Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009: Results

5. Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles - McKay recreates Orson Welles effectively unfortunately the film fails to give him the opportunity to truly delve into the man.

Best Scene: Welles's outburst on stage.

4. Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins - A fairly simple and small role, but Tse makes his character very endearing and in turn makes his final scene very moving.

Best Scene: Si tries to slow the assassin down.

3. Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank- Fassbender combines the right amount of sleaze and charm to his character, although this is not his best performance from 2009.

Best Scene: Connor takes advantage of Mia.

2. Peter Capaldi in In The Loop - Capaldi gives a extremely entertaining and properly intense performance as the foul mouthed fixer Malcolm Tucker. Every scene he is in is a treat, and when the film asks a little more of him Capaldi is more than up to the task.

Best Scene: Malcolm's introduction. 

1. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen- Good Predictions Koook and Kevin. The film adaptation of Watchmen did not get everything right but one thing it did which was genius was casting Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian. The Comedian is a complex character and Morgan does not simplify any aspect of him. He gives a powerful performance that is unflinching in the realization of a brute, but also manages to believably allow the man some charm with a semblance of a soul somewhere in him.

Best Scene: The Watchmen's meeting.

Overall Ranking:

1. Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
2. Fred Melamed in A Serious Man
3. Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen
4. Paul Schneider in Bright Star
5. Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen
6. Guillermo Francella in The Secret in Their Eyes
7. Peter Capaldi in In The Loop
8. August Diehl in Inglorious Basterds
9. Tom Hollander in In The Loop
10. Robert Duvall in The Road
11. James Gandolfini in Where the Wild Things Are
12. Michael Fassbender in Inglorious Basterds
13. Pablo Rago in The Secret in Their Eyes
14. Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank
15. Adel Bencherif in A Prophet
16. Denis Menochet in Inglourious Basterds
17. Fan Wei in The City of Life and Death
18. Won Bin in Mother
19. Timothy Spall in The Damned United
20. Shahab Hosseini in About Elly
21. Sam Neill in Skin
22. Daniel Bruhl in Inglourious Basterds
23. Javier Godino in The Secret in Their Eyes
24. David Rasche in In The Loop
25. Klaus Maria Brandauer in Tetro
26. Adam Arkin in A Serious Man
27. Paul Higgins in In The Loop
28. Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins
29. Niels Arestrup in A Prophet
30. Stanley Tucci in Julie & Julia
31. Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
32. Zhang Fengyi in Red Cliff Part II
33. Woody Harrelson in Zombieland
34. Nakaizumi Hideo in City of Life and Death
35. Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles
36. Hilmi Sözer in Jerichow
37. Boman Irani in 3 Idiots
38. Tom Waits in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
39. Billy Crudup in Public Enemies 
40. Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
41. Jin Goo in Mother
42. Michael Gambon in The Half-Blood Prince
43. Steve Buscemi in The Messenger
44. Anupam Kher in Wake Up Side
45. Takeshi Kaneshiro in Red Cliff Part II
46. Colin Farrell in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
47. Hichem Yacoubi in A Prophet
48. John Malkovich in The Great Buck Howard 
49. Brendan Gleeson in Secret of Kells
50. Omi Vaidya in 3 Idiots
51. James Caan in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
52. Richard Sammel in Inglorious Basterds
53. Michael K. Williams in The Road
54. Chris Cooper in Where the Wild Things Are
55. Peter Sarsgaard in An Education
56. Verne Troyer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
57. Wang Xueqi in Bodyguards and Assassins
58. Paul Dano in Where the Wild Things Are
59. Mark Strong in Sherlock Holmes
60. Jim Broadbent in The Half-Blood Prince 
61. Wallace Wolodarksy in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
62. Keith David in The Princess and the Frog
63. Omar Doom in Inglourious Basterds
64. James Gandolfini in In The Loop 
65. Fyvush Finkel in A Serious Man
66. Hrant Alianak in Pontypool
67. Kevin Spacey in Moon
    
68. Sam Shepard in Brothers 
69. David Strathairn in Cold Souls
70. John Paisley in City of Life and Death
71. Mick Lally in The Secret of Kells
72. Michael-Leon Wooley in The Princess and the Frog
73. Allen Lewis Rickman in A Serious Man
74. Rüdiger Vogler in OSS 117: Lost in Rio
75. Jason Schwartzman in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
76. Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes
77. Alan Rickman in The Half-Blood Prince
78. Val Kilmer in Bad Lieutenant 
79. Donnie Yen in Bodyguards and Assassins
80. Karl Urban in Star Trek
81. Colm Meaney in The Damned United
82. Zach Woods in In The Loop
83. Peyman Mooadi in About Elly
84. Tom Felton in The Half-Blood Prince
85. Shea Whigham in Bad Lieutenant 
86. Brad Pitt in Inglourious Basterds
87. Saber Abar in About Elly
88. Chris Addison in In The Loop
89. Brad Dourif in Bad Lieutenant 
90. Robbie Coltrane in The Half-Blood Prince
91. B.J. Novak in Inglourious Basterds 
92. Robbie Coltrane in The Brothers Bloom
93. Alfred Molina in An Education
94. Willem Dafoe in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
95. Mani Haghighi in About Elly
96. Bill Murray in Fantastic Mr. Fox
    
97. Matt Damon in Invictus
98. Maximilian Schell in The Brothers Bloom
99. Til Schweiger in Inglourious Basterds
100. Xzibit in Bad Lieutenant
101. Guy Pearce in The Road
102. David James in District 9 
103. Ernst Jacobi in The White Ribbon
104. Michael Gambon in Fantastic Mr. Fox
     
105. Benoit Poelvoorde in Coco Before Chanel
106. Sven-Bertil Taube in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
107. Jason Bateman in State of Play
108. Eric Anderson in Fantastic Mr. Fox
     
109. Steve Coogan in In The Loop 
     
110. Peter Haber in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
111. Mengke Bateer in Bodyguards and Assassins
112. Scott Bakula in The Informant!
113. Christian Friedel in The White Ribbon
114. Simon Pegg in Star Trek
115. Peter Bartlett in The Princess and the Frog
116. Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
117. Patrick Wilson in Watchmen
118. Ben Affleck in State of Play
119. Jim Cummings in the Princess and the Frog
120. Gedeon Burkhard in Inglourious Basterds
121. Liam Cunningham in Harry Brown
122. Burghart Klaußner in The White Ribbon
123. Eric Bana in Star Trek 
124. David Thewlis in The Half-Blood Prince
125. Oliver Platt in 2012
126. Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
127. Ben Mendelsohn in Knowing
128. Danny Huston in X-Men Origins: Wolverine
129. Gregoire Colin in 35 Shots of Rum
130. Ben Cross in Star Trek 
131. Tom Hanks in The Great Buck Howard
132. Ulrich Tukur in The White Ribbon
133. Eric Tsang in Bodyguards and Assassins
134. Michael Rapaport in Big Fan
135. Andrew Garfield in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
136. Christos Stergioglou in Dogtooth
137. Christos Passalis in Dogtooth
138. Richard Kind in A Serious Man
139. Zhang Hanyu in Bodyguards and Assassins 
140. J.K. Simmons in Up in the Air
141. Kevin Corrigan in big Fan
142. Robert Duvall in Crazy Heart
143. Christian Bale in Public Enemies
144. Stephen Lang in Avatar
145. Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
146. Billy Crudup in Watchmen 
147. Michael Imperioli in The Lovely Bones
148. Walton Goggins in That Evening Sun
149. Eddie Marsan in Me and Orson Welles
150. Wang Po-chieh in Bodyguards and Assassins
151. Leon Lai in Bodyguards and Assassins
152. Paul Schneider in Away We Go
153. Gary Oldman in A Christmas Carol
154. Matt Servitto in Big Fan
155. Rupert Grint in The Half-Blood Prince
156. Hu Jun  in Bodyguards and Assassins
157. Mike Myers in Inglourious Basterds
158. Thomas Brodie-Sangster in Nowhere Boy
159. Jim Gaffigan in Away We Go
160. Eli Roth in Inglourious Basterds
161. Johnny Depp in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
162. Jason Bateman in Up in the Air
163. Chris Messina in Julie & Julia
164. Colin Farrell in Crazy Heart
165. Jude Law in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
166. Paul Giamatti in The Last Station
167. Alessandro Nivola in Coco Before Chanel
168. Colin Firth in A Christmas Carol
169. Jonah Hill in Funny People
170. James Tupper in Me and Orson Welles
171. Woody Harrelson in 2012
172. Justin Bartha in The Hangover
173. Ben Chaplin in Me and Orson Welles
174. Ray McKinnon in That Evening Sun
175. Leo Bill in Me and Orson Welles
176. Nicholas Hoult in A Single Man
177. Geoffrey Arend in 500 Days of Summer
178. Robert Wisden in Watchmen
179. Matthew Goode in Watchmen
180. Anton Yelchin in Star Trek
181. Rob Riggle in The Hangover
182. Ken Jeong in The Hangover

Next Year: 1961 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009: Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen

Jeffrey Dean Morgan did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Edward "Eddie" Blake a.k.a The Comedian in Watchmen.

It is not a spoiler to say that Jeffrey Dean Morgan's character The Comedian dies in the film as his death is depicted in the opening scene of the film. The Comedian death acts as the catalyst for the plot basically as Rorschach tries to investigate why the man was killed. As in some mysteries that starts with the death of someone we learn more about them through a series of flashbacks. This is certainly the case for The Comedian who spent his time influencing more than a few events as well as people, and we slowly learn more about him through the memories of the various people in the film all of whom were also former heroes or in one case a former villain. Although The Comedian was known as one of the super heroes the Comedian is far from being someone that anyone would likely call a hero.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan has quite a challenge in the deceased Comedian as he surely is an extremely unlikable character, and it would be easy enough to make him repulsive to the point of being unwatchable. In the earliest scene with him chronologically we see the Comedian meeting with the early superhero group known as the Minutemen. After having their photo taken together the Comedian soon after proceeds to try and rape Sally Jupiter also known as the Silk Spectre. Despite the nature of the character Morgan carries himself with this extremely sly charm and he turns the Comedian into a particularly charismatic figure in almost all of his flashbacks no matter what deplorable act he may be committing. This includes his starting act which Morgan is brutally effective in.

The odd charm he does bring to the comedian does not waver even in his attempted rape sequence in fact Morgan portrays The Comedian actions are part of a certain ego and the philosophy that Morgan helps to creates in the man. Morgan creates a fierce presence and personality with the Comedian which affirms The Comedian's behavior as a man who very much feels he is wiser than others, but problematic when intertwined with his cynical nature. The Comedian despite being one of the heroes holds absolutely no views that the world is anything but a bad place with worthless people in them. Morgan plays the cynicism perfectly into any scene as almost that since everyone is bad The Comedian might as well have a good time well he is here, and Morgan portrays the joy with his unpleasant behavior as an effortless combination.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan makes a strong impact in every one of the flashback scenes in which he appears. Morgan tears through every scene he is in the realization of that nihilistic philosophy, and every one his responses to the more optimistic thoughts of the others truly carry the right sting. Morgan though goes even further with his performance though and one of the best elements of his performance is realizing that slight morality in The Comedian that is perhaps one of the few reasons he ever claimed to be on the side of the law. One of his best scenes is when he and the powerful Dr. Manhattan confront each after the Vietnam war. The scene has Comedian commit yet another atrocity as he murders a local woman he impregnated. Morgan's fantastic because again he is unflinching in showing The Comedian's action come from his mindset, but what is most striking is just the briefest moment of regret when he bluntly questions why Dr. Manhattan did not simply stop him.

Morgan is terrific by bringing a great power to these mild moments of a heart beneath all of The Comedian's hatred. Morgan gives this moments an actual poignancy by earning them so completely, and making Comedian far more than just an evil man. Morgan in turn also explains the seemingly unexplainable scenes as he reported by an old nemesis. The scene has The Comedian weeping filled with regret as he seems unable to deal with something which he sees worse than all that he does in his time, which eventually is revealed to be his knowledge of Ozymandias's plan which involves mass murder. All of Morgan's other scenes makes the breakdown of The Comedian genuine to the man he creates through the rest of his performance. Although his screen time is sparse Morgan makes a profound impact on the film, and honestly creates the supposed influence of the Comedian on the other characters. He meets the complexity of the character head on and gives a profound depiction of all the memories the man crafted with his life.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2009

And the Nominees Were Not:

Michael Fassbender in Fish Tank

Michael Fassbender in Inglorious Basterds

August Diehl in Inglorious Basterds

Peter Capaldi in In The Loop

Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles

Nicholas Tse in Bodyguards and Assassins

Jackie Earle Haley in Watchmen

Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Watchmen

For the Prediction Contest:

Fassbender in Fish Tank

Capaldi

McKay

Tse

Morgan