Alternate Best Actor 2000: Results

5. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?- Clooney gives a fun and endearing performance, which is fun to follow through this adventure.

Best Scene: The boys are about to be hanged.

4. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- Yun-Fat succeeds well in a role tailored made for his particular screen presence.

Best Scene: His last scene.

3. Eric Bana in Chopper- Bana is a lot of fun with a bonkers performance that somehow makes his character believable.

Best Scene: Chopper kills the Turk.

2. Christian Bale in American Psycho- Bale performance gives a comedic phony performance that actually suits his character far better then if he played it straight.

Best Scene: Bateman kills Paul Allen.

1. Guy Pearce in Memento- Good Prediction Koook160. This was an easy choice for me. Guy Pearce gives a great performance brilliantly realizing his character's most unusual disability while flawlessly taking his character down a many differing paths, and never becoming dull for a moment even though his character does repeat himself often.

Best Scene: Leonard confronts John G. or at least he thinks he does.

Overall Rank:

1. Guy Pearce in Memento
2. Lee Byung-hun in Joint Security Area
   
3. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Mood For Love
4. Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire
5. Tom Hanks in Castaway
6. Christian Bale in American Psycho
7. Eric Bana in Chopper
8. Sol Kyung-gu in Peppermint Candy
   
9. Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys 
10. Damian Alcazar in Herod's Law
11. John Cusack in High Fidelity
    
12. Russell Crowe in Gladiator
13. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
14. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?
15. Song Kang-ho in Foul King
    
16. Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot  
17. Colin Farrell in Tigerland
    
18. Denis Lavant in Beau Travail 
19. Dennis Hopper in The Spreading Ground
20. Paul Bettany in Gangster No. 1 
21. Ricardo Darin in Nine Queens
    
22. Bruce Greenwood in Thirteen Days 
23. Mel Gibson in The Patriot
24. Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable  
25. William H. Macy in Panic
    
26. Dennis Quaid in Frequency
27. Bruce Willis in Unbreakable
28. Joaquin Phoenix in Quills
29. Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans  
30. Mel Gibson in Chicken Run 
31. Søren Pilmark in Flickering Lights
32. Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon
33. Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft 
34. Haley Joel Osment in Pay It Forward 
35. Josse De Pauw in Everybody's Famous
    
36. Lee Sung-jae in Barking Dogs Never Bite
    
37. Ethan Hawke in Hamlet
    
38. Gaston Pauls in Nine Queens
    
39. Bolek Polivka in Divided We Fall
    
40. Andrew Shim in A Room For Romeo Brass
41. Ben Marshall in A Room For Romeo Brass
    
42. Omar Epps in Love and Basketball
    
43. Jim Caviezel in Frequency 
44. Kevin Spacey in Pat It Forward
45. Samuel L. Jackson in Rules of Engagement 
    
46. David Spade in The Emperor's New Groove
    
47. George Clooney in A Perfect Storm
48. Mark Wahlberg in A Perfect Storm
49. Rob Brown in Finding Forrester
50. John Goodman in The Emperor's New Groove
    
51. Mark Ruffalo in You Can Count On Me
    
52. Hugh Jackman in X-Men 
53. Csongor Kassai in Divided We Fall 
54. Vince Vaughn in The Cell
    
55. Matthew McConaughey in U-571
56. Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement
57. Gary Sinise in Mission to Mars
58. Tatsuya Fujimara in Battle Royale 
59. Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon
60. Matt Damon in The Legend of Bagger Vance
61. Val Kilmer in Red Planet 
62. Brendan Fraser in Bedazzled
63. John Malkovich in Shadow of the Vampire 
    
64. Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents 
65. Matthew Perry in Whole Nine Yards
66. Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents
67. Bruce Willis in The Whole Nine Yards
68. Ed Harris in Pollock
69. Nicolas Cage in Gone in Sixty Seconds
70. Geoffrey Rush in Quills
71. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls
72. Matthew Davis in Tigerland
    
73. Giuseppe Sulfaro in Malena
    
74. Keanu Reeves in The Replacements 
75. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The 6th Day 
76. Sylvester Stallone in Get Carter
77. Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days 
78. Mark Wahlberg in The Yards
    
79. Patrick Fugit in Almost Famous
80. Jim Carrey in The Grinch
81. Jared Leto in Requiem for a Dream
    
82. Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor II
83. Jamie Foxx in Bait
84. Giovanni Ribisi in Boiler Room
    
85. Christopher Lambert in Highlander Endgame 
86. Barry Pepper in Battlefield Earth
87. Martin Lawrence in Big Momma's House
88. Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses
    
89. Breckin Meyer in Road Trip
90. Adrian Paul in Highlander Endgame 
91. Justin Whalin in Dungeons & Dragons
    
92. Adam Sandler in Little Nicky 
93. Damon Wayans in Bamboozled
    
94. John Travolta in Battlefield Earth

Next Year: 2000 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2000: Eric Bana in Chopper

Eric Bana did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read in Chopper.

Chopper is odd but interesting and enjoyable character study of the story of a convict who eventually becomes a best selling author while still in prison.

It's always rather funny when an actor's early role differs so much from his later output. This is the case for Eric Bana, who actually was a comedian before this film, and afterwards often plays rather clean cut sort of fellows. As Mark Brandon Read who is nicknamed Chopper Bana is the exact opposite of his later roles. There is nothing clean about Chopper not only because of his criminal conduct but also just his general appearance and style is always rather uncouth to say the least. The funny thing is Eric Bana actually seems to be at his most comfortable giving a very naturalistic performance as Chopper Read despite how strange of a man Chopper is.

Eric Bana lets everything hand out in this performance, and I don't mean that in just figurative sort of way. Bana really realizes Chopper has a character with his performance here that quite flawlessly treads the line between realistically absurd and well just absurd. Chopper is an absurd man especially with everything that he ends up doing can be seen as quite ridiculous to say the least. What Eric Bana has to do is make Chopper's behavior all in the same man and he does that with his characterization of Chopper. Bana has the right ease in this role and goes right about depicting Chopper in all his slovenly glory. Bana takes on the role with a great aplomb and makes Chopper a most intriguing character to follow. 

Chopper is a most unusual criminal and Bana plays him in a most unusual way. Bana oddly endearing in the role as Chopper who he portrays as a man who is always being himself for better or worse and usually that means for he worse. Chopper is a dangerous man capable of violence at a very short notice if need be. The way Bana works a scene of violence is remarkable because of how casual he is despite the rather extreme circumstances. Bana gives what is best described as a comedic dramatic performance. In that he is comic in the way he acts, but it is a dramatic performance in that Chopper is made always to be an actual person. The fact that Bana is able to work this is the strength of the performance which is what gives this film its unconventional flavor.

The idea of Chopper becoming a popular writer well being a petty criminal is made believable by Bana's performance which creates this strange dynamic within the man. That dynamic being that Chopper is a bit of a criminal genius whose also an idiot. Chopper's plans often are quite brilliant in a strange sort of way yet he works through them as if he was a fool. Bana is great in realizing this strangeness of Chopper in his performance where he does suggest a certain slyness in the man even while he seems to be one of the most unintelligent men alive. Bana does not change back and forth in it but instead intertwines his loutish behavior right with his surprising smarter side. It seems an impossible thing but Bana does manage to pull it off in a genuine fashion.

This is not a film about a man learning something but rather an examination of a rare thug who employs all his tricks to first get out of jail, then almost employ all of them to get back into jail. The only time Chopper even seems to slightly take anything into account when he kills a men sort of accidentally. Bana is quite good in the scene as he shows Chopper actually taken aback by something for once. Bana still keeps him Chopper and he does not really show a killing someone guilt but rather a pretty simple "whoops" sort of apology. The whole challenge for Bana here though was the bring the bizarre man to life as a believable character. Eric Bana does just that with his performance here that is a very entertaining and strange compelling portrait of one unique and deranged fellow.

Alternate Best Actor 2000

And the Nominees Were Not:

Christian Bale in American Psycho

Eric Bana in Chopper

Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Guy Pearce in Memento

George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?