Best Actor 1967: Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde

Warren Beatty received his first acting nomination for infamous bank robber Clyde Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde.

Bonnie and Clyde is an incredibly interesting film that gives a unique perspective on the two bank robbers.  I never liked them as the movie seemed to want but it was a fascinating portrait of the people nonetheless.

Warren Beatty is an actor that gives performances which I do not hate but I never really get that involved with. He sometimes relies too much on just his own charisma, and does not try to fuse with the character like say Jack Nicholson does in Chinatown. Beatty here does some of that but this still is one of his better performances.

Warren Beatty is a little mixed as Clyde Barrow at times he is quite good but at the other times he seems slightly off and does seem to be investing enough effort into the character. His accent is never quite assured and seems a little off but not enough to be distracting though. He never quite seems to be Barrow, and maybe another actor probably could have really exceeded in the role. Some of his scenes he just smiles a little too much and seems to be acting like Barrow instead of really being him. I thought he did that the most in the opening and a few times throughout.

He is almost always overshadowed by the rest of the cast. Faye Dunaway as Bonnie always takes the attention away from Clyde when their in the same scene. Beatty's Clyde just a slightly too relaxed in his own way and never seems to really understand their situation, which causing Beatty to not have a lot depth in some scenes such as when they visit Bonnie's mother. Also the supporting players like Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons really stole attention very well from Beatty, making him a bit of the weaker link in the cast.

Although he certainly does have some strong sequences anyways. He is particularly strong in the scenes after he shoots the bank teller for example, and his realization of what he has done is very well handled by Beatty. Also the scene where he is unable to return affections with Bonnie is very well and realistically handled. Beatty really does have a lot of good little moments and he never is bad, but he probably could have been better.

Best Actor 1967

And the Nominees Were:

Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate

Rod Steiger  in In the Heat of the Night

Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde

Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke

Spencer Tracy in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Who Do you Pick? Who do you Predict?

Best Actor 1985: Results

5. Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor- Nicholson gives one of his worst performances here probably his worst performance nominated. He over does everything and does a lot of things that just fall flat.

 

4. Jon Voight in Runaway Train- Voight is good in moments of the film but he is also too over the top at other times. He is never really able to create a single character. He may have been better if the film was not so bad.

3. James Garner in Murphy's Romance- I do not have a single problem with this performance really, it just is nothing very special.

2. Harrison Ford in Witness- Harrison Ford does not do anything amazing with this performance but he is always good. He is always effective and carries the film very well.

1. William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman- William Hurt really easily won this one for me because his competition was basically nothing compared to his performance. Hurt takes on a difficult character and gives a fantastic performance. This year was incredibly weak and was probably my easiest to choice yet.

Deserving Performances:Raul Julia in Kiss of the Spider Woman
Micheal J. Fox in Back to the Future

Best Actor 1985: William Hurt in Kiss of the Spider Woman

William Hurt won his Oscar from his first nomination for playing homosexual prisoner Luis Molina in Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Kiss of the Spider Woman is a strong film about two prisoners in a South American prison.

I will get out of the way first that there is one problem with the film that sort of affects his performance. That is the fact that Molina is a pedophile and neither the film or Hurt's performance really deal with this, and in fact it is odd that was not reflected upon at least just a little bit. I want to get that out of the way because that is the only real negative thing I have to say about his performance, because William Hurt gives an incredible interesting and intelligent performance as the prisoner in a South American jail.

Hurt portrays a homosexual very differently than many other portrayals. The character is flamboyant and Hurt knows how to use that to be part of the character rather than control the character like certain portrayals. He still makes Molina a human being, and the flamboyant aspects of the character are made realistic by Hurt rather than over the top. Actors before and after William Hurt have failed miserably to realistically portrays mannerisms like this, and not just seem like a performance. Hurt actually becomes as Molina is and never feels like he is just putting on an act, it really is quite an achievement.

William Hurt is very good at showing and creating the depth of the character. He hints to the reveals about the characters very well, not so you see them coming, but instead to make them believable when you watch the film again. Also when the character does reveal more he does still not reveal everything and still shows that not all of Molina is truly known. He keeps the character somewhat mysterious even though he certainly lets you get to know Molina very well. He finds just the perfect dynamic between telling you enough and too much with this performance. He never leaves his character under or overstated he finds the perfect balance.

Hurt is excellent in portraying the character's hopes, wants, and fantasies. Hurt really shows well the character's love of the terrible Nazi propaganda movie. He shows his personal problems, and the character belief that he should have been a woman. This could seem too odd or over the top but Hurt makes it work wonderfully. Hurt is perfectly in tune with his character showing his feelings fantastically. He works incredibly well with Raul Julia and they create incredibly memorable scenes because of the effective way they work together. There antagonism and then movement to mutual friendship is earned perfectly. Hurt gives a fantastic performance in role which is most certainly a challenge.

Best Actor 1985: Jack Nicholson in Prizzi's Honor

Jack Nicholson received his eighth nomination for playing Charley Partanna a mafia hit man in Prizzi's Honor.

Prizzi's Honor is an okay but overly long film about a mafia hit man who marries a Hit Woman and the trouble that arise from that. It it is not that funny though, and it hardly gives that interesting of a portrait of the mob. 

Jack Nicholson chooses to do an odd Brooklyn accent in the film, I guess it is to be funny, but it becomes almost a fatal mistake in the performance. First of all it just sounds strange and unnatural. Then that makes it so it hurts every single thing that he does. Thirdly the accent is never exactly the same and is always off.

Nicholson also chooses to do a lot of mannerisms in this performance. He does not do his usual effective ones either, instead he does odd and overdone ones. Such as shaking his hands and his head in an odd way when he says things. He also does something always a little off with his mouth. Altogther all these things are probably suppose to be funny, or entertaining but they just comes off as false. These things do not help his performance and unfortunately drive it in some ways. Some scenes it is difficult not to ignore the overdone way he talks and his over the top faces. Any potential good from his performance cannot even come because of these unnecessary mannerisms.

This is one of the least charismatic and magnetic performances by Nicholson. In a most of the scenes he is never interesting and comes off a just plain dull. He never really makes anything out of his performance. He never creates a interesting character, and this just a disappointing performance from Nicholson. He has one good scene where he talks about being alone, and tries to save his wife in front of the crime family. Otherwise than this scene though his performance goes from nothing to just bad.

Best Actor 1985: James Garner in Murphy's Romance

James Garner received his only Oscar nomination for playing Murphy Jones in Murphy's Romance.

Murphy's Romance is a very standard romantic comedy of sorts, with its characters with their quirks. It was okay I suppose but there was really nothing all that original about it, nor was there anything all that great about it.

Garner's performance is just like the film really. There is nothing wrong with his performance but there is nothing that makes it really stand out in any sort of way. He plays the romantic lead of the film, who is an older pharmacist. Garner gives a typical performance expected to him really. He handles his character well enough but never in a unique way.

Garner does nothing surprising and does nothing out of his normal performance reach in this film. Doing this is fine for him but it is not at all amazing. He has his quirks and his strange ways, which are never made that interesting by Garner. He is okay at all times though but never great in anyway. He never does anything that is special in any way.

His chemistry with Sally Field is fine but again nothing amazing. I never really felt that he or Field ever created that interesting of a relationship, an okay but not one that was anything special. I really do not have that much to say about his performance overall because it is standard and never ever special. Garner is never bad during this performance but he never did a single thing that seemed like he should have been nominated.

Best Actor 1985: Jon Voight in Runaway Train

Jon Voight received his third Oscar nomination for playing Oscar "Manny" Manheim a convict in a Alaskan Prison in Runaway Train.

Runaway Train is a rather odd and not that effective of thriller involving two convicts who try to get away from a prison by taking a train which becomes a runaway train. It efforts at being thrilling are weak, and its attempts at philosophy are strange and odd at best. 

Jon Voight plays the basically the head of the prisoners in an Alaskan Maximum security prison. Voight plays his character as a tough no nonsense guy who is always in command of his situation. Voight uses a accent which works most of the time, although in parts it seems a little odd. Voight does do a good job at showing the way his character is in charge at all times. He has the proper command and strength in the role.His scenes where he yells at the warden and tells other people what to do, are very well done.

Voight's performance is hindered quite a bit by the other actors and the script though. Voight basically has no equal here, and he not that good even, so he cannot create any scenes that work well with the other actors, since Eric Roberts gives one of the worst nominated performances ever, it was like he was doing Jim Varney's Ernest character. He and Roberts create nothing together since Roberts is so bad in this performance.

Problems though arise also from the script since the script really does not decide who the character of Manny really is. Is he an evil criminal, just a normal guy who has lost his mind, or in some way a good guy. The script though changes the way his character is suppose to be over and over. In one scene it seems like he is concerned for the other prisoners than in another he is being very evil and selfish wanting the prisoner to die for him. The scripts just is not very good, but Voight does try his best to accommodate the current nature of his character made by the script. When he needs to be concerned and good he is just that, when he is suppose to be insane he really seems insane, and when he seems evil he seems evil.  He is unable to connect these differing aspects of the character even though he tries. Such as when he kind of looks upon himself as evil but even that is not perfectly done. Also at a few times he goes a little over the top such as when he is yelling at the end. He does try his hardest it seems and he does succeed at times despite how bad the script is. But still he never creates that good of a performance due to these set backs.