Best Actor 2011: Results

5. George Clooney in The Descendants- Clooney as usual for him fails to find conviction in his performance. He has a strange lack of consistency and has some very bad moments that are suppose to be his money scenes.

4. Brad Pitt in Moneyball- Brad Pitt gives a fine leading performance here that is effectively charming and entertaining.

3. Demian Bichir in A Better Life- Demain Bichir gives a heartfelt and incredibly moving performance that only ever relies on bringing out genuine emotions in every moment of his film.

2. Jean Dujardin in The Artist- Jean Dujardin gives simply a wonderful performance that is a unique achievement to behold. He never fails to entertain as well as create a powerful portrait despair as well it is truly great work.

1. Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Gary Oldman has the greatest of challenges with his almost emotionless part, yet he makes a compelling and very convincing characterization. His performance improves for me each time I have watched it. A very difficult decision to be sure and I certainly thought between these top two for quite a while. Both give superb performances, and again I have no real reason for picking Oldman over Dujardin, I think they are equally good in their challenging roles, but I am forced to pick one.

Deserving Performances
Ryan Gosling in Drive
Brendan Gleeson in The Guard

Best Actor 2011: Demian Bichir in A Better Life

Demian Bichir received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Carlos Galindo in A Better Life.

A Better Life is a descent although far from perfect film about an illegal immigrant from Mexico who attempts to make a better life for his son.

Demian Bichir portrays an illegal immigrant from Mexico who lives in American earning a living through working on trees. Bichir early on shows Carlos just to be really an average but hard working man who honestly just wants to work hard for more. Bichir realistically shows just the right degree of exhaustion on his face to indicate that Carlos has been doing this for a long while. Although not tired in the sense that suggest he does not want to do before, just in the sense that he has been working hard.

Bichir has always a certain ease in the role that always supports the idea of Carlos' history as a worker and as a father. In the first scene with his son there is just a thoroughly natural quality to their scenes together.Their first together is special really because of just how ordinary they are with one another. They establish in their first scene as a father and son that is not the warmest but neither is the coldest. Bichir really characterizes it as less than it should be merely by the fact that Carlos is basically working most of the time and is simply too tired from that to devote the effort to deal with his son.

Bichir effectively brings us into his world with him, and through his simple but moving approach he makes Carlos an easy man to empathize with. He always shows that Carlos' hopes and dreams are genuine, and truly meaningful to him. Because of this honest approach when Carlos finally has the money to buy the equipment to run the tree service himself we are able to feel the joy of the success with him. The scene where he goes to show his son what he has finally achieved is one of the most genuinely heart warming moments I have seen in a recent film.  His happiness and pride in what he has gained is truly brought to life by Bichir.

Soon afterwards in the film Carlos' fortune quickly changes though when his truck is stolen suddenly. Bichir again sense he created such an honest portrait from the beginning of the film, this scene is made heartbreaking as we can really feel the loss right along with him. Bichir is terrific in these scenes because he really downplays it all to great effect. Bichir shows Carlos to really be a modest man and it would be incorrect for him to respond in some great outburst of anger, instead he very simply shows a sadness  in him, but Bichir always shows that Carlos never loses his determination though.

The later scenes of the film focuses on Carlos looking for what was stolen from him with his son, as well at the same time attempting to bond with his son. In these scenes the whole time I wished the actor playing Carlos' son was better, since Bichir is excellent and these scenes could have been great if Bichir had been equaled by his co-star. Bichir is extremely moving in these scenes as he shows Carlos' quiet attempts to try to reconnect with his son. Bichir never tries to force the emotional impact of these scene but rather brings them naturally with his genuine performance.

These scenes could have frankly fallen into overt sentimentality but Bichir never forces a moment. He shows that Carlos have a completely honest love for his son, and only wishes to try to connect with his son. Bichir presents this with a clear history with his son that is exceedingly moving. We feel with Bichir his whole struggle to reach his son, as well as his loss when he forced away from him. It is a very emotionally powerful portrait that always manages to bring the strength of everyone moment to it fullest.

Best Actor 2011

And the Nominees Are:

Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Jean Dujardin in The Artist

George Clooney in The Descendants

Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 

Demian Bichir in A Better Life

I break my scheduled reviews of supporting 95 to return once again to Best Actor. I actually did not except to do this yet, and would have held off since I thought Michael Fassbender was going to be nominated, and I have not seen Shame, but now I have seen all of these performances.

Supporting will wait because I have yet to see Extremely Loud, or My Week with Marilyn, but I do think I will probably write a deserving performance for Albert Brooks.