Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2007: Results

10. Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone - Freeman has good moments, but gives a little too many indications about his character's duplicitous nature early on.

Best Scene: His confrontation with Patrick,.

9. John Travolta in Hairspray - Travolta nicely gives a surprisingly earnest and sometimes moving portrayal of his character.

Best Scene: Edna revealing her insecurities.

8. Ed Harris in Gone Baby Gone - Harris nicely brings his usual acerbic style that works quite well for his character.

Best Scene: Remy's confession.

7. Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men - Jones gives a moving, yet also somehow funny portrayal of a man's confusion and exasperation in face of a violent world.

Best Scene: Bell visits Ellis.

6. Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford - Rockwell gives a terrific example of a pure supporting performance, that adds so much to the film, despite only ever briefly being the focus of it.

Best Scene: The Assassination.

5. Albert Finney in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Finney gives a powerful portrayal of the rage and heartbreak that comes from a horrible loss.

Best Scene: The Last Scene.

4. Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn - Zahn gives a haunting portrayal of a prisoner of war being worn away by his captors and nature.

Best Scene: After the failed signal.

3. Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz - Dalton gives a hilarious performance by creating the most obviously evil character who ever existed.

Best Scene: Skinner listens to Angel's theory.

2. John Carroll Lynch in Zodiac -  Lynch gives an outstanding performance, brilliantly realizing his unnerving enigma of a man all in one scene, well and a reaction shot. I have to admit that it was absurdly difficult just to rank my top and I'll admit I'm still not sure of my winner. I feel that I could switch out to any one of performances in the top five. This is an unbelievably great year for the category, it has to be to leave the likes of Bardem and Rockwell out of the top five.

Best Scene: His first scene. Although that reaction shot is also amazing.

1. Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma - Foster gives a wildly entertaining as well a rather chilling portrayal of a man who takes loyalty very seriously.

Best Scene: Finding the decoy wagon. 

Overall Rank:

1. Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma
2. John Carroll Lynch in Zodiac
3. Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz
4. Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn
5. Albert Finney in Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
6. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men
7. Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
8. Garret Dillahunt in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
9. Charles Fleischer in Zodiac
10. Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men
11. Armin Mueller-Stahl in Eastern Promises
12. Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men
13. Robert Downey Jr. in Zodiac
14. Josh Brolin in American Gangster
15. Jim Broadbent in Hot Fuzz
16. Jeremy Davies in Rescue Dawn 
17. Kurt Russell in Grindhouse 
18. Jimmi Simpson in Zodiac
19. Gene Jones in No Country For Old Men
20. Paddy Considine in Hot Fuzz
21. Dillon Freasier in There Will Be Blood
22. Woody Harrelson in No Country For Old Men 
23. Karl Marcus Franklin in I'm Not There
24. Robert Duvall in We Own the Night
25. Paul Dano in There Will Be Blood
26. Ben Whishaw in I'm Not There
27. J.K. Simmons in Juno
28. Nick Frost in Hot Fuzz
29. Ed Harris in Gone Baby Gone
30. Anthony Edwards in Zodiac
31. Titus Welliver in Gone Baby Gone
32. Peter O'Toole in Ratatouille
33. Edward Woodward in Hot Fuzz
34. Sam Shepard in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
35. Richard Gere in I'm Not There
36. Brian Cox in Zodiac
37. Paul Schneider in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
38. Elias Koteas in Zodiac
39. Paul Freeman in Hot Fuzz
40. Barry Corbin in No Country For Old Men
41. Chris Evans in Sunshine
42. Thomas Haden Church in Spider-Man 3
43. Garret Dillahunt in No Country For Old Men 
44. Raymond J. Barry in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
45. Toby Jones in The Mist 
46. Jeff Daniels in The Lookout
47. J.K. Simmons in Spider-Man 3
48. Peter Fonda in 3:10 to Yuma
49. Jeremy Renner in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford
50. Mark Strong in Stardust
51. Jerzy Skolimowski in Eastern Promises
52. John Travolta in Hairspray
53. David Wenham in 300
54. Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton
55. Brian F. O'Brien in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
56. Mark Strong in Sunshine
57. Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild
58. Timothy Spall in Enchanted
59. Benedict Wong in Sunshine
60. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War
61. Alan Tudyk in 3:10 to Yuma
62. Stephen Root in No Country For Old Men
63. James Marsden in Enchanted
64. Josh Brolin in Grindhouse
65. Rafe Spall in Hot Fuzz
66. Ricky Gervais in Stardust
67. Tim Meadows in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
68. Michael Parks in Grindhouse
69. Bill Nighy in Hot Fuzz
70. Peter Vaughn  in Death at a Funeral
71. Gary Oldman in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
72. Peter O'Toole in Stardust 
73. Matthew Goode in The Lookout
74. Forest Whitaker in The Great Debaters
75. Michael Biehn in Grindhouse
76. Cliff Curtis in Sunshine  
77. Ian Holm in Ratatouille
78. Bill Nighy in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
79. Willem Dafoe in Mr. Bean's Holiday 
80. Ciaran Hinds in There Will Be Blood
81. Christopher Walken in Hairspray
82. Michael Wincott in Seraphim Falls
83. Philip Baker Hall in Zodiac 
84. Michael Fassbender in 300
85. Michael Shannon in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead 
86. Albert Brooks in The Simpson Movie
87. Kevin J. O'Connor in There Will Be Blood
88. Paul Giamatti in Shoot 'Em Up
89. Christian Bale in I'm Not There
90. Hiroyuki Sanada in Sunshine 
91. Alan Rickman in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
92. William Sadler in The Mist
93. Vincent Cassel in Eastern Promises
94. Philip Bosco in The Savages
95. Donal Logue in Zodiac
96. Peter Cullen in Transformers
97. Karl Johnson in Hot Fuzz
98. Peter Dinklage in Death at a Funeral 
99. William Hurt in Into the Wild
100. Matt Besser in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
101. Michael Gambon in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
102. Chris Parnell in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 
103. James Franco in Spider-Man 3
104. Timothy Spall in Sweeney Todd
105. Waris Ahluwalia in The Darjeeling Limited
106. Dallas Roberts in 3:10 to Yuma
107. Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone
108. Kevin J. O'Connor in Seraphim Falls
109. Peter Fonda in Ghost Rider
110. Danny Hoch in We Own the Night
111. Kevin Eldon in Hot Fuzz
112. Robbie Coltrane in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
113. Ned Beatty in Charlie Wilson's War
114. Jon Voight in Transformers
115. James Cromwell in Spider-Man 3
116. Jason Bateman in Juno
117. Lam Suet in Mad Detective
118. Sam Elliot in Ghost Rider
119. Bruce Davison in Breach
120. Mark Wahlberg in We Own the Night
121. Timothy Olyphant in Live Free or Die Hard
122. John Ashton in Gone Baby Gone  
123. Terrence Howard in August Rush
124. Tom Hollander in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
125. Benedict Cumberbatch in Atonement 
126. Alan Tudyk in Death at a Funeral
127. Alan Rickman in Sweeney Todd
128. Heath Ledger in I'm Not There
129. Gordon Lam in Mad Detective 
130. Justin Long in Live Free or Die Hard
131. Dennis Haysbert in Breach
132. Sacha Baron Cohen in Sweeney Todd
133. Alex Veadov in We Own the Night
134. Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 
135. Rupert Grint in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix 
136. Nate Parker in The Great Debaters
137. Michael Cera in Juno
138. Toby Huss in Rescue Dawn
139. Kevin Smith in Live Free or Die Hard
140. Rupert Graves in Death at a Funeral
141. Chow Yun-Fat in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 
142. Logan Lerman in 3:10 to Yuma 
143. Vince Vaughn in Into the Wild
144. Robert De Niro in Stardust
145. Robin Williams in August Rush
146. Jamie Campbell Bower in Sweeney Todd
147. Chris Evans in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
148. Michael Chiklis in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
149. Josh Duhamel in Transformers
150. Julian McMahon in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
151. Anthony Anderson in Transformers 
152. John Turturro in Transformers 
153. Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3 
154. Rodrigo Santoro in 300
155. Wes Bentley in Ghost Rider

Next Year: 1989 Lead

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2007: Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men

Tommy Lee Jones did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a SAG, and a BAFTA, for portraying Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in No Country For Old Men.

No Country For Old Men depicts the story of the fates around a satchel full of money from a drug deal that went south.. You have our 'hero' the everyman Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) who is trying to make a run with the money while not being killed and trying to protect his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), while being tracked down by the psychotic Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Attempting to keep up in some way is Tommy Lee Jones's local Sheriff Bell. Really the casting was already half way there as Jones's haggard face already pretty much sums up Ed's state of mind from his first appearance. Although Jones's first contribution to the film is the opening narration, fairly similair to the narration found in the Coens' first film Blood Simple. Well where in that film it was delivered by M. Emmet Walsh as a psychotic killer who seems to relish in viewing the world in such a cynical fashion. Here it is a bit different as Jones's delivery is far more somber filled with an exasperation and certain confusion of man unable to comprehend the horrible way his world quickly seems to be falling apart.

Jones's appearances after this point are somewhat sporadic as he's almost always third in the sequence as Moss makes his move, Chigurh makes his own, and then Bell is far too late just trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Jones strikes up a rather interesting tone with his performance actually. Although the gloomy state of the character is always quite evident in his performance Jones does not give a dour performance. Jones in his somewhat sporadic scenes does not portray Bell as being overwhelmed by the way of the world, rather Jones at first shows him as still very much just trying to comprehend what exactly is it all about. Within this though Jones surprising enough gives really kinda a comic performance actually. He plays into the role a bit as Bell is almost like an Andy Griffith type figure stuck in this dark story. This is found in just his general demeanor such as his chuckle when his wife tells him not to hurt anyone on the job, or just the way he deals with his perhaps over eager Barney Fife style deputy. This seems like something that should not work, considering how brutal some of the sequences can be, but Jones finds the exact tone for his scenes as he's quite funny yet still feels like an honest character.

Jones manages to artfully work in this humor within the spent sort of wisdom of old Bell, who can't seem to get upset at the sights he sees, but certainly is still affected by them. There's something so wry about the way Jones has Bell wax philosophically on the various things, while still seeming to be completely confused by them. What works so well about his work here is that it never seems that Bell is not taking the situation seriously because he just can't quite seem to grasp it himself. The best he can come up with is to tell Carla Jean that Llewelyn should come to him, and they'll talk things out in good old fashioned sort of way. Well nothing works out as such, and Bell completely fails to help Moss, or stop any of the bad men. The last act belongs most closely to Jones as Bell tries to deal with his failure. Jones's is very effective in the way he keeps his demeanor yet still, in an understated way fitting to Bell, conveys how this loss seems to be the final straw for Jones. Jones never portrays Bell as breaking down, but Jones portrays less detachment from the horror as Bell through his own involvement in it. Jones is moving by presenting Bell basically lost in this world that he can't seem to ever fully understand, and can't do anything to change it. The performance ends on a hanging note but as it should be, as Jones does not give closure to the man because Bell will never have any.

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2007

And the Nominees Were Not:

Albert Finney in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz

Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men

Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma

Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn

Predict those five or these five:

Sam Rockwell in The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford

John Carroll Lynch in Zodiac

Morgan Freeman in Gone Baby Gone

Ed Harris in Gone Baby Gone

John Travolta in Hairspray

Or both

Best Supporting Actor 2012: Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln

Tommy Lee Jones received his fourth Oscar nomination for portraying congressman Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln.

Thaddeus Stevens is bit of a controversial figure when it comes to historical representation. Some wish to see him as a villain for his want to harshly punish the south for succession and slavery. Others though take him as a hero for his fervent hatred of slavery, and his intense efforts to end it. The film Lincoln most certainly takes the latter approach. It briefly gives a little indication of the other view in his scene with Lincoln, but for the most part it treats him as very positive character. Tommy Lee Jones in turn in his portrayal of the man portrays him as a crusty old man, who has a lot of one liners, just like another nominee this year.

There is something strange I noticed well watching this performance though was how it was set up in the film to be a best supporting actor winner. In his first scene the camera takes his point of view, until a dramatic ease in on him, almost just to add to the importance of his character in the film. Similarly the film always gives him his little reactions constantly much more than any other character in the film, just to always remind you of his existence. Then he gets all his scenes where he gets to talk down to the various pro-slavery congressmen, or spineless ones that seem to be there for his Oscar scenes.

To top it all off he gets a final scene that seems to forced in its sentimentality just for this performance again, which is unfortunate because that is the only scene where Spielberg indulged in his problems as a filmmaker.  Well this whole character seemed to be created to give Tommy Lee Jones an Oscar, as Thaddeus Stevens should have had important scenes but the film really overdid it to a certain extent. Putting that aside though for a moment, how really is his performance? Well if I would have to say it is a tad one note for the most part. Tommy Lee Jones note is the note of an impassioned crusty, of course, crusader.

Jones is good in being his note of angry passion, and he delivers all of his lines with a certain intensity that works for the character. He is passionate as Stevens and that works particularly in his yelling scenes in the middle of congress. In his quieter scenes with Lincoln Jones still plays Jones in the same fashion just quieter. He is still impassioned still crusty, still saying little one liners, just at a lower volume. Jones is certainly entertaining in all of these scenes to a certain degree becuase Jones does throw himself full force into every line, but still there is nothing incredible about what he does.

There are of course his scenes where he has his little reactions which are either little smiles, or looks of understanding toward Mary Todd Lincoln. There is not anything special about the moments, but he handles them well enough. He hits a slightly different note when Stevens is basically being interrogated about his views which are considered radical, and he is forced to hold himself back. Jones is good in this scene by being quiet and loud at the same time in his usual passionate crusty method. He does this scene properly, but still it does not amount to anything absolutely incredible.

Eventually though there is the scene where he takes the written amendment home to show to his biracial housekeeper Lydia Smith (S. Epatha Merkenson) who clearly is more than that as they share a bed, and he addresses her as "my love". This scene is terrible frankly, and I liked the film, there are two reasons why. One is Jones seems lost in this scene which is the only time he takes away the anger from Stevens, but he does not make it work because he has no chemistry with Merkenson, the two do not suggest any history between the two. They seem forced together, and the scene fails. It fails even more because than Smith reads the amendment which just hammers in the point to an unnecessary degree. 

That scene which is his worst scene is not a great way to end his performance, even though the scene seemed tailored made to be all poignant and moving. The problem is the scene was too tailored to be all poignant and moving and came off as ham-fisted due to that. This is the showiest performance in the film but it is not the best. David Strathairn is more interesting by creating William Seward as a caring friend for Lincoln, but also very forceful in questioning some of his friends methods. James Spader is a lot of fun and very entertaining in his creation of a sweaty but intelligent political operative. Both create more compelling characters than Tommy Lee Jones and his portrayal of Thaddeus Stevens which is entertaining but never as substantial as it should be.

Best Supporting Actor 2012

And the Nominees Are:

Alan Arkin in Argo

Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master

Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln

Robert De Niro in Silver Linings Playbook

Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained 

Alternate Best Actor 2005: Results

5. Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- Downey finds just the right sardonic tone for his performance that fits his film like a glove.

4. Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada- Jones perfectly cast himself portraying the complex motivations of his character brilliantly.

3. Guy Pearce in The Proposition- Pearce gives a strong understated performance that is particularly effective in portraying the complex relationship that motivates his character.

2. Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence- Mortensen is terrific in his depiction of the slow dissolution of his character.

1. Ray Winstone in The Proposition- The underrated Ray Winstone wins this year with his powerful performance as a man trying to bring the law to the lawless. Winstone succeeds far more than anyone would expect creating a poignant depiction of a character that could perhaps have been a throwaway in lesser hands.

1. Ray Winstone in The Proposition
2. Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence
3. Byung-hun Lee in A Bittersweet Life 
4. Barry Pepper in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
5. Mickey Rourke in Sin City
6. Damian Lewis in Keane
7. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote
8. Guy Pearce in The Proposition
9. Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
10. Issey Ogata in The Sun
11. Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
12. Daniel Auteuil in Caché
13. Brendan Gleeson in Six Shooter 
14. Bill Murray in Broken Flowers
15. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain   
16. Romain Duris in The Beat That My Heart Skipped
17. Jeff Daniels in The Squid and The Whale 
18. Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener   
19. Cillian Murphy in Breakfast on Pluto 
20. Matthew Macfadyen in Pride and Prejudice
21. Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man 
22. Daniel Day-Lewis in The Ballad of Jack and Rose
23. Brady Corbet in Mysterious Skin
24. Nicolas Cage in Lord of War
25. Pierce Brosnan in The Matador
26. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
27. Colin Farrell in The New World 
28. Anthony Hopkins in The World's Fastest Indian 
    
29. Christian Bale in Batman Begins 
30. Ioan Fiscuteanu in The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
31. Jake Gyllenhaal in Jarhead
    
32. Eric Bana in Munich
33. David Strathairn in Good Night and Good Luck
34. Ali Suliman in Paradise Now 
35. Johnny Depp in The Libertine
36. Lou Pucci in Thumbsucker
37. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Mysterious Skin
38. Greg Kinnear in The Matador 
39. Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Match Point 
40. Elijah Wood in Everything is Illuminated
41. Bob Hoskins in Mrs. Henderson Presents
42. Presley Chweneyagae in Tsotsi
43. Nathan Fillion in Serenity
44. Tony Leung Ka-Fai in Election 
45. Tom Cruise in The War of the Worlds 
46. Martin Freeman in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 
47. Peter Sallis in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
48. Kais Nashif in Paradise Now
49. Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line
50. Orlando Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven
51. Owen Wilson in Wedding Crashers
52. Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers 
53. Will Smith in Hitch
54. Eugene Hutz in Everything is Illuminated
55. Johnny Depp in Corpse Bride 
56. Heath Ledger in The Brothers Grimm
57. Adrien Brody in King Kong 
58. Jesse Eisenberg in The Squid and the Whale  
59. Michael Angarano in Sky High
60. Ewan McGregor in The Revenge of the Sith
61. Matt Damon in Syriana 
62. Daniel Radcliffe in The Goblet of Fire 
63. Josh Hutcherson in Zathura
64. Simon Lam in Election
65. Ioan Gruffudd in Fantastic Four
66. William Moseley in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe  
67. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow   
68. Bernie Mac in Guess Who
69. Matt Damon in The Brothers Grimm
70. John Robinson in Lords of Dogtown
71. Victor Rasuk in Lords of Dogtown
72. Emile Hirsch in Lords of Dogtown
73. Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
74. Jonah Bobo in Zathura 
75. Jim Carrey in Fun With Dick and Jane
76. Will Ferrell in Bewitched
77. Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who
78. Adam Sandler in The Longest Yard
79. Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith

Next Year: 2005 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2005: Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Tommy Lee Jones did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Pete Perkins in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada is a very effective film about the shooting of a Mexican Melquiades Estrada by a border patrol officer Mike Norton (Barry Pepper), and the Mexican's friend's attempt to find justice.

Tommy Lee Jones portrays Pete Perkins a rancher near the Mexican rancer who is friends with Melquiades. Robert Downey Jr. was a perfect choice for his role in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang as the quick talking manic man, well Tommy Lee Jones is also perfectly cast here as a world weary crusty rancher type. Jones simply fits this role like a glove. There is never a question to Jones as the man, he just fits the part so well, that he already has already a leg up on the part. He does not even need to convince us that he is this man, he simply is the man from the first second to the last second.

The film jumps around in time early on the film so it really is best to focus on this performance in chronological order. Tommy Lee Jones in his scenes that show his friendship with Melquiades handles the part perfectly. He portrays Pete's friendship with Melquiades as something quite natural. He has the right sort of warmth and camaraderie in these scenes, but he does not draw too much attention. He portrays Pete as a bit playful with his friend, and they just portray the proper happiness in their scenes together. He does not overdo it ever, creating just a believable friendship between the two.

After Melquiades is killed though Jones changes Pete's manner severely as he seems as a far more of a haunted individual, who seems to have lost his best friend. Jones is effective as he conveys the fact that the happiness has really been sucked right out of Pete as he stays troubled by the death of his friend. Jones is quite moving in how quietly he portrays the grief in Pete over his death. He is particularly powerful in the scene where he asks the local authorities why they buried his friend without even telling him. Jones in this moment shows just how much the friendship meant to Pete, and how heartbroken he has become after his friend's sudden death.

Pete suddenly learns the truth of who killed his friend though and goes on a strange quest to properly bury his friend on horse all the while keeping the officer as a hostage. Jones is brilliant in realizing the incredible drive that pushes Pete forward on his peculiar journey. Jones has a such a conviction in the part that as he moves on the journey we entirely believe character's actions, even when we do not entirely understand where he will go with the man. Jones combines the passionate devotion of his character, with a very real threatening element as well. He keeps Pete;s actions a mystery well, but he never limits out abilities to empathize with his plight either.

Tommy Lee Jones here does so much with the smallest of expressions. Pete really is a man of very few words throughout the film, but Jones always is able to bring to life just how important this expedition is as well as how meaningful it is to Pete. In very subtle moments Jones portrays a deep seeded loneliness that seems to prevail within Pete over the death of his friend. Although in the big emotional scenes Jones really does stay reserved he never fails to deliver on the power and the poignancy of them. 

Directing one's self to a performance certainly can be a tricky thing to do, it works if an actor knows their limits and boundaries, but not so much if they don't.  Jones most certainly knows everything about his screen presence as he utilizes it so well. He never turns Pete into some sort of one dimensional angle of vengeance of anyway. Jones is always very effective as he creates the internal struggle within Pete over his decisions, but as well his heartbreak involving his friend. Jones succeeds in bringing this unique character to life with likable, sometimes even humorous naturally intertwined with the powerful core of what pushes his character forward.

Alternate Best Actor 2005

And the Nominees Were Not:

Guy Pearce in The Proposition

Ray Winstone in The Proposition 

Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence

Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Best Supporting Actor 1991: Results

5. Ben Kingsley in Bugsy-Kingsley gives a rather dull performance that never really even becomes comfortable with his gangster mannerisms he attempts to employ.

4. Harvey Keitel in Bugsy- Keitel certainly is as good as one could be as the gangster here being exactly as he should be unfortunately he does almost nothing over the course of the film.

3. Jack Palance in City Slickers- Palance like Keitel basically is exactly as he should be in his role, unfortunately just like Keitel he has far too little to do.

2. Tommy Lee Jones in JFK- Tommy Lee Jones creates the right fascinating performance that carefully but very effectively creates the enigma of a man his character should be.

1. Michael Lerner in Barton Fink- Lerner is only in three scenes but he dominates the three scene with his rather enjoyable performance as the quick talking movie executive.

Deserving Performances:
John Goodman in Barton Fink
Ted Levine in The Silence of the Lambs
Gary Oldman in JFK

Best Supporting Actor 1991: Tommy Lee Jones in JFK

Tommy Lee Jones received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Clay Shaw in JFK.

JFK is Oliver Stone's inaccuracy and conspiracy filled depiction of District Attorney Jim Garrison's (Kevin Costner) investigation into the JFK's assassination. 

Tommy Lee Jones portrays the very elusive and mysterious businessman Clay Shaw who in the film seems to have some involvement with the assassination of JFK although it never says precisely what his association is. Tommy Lee Jones portrays Shaw in an equally mysterious fashion, and although Stone is not a subtle director by any means there is most certainly subtly laced within Jones's work in this film.

Jones role is in the end quite small really. Much of his appearances in scenes are only very very short moments that merely indicate his presence more than anything else. Nevertheless Jones still creates compelling character within these short scenes. Jones never for a moment exactly says who Shaw is in but rather creates him into a fascinating enigma that is basically impossible to fully understand. An enigma is actually quite a difficult role to find the right balance as it is easy to give away too much of the character or too little that it just seems like thin characterization. Jones though manages to find the perfect balance of the known and unknown in his performance. There is an underlying sinister quality to Jones' portrayal that is always clear and chilling in an understated way but mysterious by the way Jones never exactly say what makes Shaw so sinister.

Jones gives a careful but concise performance that always seems to suggest the Shaw is hiding something, but Jones is good enough that he is able to convey in small indications that he is hiding something, but at the same he is able to show that Shaw is exceedingly good at hiding his secrets. This again something that is very difficult to convey but Jones is masterful in portraying that here. Jones's role is quite short but you do actually feel his presence almost throughout the film from the his short time. I really do not like to use that overused phrase with performances, but it is true of Jones's work here that absolutely creates fascinating character who acts as the incarnation basically of the conspiracy in the film.

Best Supporting Actor 1991

And the Nominees Were

Ben Kingsley in Bugsy

Harvey Keitel in Bugsy

Jack Palance in City Slickers

Michael Lerner in Barton Fink

Tommy Lee Jones in JFK

Best Actor 2007: Results

5. George Clooney in Michael Clayton- Clooney in my opinion fails to create a very interesting character with Michael Clayton, as well as he fails to really be truly effective lead for a thriller.

4. Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd- Depp I do not find is entirely bad as Todd, but his approach to Sweeney is one note of anger and depression that just is not that interesting.

3. Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah- I like much of Jones' performance, which is emotionally on the mark in showing the character's grief, and pain. I did not believe though was the entire change of the character, which was not made convincing by him or the script.

2. Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises- This  is a strong effort that relies effectively on both Mortensen ability to show the command and control of Nikolai, as well as Mortensen ability to suggest the underlining and hidden motivations of his character.

1. Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood- The sheer scope, and achievement of this performance leaves an undeniable impression. 

Best Actor 2007: Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah

Tommy Lee Jones received his third Oscar nomination for portraying Hank Deerfield in In the Valley of Elah.

In the Valley of Elah is an extremely heavy handed and slow film about a man trying to find his son, than learning of the mental state of many of the soldiers returning home.

The character of Hank Deerfield is the type of character right of Tommy Lee Jones' alley. Deerfield is a war veteran, hard edged working man, and Jones is instantly comfortable in the role. Jones' whole prescene also does a great deal in giving the background of the character in his initial scenes, showing him to be a quietly intelligent, and patriotic man, who needs to know what happened to his son.

This character and the film itself reminded me a bit of Missing, and Jack Lemmon's character in that film, which is a good thing in a few ways, but unfortuantely a bad thing in many ways. It is a good thing in that Jones does a strong job in showing his care for his son, and his honest loss he feels when he learns early on that his son has been murdered.

The problems come about though when he joins in the investigation completely for his son, where the film wants to be a message film as well as a police procedural, as well as a character study, and unfortunately the message is abundantly clear the whole time, the procedural is boring because the conclusion is obvious, and the character study of Hank is given a back seat to the rest of the film.

Jones is rigged into the investigation which unfortuantely gives him little to do, as he either just asks question politely, or gets angered by those who impede his investigation. Unfortunately that is all he really gets to do most of the time, which was part of my problem with Jack Lemmon's performance in Missing. All he does is investigate for too much of the time, in an investigation that is frankly not portrayed interestingly at all.

Jones does get an occasional scene away from the investigation such as with a police officer (Charlize Theron) who helps him in the investigation. He has a nice scene where he tells the story of David and Goliathe to her son, and he is okay in creating some sort of fatherly relationship with her as well, although not good enough for it to overcome the script and be considered anything special.

The most annoying aspect of his performance, to me is his relationship with his son in the film. He slowly finds out more and more negative aspects of his son, until at the end where he changes his entire worldview basically. Now this might have worked if the script was better written, or Jones was given more time but he is not. Jones is good in showing the pain over his son, and his frustrations, but he certianly is not able to show his character changing so much with so little time to develop this change.

The film frankly takes a well handled characterization by Jones and misuses by giving him thankless scenes, and than even worse trying to force his character to do that change of his. Now I must make this clear I think that the change in the character could have been done, but it desperately needed to be written better, and Jones needed more time for development. Overall this is a performance that is fine, but it is held back by a rather poor script.

Best Actor 2007

And the Nominees Were:

Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood

George Clooney in Michael Clayton

Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd

Best Supporting Actor 1993: Results

5. Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive- Jones does what he needs to as a Federal Marshall in charge of a manhunt and fulfills his role.

4. John Malkovich in In the Line of Fire- Malkovich finds an effective way to be creepy as Mitch Leary, but he also adds more than just creepiness to makes his performance interesting.

3. Leonardo Dicaprio in What's Eating Gilber Grape- Dicaprio gives a performance filled with tics and mannerisms but he never makes them seem forced or strange but instead they help create his memorable character.

2. Pete Postlethwaite in In the Name of the Father- Postlethwaite is always a powerful presence in the film, and he and Daniel Day-Lewis create some very strong scenes together.

1. Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List- Fiennes gives an incredible performance as the Nazil Commandant. He is truly chilling, but he also makes Goth into a real person, even if that person is incredibly disturbed.

Deserving Performances:
Ben Kingsley in Schindler's List