Best Actor Backlog Vol. 6 Results

5. Vincent Gallo in Essential Killing - Gallo give a decent essentially survivalist performance as he reacts to the intense physical gauntlet of his character convincingly. 

Best Scene: In recovery. 

4. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Jack Goes Boating - Hoffman doesn't give one of his best performances but it is expected reliable work from him.

Best Scene: Freak out. 

3. Clive Owen in Trust - Owen is limited by the film's writing however he manages to find some genuine emotion and not go to complete melodrama.

Best Scene: Reconnecting with his daughter. 

2. Alan Cumming in Josie and The Pussycats - Cumming gives a hilarious performance that finds the right tone for his material and just runs with it. 

Best Scene: Thinking about high school revenge. 

1. Tony Leung in In the Mood For Love - Leung gives an absolutely powerful performance built upon the smallest of gestures and moments, that speak volumes within the overall piece. 

Best Scene: Stopping at the door. 

Alternate Best Actor 2011: Clive Owen in Trust

Clive Owen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Will Cameron in Trust.

Trust could be much better but also could be much worse about the fallout of a teenage girl being sexually assaulted by an online predator. 

Clive Owen plays the father of the girl Annie (Liana Liberato), whom the opening act of the film seems to be living the idyllic enough lifestyle in a Chicago suburb. Owen plays the early scenes of the film very much  as the common man just going about that life with his family and wife (Catherine Keener) with the rest of the family. Owen doesn't put too much on it in his scenes of advising his son to avoid peer pressure with just a gentle reminder with a bit of a tough dad but not an overplayed quality. Mostly we just see the general warmth of the dad as he's going along with his good life, we see him with his boss occasionally who is overly brash, however even that Owen plays off as a slightly judgmental smirk. That is until his daughter is lured to a hotel room where she raped, however that is only the first crime, as this quickly leads Annie's best friend to report it which creates a public spectacle of the rape. And here's where the film could've fully fallen off a cliff or become something truly powerful but it doesn't really do either. It isn't quite an after-school special, but it isn't completely elevated beyond that. The writing frequently is, David Schwimmer's fairly terrible visual choices throughout additionally are, but what Schwimmer does manage to get right is within the performances of the actors. The actors very much save the film because it would've been extremely easy to fall into over the top choices given the material, but for the most part this is avoided.

Owen is one of the focal points of the emotion of the piece and is moving in the early scenes of reaction to the rape in just presenting the sudden horror upon his face that quickly switches to vicious anger towards the man responsible for the act. Owen matching the intensity effectively by very much bringing to life the immediacy of the reaction. And it would have been easy to seem too much or too soft in a way, but Owen does make it all feel very real in the moment. Unfortunately the film ends up being a little repetitive in where he goes from there as we basically get one frustration after another, as the FBI fails to catch the man, Will notices sexualized images at work and becomes frustrated by the fact that his daughter continues to obsess over her groomer. Owen's performance though does modulate between these elements playing in the moments in the world just the quiet burden that never leaves the man. When reacting to his daughter or to the investigation, Owen's intensity does feel earned as the perpetual anger of a man who wants to hurt something to avenge his pain yet ends up turning back on his own family. The film ends up not giving him too many interesting places to go leaving Owen to have to repeat notes as the character just continues to be in this state of anger, though again Owen effectively always weighs it down with sadness and the sense that is all part of the frustration of the helplessness he feels in what happened to his daughter. I suppose I could be more critical and say Owen doesn't differentiate between these scenes enough, however I think it is more so the writing that keeps him lost and angry for most of it. And Owen does hit his notes effectively again, as we have a more harrowing scene coming from the daughter's reaction to this trauma that is certainly moving and painful in again Owen bringing that pain to life with visceral intensity. The final scene though of the film involving the family is perhaps too clean in a way as the daughter and dad finally connect again as he espouses all his fears to her and they finally reach something. Something that might have worked better if the script built to it more. Again though Owen in the more sedated performance of a moment of clarity is affecting in bringing an earnest vulnerability that shows the same pain just expressed in a healthier way. However then the film ends, and you know just how limited Will's whole story ended up being, though Owen's efforts are admirable avoiding the worst option, albeit not quite truly elevating it beyond the full limitations of the piece. 

Best Actor Backlog Volume 6

 And the Overlooked Performances Are:

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Jack Goes Boating

Vincent Gallo in Essential Killing

Clive Owen in Trust

Tony Leung Chiu Wai in In The Mood For Love

Alan Cumming in Josie and the Pussycats

Alternate Best Actor 2006: Results

10. Matt Damon in The Departed - Damon actually is good being a despicable worm you want to see get his comeuppance, but he's never more and the potential seemed to be there in the role.

Best Scene: Sullivan and Costigan in the Elevator.

9. Hugh Jackman in The Prestige - The main reason he's so low is merely his extra character in the film where he goes a little too broad. He's great though in portraying his character's great showmanship and his underlying obsession.

Best Scene: Angier confesses the truth about his "trick".

8. Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies - This is just a really fun performance as Dujardin as he brilliantly replicates while satirizing 60's James Bond. 

Best Scene: The real version of his time with Jefferson .

7. Keanu Reeves in A Scanner Darkly - Reeves gives a powerful depiction of a man who slowly loses his mind through his drug addiction while still trying to be an undercover cop.

Best Scene: Bob's break down.

6. Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes the Barley - Murphy gives a great performance not as a larger than life freedom fighter, but as an average man doing what he believes in.

Best Scene: The execution.

5. Ken Watanabe in Letters From Iwo Jima- Watanabe manages to show the commander of men, but as well the man behind the uniform.

Best Scene: The General and the Private meet for the last time.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed - DiCaprio gives a compelling portrayal of the intensity and pressure of an undercover cop.

Best Scene: Billy's visit to the psychiatrist.

3. Christian Bale in The Prestige - Christian Bale gives a memorable portrayal of a peculiar obsession and his duplicitous work makes the film's twist particularly effective.  

Best Scene: Borden meets Lord Caldlow.

2. Clive Owen in Children of Men - Clive Owen gives a powerful portrayal that makes his character's personal struggle resonate even though the film rarely focuses on that.

Best Scene: Theo watches his friend's execution.

1. Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others - Good Predictions Luke, Anonymous, Kevin, mcofra7, and  Psifonian. Mühe gives an exceptional performance as he so poignantly and convincingly portrays the transformation of a man from a heartless cog in a machine to a good man. 

Best Scene: The second interrogation.

Overall Rank:

1. Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others
2. Clive Owen in Children of Men
3. Christian Bale in The Prestige
4. Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland
5. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed
6. Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland
7. Daniel Craig in Casino Royale
8. Ken Watanabe in Letter From Iwo Jima
9. Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes the Barley
10. Keanu Reeves in A Scanner Darkly
11. Aaron Eckhart in Thank You For Smoking
12. Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
13. Hugh Jackman in The Prestige
14. Adrien Brody in Hollywoodland 
15. Josh Hartnett in Lucky Number Slevin
16. Leonardo DiCaprio in Blood Diamond
17. James McAvoy in The Last King of Scotland
18. Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson
19. Edward Norton in The Painted Veil
20. Peter O'Toole in Venus
21. Sebastian Koch in The Lives of Others
22. Denzel Washington in Inside Man
23. Clive Owen in Inside Man
24. Hugo Weaving in V For Vendetta
25. Edward Norton in The Illusionist 
26. Greg Kinnear in Little Miss Sunshine 
27. Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction
28. Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III
29. Matt Damon in The Departed
30. Patrick Wilson in Little Children
31. Richard Gere in The Hoax
32. Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond
33. Ryan Reynolds in Smokin' Aces 
34. Sylvester Stallone in Rocky Balboa
35. Luke Wilson in Idiocracy
36. Kazunari Ninomiya in Letters From Iwo Jima
37. Mark Wahlberg in Invincible
38. Will Smith  in The Pursuit of Happyness
39. Josh Hartnett in The Black Dahlia
40. Hugh Jackman in X-Men: The Last Stand
41. Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
42. Owen Wilson in Cars 
43. Will Ferrell in Talladega Nights in The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
44. Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd
45. Brandon Routh in Superman Returns 
46. Ben Stiller in Night At the Museum
47. Tim Allen in The Santa Clause: The Escape Clause
48. Robin Williams in RV
49. Orlando Bloom in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Next Year: 2006 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2006: Clive Owen in Children of Men

Clive Owen did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Theo Faron in Children of Men.

Children of Men is an excellent film set in a world that has been torn about by the sudden infertility of seemingly all women.

We first meet Theo at the beginning of the film as he is merely watching the news of the youngest person in the world dying while he is getting coffee. We see him adding alcohol to his coffee outside before the coffee shop he was just in explodes from a bomb, either from terrorists or the government it is never told. From there on he is are average man who we are to follow through the world that the film creates. Theo seems simple enough and Owen is great in establishing his character's rather bored way through life. There isn't anything passionate as he maneuvers through the day and even after narrowly avoiding being blown up there is not much happiness in having survived that. Other than portraying the fear of the immediate moment of the attack Owen is very effective in establishing as this as a more ordinary occurrence than it should be in this world because of his nonchalance towards it afterwards. The most notable thing about Theo early on is Theo's exasperation with it all.

The most notable thing about Theo is more of who he knows than who he is actually is. First with his off-beat hippie friend Jasper (Michael Caine) as swell his estranged wife Julian (Julianne Moore) who is a the leader of a terrorist group opposed to the government. In his scenes with Jasper Owen is quite good in just exuding a bit of joy showing that his time with his friend is probably the only good time he really has in life. On the other hand it is a particularly disconcerting thing when he goes off to a meeting with his wife as she has thugs abduct him using a van and bag over his head bringing him to a hidden location. Although he is seeing his wife for the first time in some time their relationship is not delved into too much in terms of Owen's performance. Instead Owen rather properly expresses just the surprise and disbelief at the manner in which she is meeting her. Also there really is not a great deal of time for anything else as she technically only met him to have him procure papers for a woman who needs to get out of England.

Theo is able to procure the papers through his well to do cousin and accepts the mission apparently due to the money he is being offered for it. This does not appear to be the only reason as Theo contacts Julian again for the mission. Owen's is terrific as he alludes to a more active Theo of one time as he expresses affections to his wife, carefully as though not to make it too obvious yet suggests the history the two one shared. Owen seamlessly switches to his usual sardonic callousness though after she rebuffs his semi-attempt at rekindling due to memories of their dead son who died in a flu epidemic. Suddenly though as they begin to try to transfer the woman Julian is suddenly killed in an attack. Owen is truly outstanding in the scene as Julian is laid to rest as he first keeps his usual uncaring reserve. After he walks away from the rest of the group though Owen is absolutely heartbreaking as he so naturally loses that reserve to reveal the overpowering grief that Theo actually feels over his wife's death.

Soon after this point Theo finds out that the woman in fact is pregnant and takes it upon himself to get her to safety after he finds out that it was his wife's own terrorist group that killed her. Owen only continues to be exceptional in portraying Theo's reactions to this apparent miracle. When he sees that she's pregnant Owen is flawless in expressing the wonderment of seeing the impossible one again, and gives so much weight to what it means within the film's world. Owen's performance technically becomes even more reserved technically speaking since Theo has to continue right through trying to help the woman find safety while avoiding being killed by either the terrorists or the government forces. Owen does not necessarily have even a lot of lines, which is interesting because I would not describe Theo as a stoic individual, but that never matters as Owen's performance stays consistently compelling throughout the film.

The second half of the film there continues to be great moments for Owen's performance and it is astonishing to note how simple in terms of what Owen needs to do yet how powerfully he does it. One such scene that is fantastic is as Theo overhears Jasper tell the story of how he met Julian. Owen does not say a thing yet his expression conveys the heart beak and the emotional loss as Theo merely is given the moment to reflect on the past. An equally poignant moment comes when Theo must witness yet another of the people he loves being killed. Owen reaction charges the scene with such an intense emotional power as this time he is forced to once again grieve while being charged with anger for the act as he seems to hold in all in well wishing to scream out his pain. Also the pivotal moment of the birth is brilliant played by Owen. All the nervousness, unease, and even humor as he tries to talk her through it, then when the baby comes Owen once again shows the wonderment of the moment.

This an interesting challenge against Clive Owen since everything about Theo as a character is technically just accepted and even his character arc never stops to next the stop. The film never needs scenes specifically to develop Theo's character though because of Clive Owen's work. He flawlessly creates the character through the lines, and shows him grow as a hero without needing to have an obvious scene to make this change. Owen's work here is one of the moment, and that's all that he needs to be. The way he makes every scene have a greater impact through the simplest aspect of his performance. Even the way he moves around in the action set pieces is notable, yet never distracting, as he just again adds to this visceral punch. Owen is never overshadowed by the vision of the world he only amplifies it with his performance that shows an actor does not necessarily need the normal associated elements of a great performance to give a great performance. Well Owen gives a great performance, and I'd say one of the very best of its sort.

Alternate Best Actor 2006

And the Nominees Were Not:

Hugh Jackman in The Prestige

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed

Ken Watanabe in Letters From Iwo Jima

Clive Owen in Children of Men

Jean Dujardin in OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies

Predict Those Five or Predict These Five:

Christian Bale in The Prestige

Matt Damon in The Departed

Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others

Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Keanu Reeves in A Scanner Darkly

Or predict both separately if you want. I'll give you two requests.

Best Supporting Actor 2004: Results

5. Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby- Freeman gives a painfully standard performance, that is horribly uninspired.

3. Alan Alda in The Aviator- Alda has very little to do but still his performance is effective as he shows both the charm and the cruelty of a career politician.

3. Clive Owen in Closer- Owen although has strong elements particularly in portraying the harsh bluntness of his character, but also lacks in terms of his onscreen relationships with his female co-stars.

2. Jamie Foxx in Collateral - Foxx is overshadowed but he is consistently good a making for a believable hapless hero. 

1. Thomas Haden Church in Sideways- A very easy win for Church who easily gives the best performance of the five through his great achievement of finding a way to make what technically should be just a despicable character, a endearing one instead.

Best Supporting Actor 2004: Clive Owen in Closer

Clive Owen recieved his first Oscar nomination for portraying Larry Gray in Closer.

Closer details the intertwined relationships of four miserable people.

Clive Owen portrays one of these four miserable people a dermatologist who is rather cheeky to say the least. He is not supporting of the other three and really all four actors are lead in this film. This is a performance that a lot of people love, but I can't really join that love for this performance, although I will agree that Clive Owen does give the best performance in the film by far. The problems in the performance though come from the overall chemistry with the rest of the cast really.

I do think one aspect of the character Owen does nail is the bluntness of the character. Out of any other character one can argue he is technically the most honest, even if that makes him seem sort of crueler. Owen does have just the right clear and concise fashion in which he speaks and acts. Owen shows that with Larry he just says things the way he sees them, does exactly what he wants, and will always admit his motivations to be exactly what they are.

Owen has the right directness in his performance that shows the exactly zero inhibitions Larry has when it comes to his life. My problems with performance comes with his chemistry with the rest of the cast not so much with Jude Law as his perpetual rival their mutual dislike for one another is appropriately shown with always a certain underlying intensity between the two in their scenes together. It is really his chemistry with Julia Roberts, and Natalie Portman that I have an issue with.

With Julia Roberts I really did not feel there was much of anything between the two, since I never really saw either actor convey enough of a passion with one another for me to honestly believe their relationship. They are suppose to instantly hit off so much that they are soon married, but aside from Owen being slightly charming their is not a strong enough purpose for it. There is not enough of love or lust shown between the two, making the relationship seem quite underwhelming between the two.

This is also true for his scenes with Natalie Portman particularly in their later scenes with he is suppose to be lusting after here. Owen most certainly tries his best, but there never is a great enough drive in their scenes together to make sense of his intense lust, and even Owen's lust was never quite intense as it really should have been. This is hardly a bad performance though and it certainly has strong aspect, but on a whole it is really less than it should have been.

Best Supporting Actor 2004

And the Nominees Were:

Alan Alda in The Aviator

Thomas Haden Church in Sideways

Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby

Clive Owen in Closer

Jamie Foxx in Collateral