnoxious choices grate on me the more times I watch the film. As I can kind of ignore it the first time but it is hard to keep ignoring his needlessly attempted showboating the second time, similar was my response to Gangs of New York and Shutter Island. And DiCaprio's choices though just stick out for the worse, in just his over the top choices to make Ernest as a cretin, with a ridiculous grumpy cat face of conflict for no reason, and an overdone accent to make sure you know he's playing this low class man of the west and not Leonardo DiCaprio. But in a film where just about everyone else feels just so authentic, he sticks out like the sorest of thumbs, until I guess he gets to share a scene with Brendan Fraser. And just spending time with Ernest became even more of an arduous time, because he's just not interesting on any level, and even the attempt to show the pull between loyal nephew and husband, just feels forced. I didn't mind getting through it thanks to nearly every other element, which I still love, but having to go through his pointless tomfoolery the first time was when I did think, "this could be trimmed down" but over again, made me really think "most of this could be cut". And as a film that is just as an overall tapestry of the murders with different characters of equal importance, that could've been the complete masterpiece, as opposed to this film which has qualities of a masterpiece but is not one. 

Anyway back to De Niro, and the reason I gave that brief review is in part to praise De Niro more, because his performance kept me engaged in his scenes with DiCaprio, almost in part as it was very easy to enjoy his scenes of being semi-comical in his berating. And I will say I do quite enjoy his "now don't swear on your children, it makes you sound foolish", which is a well realized bit of pitch black comedy on his part. And it is in his scenes with DiCaprio where De Niro does implement the true evil of Hale, though still not again not quite in the way you might expect. As we return to the calculating stare in his scene of greeting Ernest, and it is in his eyes where De Niro expresses the truth of Hale. As part of his eyes isn't again looking with hate, towards Osage, but rather this chilling sense of eager opportunity. The true full classic De Niro intensity, is largely towards Ernest's idiocy, where we see the vile evil of Hale. Although De Niro carries this, most strikingly often in just a slight switch of his look to a glare that speaks of the true killer nature of the man. De Niro implements this intensity only in the moments where something may threaten his eventual profit. De Niro there reveals the truth to Hale's want which is purely for the greed of it, and it is only when something gets in the way do we see the real menace of De Niro. A menace that he presents with the expected ease, though specifically weaponized and you do see the hate in the man, though the hate for any idiocy that will get in his way. And what De Niro essentially crafts is a businessman who is treating this whole affair as a business agreement, and much like a businessman, everything is smiles and joyful good feeling until something gets in the way of profits. As even when dealing with the FBI investigating him, De Niro brings that graceful charisma who eagerly greets the agent, though still with the angle of working the man as he ponders if there's anyone he might be able to influence behind the investigation. De Niro though showing a man working a deal, and working a deal with outsiders, the man must always put on the good face of business. I love the sequence of him going to his own arrest, and frankly I think De Niro kind of purposefully evokes his 70's cohort Robert Duvall in the specific way he carries himself in the scene, with this generous spirit as he essentially laughs off the murder charge as an impossibility. As do I his final conversation with Ernest, where Ernest says he's going to testify against him, and I'll credit it as one of the few scenes that DiCaprio doesn't detract from by easing back a little bit. De Niro is outstanding in the moment because it is a true blend within his performance. As De Niro shows the greatest struggle in Hale to maintain his face in semi-public of the investigator, where his face is hardened with that intensity but he's just barely maintaining cordiality, though explaining with chilling disregard that people will just forget about his crimes. And ending with his final words being back to the pure jovial face of the man in his delivery of "I love you son" as one final "sell" to change Ernest's mind. And this is yet another great performance by Robert De Niro, though one that again truly took me by surprises with some of his choices, and wholly won me over with each of them them, in his disturbing portrait of a man whose business is genocide. 

Best Supporting Actor 2023: Ryan Gosling in Barbie

Ryan Gosling received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Ken in Barbie. 

Barbie follows the story of Barbieland as one set of Barbie and Ken venture into the real world. 

In the story of Barbieland there are many Barbies though the focus on the center of it all is stereotypical Barbie as performed by Margot Robbie, where her "companion" is technically Gosling's Ken as stereotypical Ken who performs the job of beach, which is to hangout and "do beach" though not actually anything involving water or a general thing known as work. Ryan Gosling seems already well cast as Ken by just more or less looking like a Ken doll, only requiring much more blonde hair in this instance to fully embrace the reality of being Ken. And what is there really to Ken as a character here? Well perhaps the most, but what Gosling does in the role in the first half of the film is "be funny", which sounds simple yet can be the greatest challenge of all. And I'll say even more challenging at times is when the silliness is ever present in the tone of the piece. As when everyone is goofing around being a little silly so how does one stand out? While just simply being the best at it. And as great as Gosling can be at internalized emotionally raw performances, he's also quite capable of extravagant ridiculousness. And what does Gosling do here, well basically what his performance is doing is looking for any excuse for comedy, and has much conviction in that. And Gosling proves himself to be an expert as such as just take the initial moments of Gosling's frustrated reactions as Robbie Barbie is distracted. Gosling has a particular brilliance here in always conveying what the character is going through just being funny when doing it, as here he sets up Ken's frustrations and the looks he gives about them are hilarious. Or his manner after attempting to go headfirst into a solid wave, Gosling's injured face is hilarious, his way of so meekly saying everything about his position as doing beach is proper comedy, his little petulant though also sweet smile when Barbie pays more attention to him is also funny, while also establishing his state of perpetually looking for any attention from Barbie. 

Gosling finds wonderful comedic variation that keeps Ken consistently fresh and importantly just funny in each interaction as early Ken, Barbie is just barely putting up with. And Gosling's performance is both over eagerness and a bit of a subversion of that eagerness. As towards Barbie it is always with a bright smile he looks at her with and every delivery of his with a bit of a baited breath hoping she's going to see him as more than the status quo, while outside of that Gosling bringing this desperate sneering anger when Barbie pays any attention to anyone else including alternate Ken played by Simu Liu. And it's all very funny while also establishing Ken in his state of need, which ends up attempting to help Barbie as she journeys to the real world to solve her existential crisis. Where again Gosling thrives in just his delivery of every line with that certain foolhardy enthusiasm when talking to Robbie. When asking him if he has his roller skates for example, and Gosling replies with the most sincere affirmation. When we get to the real world, where both find it isn't at all as they expect, their reactions are quite different with Ken becoming intrigued and Barbie getting lost. Gosling though is terrific in just making the most out of his reactions, as his eyes widen with excitement every time people notice him and he just exudes this unabashed joy at this whole new world that sees him. And special mention does need to be made out of the pictured image that symbolizes the first half of Gosling's performance. In that Ken getting his picture taken by the police could've been mildly amusing, but it is far funnier because of the extreme level of joyful silliness he manages to contain in a single ridiculous image as Ken poses for the image with as much joy as possible. And that's Gosling role of just bringing that conviction to the silliness in a way that works, he even convinces of Ken's naive acceptance of the patriarchy when presented to him, where Gosling's eye opening fascination is pitch perfect, as is then his most directly faulty delivery as he tries, and fails to get any job with this newfound sense of self-worth. And I would say some of these moments are fairly easy jokes that I might've not even liked if not for Gosling's delivery of them where he just believes in this Ken so convincingly that he makes even a lesser joke far greater through sheer will. 

We then shift to the next phase of Gosling's work where Barbie returns to Barbieland where Ken has transformed it with all the women subservient to the men due to Ken's exposure to the patriarchy. And Gosling shifts his comedic energy slightly as he plays this kind of nefarious quality as the mix of bitterness towards Barbie's lack of attention to him, while also now just owning his new philosophy. Gosling's performance switches particularly in his physical work, which is more aggressive and more grandiose within Ken's over the top full 80's Sylvester Stallone attire. And again Gosling owns it with confidence at certain moments, like putting on two sunglasses is a silly gag, but again what makes it funny is that Gosling's certainty and faux seriousness as he goes about each glasses sells the moment. Gosling successfully becomes this villain of sorts, while comedically as such, and that is both as the now dominating man brandishing his new found power, but also his outrage towards Barbie. Where Gosling's way of screaming out his distress is quite amusing in itself, and again not even necessarily funny in conception but made comic through Gosling's delivery of it that manages to never sacrifice where the character is either. The highlight of the section though is two songs, the first Ken's delivery of "Push" for four hours to serenade Barbie, where Gosling's singing even is funny through the slightly off squeaky over the top "rugged" sound along with his very intense joyful staring at Barbie the whole time. And of course "I'm Just Ken" where Gosling brings that song to life for all its worth as the ballad of all of Ken's sorrows and all his joys all beautifully performed by Gosling once again with such dramatic emphasis to every point of Ken's singular journey towards self-actualization...through the song's placement doesn't exactly make sense....but regardless it works in-spite of that, with a major reason why being Gosling once again. And the climax of the film, aka one speech after another. And if you maybe haven't noticed I took less to the film on re-watch, with the flaws I saw the first time becoming more present but liked everything Gosling did, including realizing Ken's ending. The ending of finally honestly speaking to Barbie who apologizes for taking him for granted, after Ken is at his lowest, which again Gosling does sorrow to an extreme, that makes the point while still being very amusing. BUT the final moment of just sort of finding his place again as a separate entity, Gosling earns this discovery of earnestness without any exception or bitterness at the end, and we see Ken become his own man. And while overall I don't love this film, Gosling's performance consistently sold the tone the best out of anyone in the cast, sold the humor by the far best and realized the most complete arc within the film. 

Best Supporting Actor 2023: Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction

Sterling K. Brown received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Clifford "Cliff" Ellison in American Fiction. 

The reliable Brown, plays the role of Cliff the brother of Jeffrey Wright's Thelonius "Monk" Ellison, who we are first introduced after the surprise death of their sister and we essentially cut into Brown at the ceremony of getting rid of her ashes, where Brown basically has to sum of the nature of his performance in short succession in a single scene. We first see the grief well portrayed by Brown as he listens to the eulogy by his brother, written by his sister, and then when disposing of the ashes a neighbor complains leaving both brothers to admonish the man. Admonish though in a very comedic way, where Brown instantly shifts to the state we'll see as the typical mode of Cliff with a quiet dismissive exasperation as he yells out his insults as though that is his natural state. We follow that as he and Monk talk things over after the funeral. Brown and Wright have strong chemistry because you do sense in their interactions both the distance and connection of brothers. The distance in their differing lives and the relationship with their father and family, where you see in Brown a callous indifference and a very blunt delivery towards it all. He's not hollow, not completely heartless, but in Brown's eyes is a man who wants to be past, well, the past. Where we see connection is actually when the two insult each other for different reasons, often petty, but it's played nicely as at the end of every insult and every reaction Brown shows a little smile and you are granted the sense of their history actually within the conflict.

Brown comes in and out of the film, mostly for quick scenes of comedy where he is often presented as the challenger of Monk's state of superiority by being a much more callous voice of maybe not reason, certainly cynicism but also sometimes reality. Brown mixes petulance with honesty in his performance that contains a definite comedic quality in the ease with which he broaches these moments but in his eyes there is an intensity speaking towards some sense of what's really going on inside him. And what that is that Cliff is a divorced plastic surgeon and in fact a gay man, who never came out to his father, and his mother with dementia also does not recall this. And we have a key moment of this when we see a greater warmth in Brown's work as he dances with his mother, before she brings up a dismissive remark towards his homosexuality, and Brown storms off. His portrayal of this is almost a falling into a base dismay as the state the man just is simply used to and almost expects it with an ire, but an ire he always couches in cynical humor. We get the heart of this in a key conversation with Monk where the two discuss where they are in their lives and both let their guards down a bit. And Brown is good in easing into a quiet vulnerability in his eyes when he notes the unfortunate fact that his father never knew or accepted the real him, and it is a moving moment of Brown naturally revealing the hurt son behind all the one liners. And that is much of what Brown does here is to provide contrast to Wright's Monk and more frequently criticism in a few scenes, that is comedic but with an emotional core. Brown delivers on both sides and is a good scene partner for Wright. I do wish though the writing behind some of his one liners was a little stronger and maybe there was a bit more meat in certain sections such as a minor subplot involving their family housekeeper where Cliff treats her as nothing but she treats him as family. An idea with potential but literally handled by two lines in the film. But to Brown's credit he's good at portraying sort of the blithe indifference of the first line and then the caught off guard emotional realization of the second. And on the comedic side I kind of wish Brown had gotten into the satire of Monk’s phony book for more than just one brief scene at the end of the film, where we get a quick mildly amusing back and forth between brothers, which does show progression as we know see no direct callousness and bit more just overt warmth between the two even if they're still insulting one another. But with all these wishes I might have, this is still a good performance, that truly is supporting, as we see Cliff support the main story of Monk/Wright effectively throughout thanks to Brown's performance. A performance that carries the humor and heartache of the character with relative ease, even if perhaps I wish there was a little more of the former and maybe just a little more depth to the latter.

Best Supporting Actor 2023

And the Nominees Are:

Ryan Gosling in Barbie

Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things

Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer

Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon

Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction