Random Noise

Oscar Time: Best Actor

[Originally posted on MySpace]

Next up, best actor… Here’s my list, in reverse order as usual:

#5: Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond

Leonardo plays Danny Archer, a mercenary who overhears the tale of a father (Solomon) who’s been separated from his family, and hid a huge diamond he found. Danny offers to help Solomon find his family in exchange for the stone.

As I said in my review of Djimon Hounsou (nominated for best supporting actor for playing Solomon), this movie was entirely predictable. Danny’s story was no exception. His character had no depth and was completely uninteresting. Emotional moments in the story felt like a joke gone wrong, I couldn’t wait for this film to finish so I could watch something much better. I don’t know why Leo got nominated for this role – he was much better in The Aviator and The Departed. This movie and Leonardo’s performance are entirely forgettable.

#4: Peter OToole – Venus

Peter plays Maurice, an aging actor who spends his time hanging out with another old friend, Ian. All they do is sit around and talk about their acting careers and inevitable deaths. One day Ian’s agrees to let his niece’s daughter Jessie move in and take care of him. But when she does, Ian realizes that he can’t stand her. She’s not interested in caring for him, she’s rude, and she drinks a lot. But when Maurice sees her, he can’t help but feel compassion for the girl. As time passes, he develops a romantic interest in the girl (even though she’s like 60 years younger than him).

I liked Peter’s performance – he’s witty (compared to his aging, self-obsessed, lethargic friend) and at first the relationship he forms with Jessie seems perfectly ordinary. But Jessie turns out to be vulnerable, she stays at home all day living with an old man, has no friends, no job, no motivation to go outside and make something of herself. Maurice takes advantage of this and builds a romantic fantasy that revolves around her. Peter excels at giving us a character that is part dirty old man, part dying old man. At times he’s warm, at times honest, and he builds a unique chemistry with Jessie. The end is touching, even though Maurice is a creepy old guy at times, we feel a strong sense loss and emptiness when he’s gone.

#3: Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson

Ryan plays Dan Dunne, an inner-city high school teacher. During the day he teaches history, during the afternoon he’s a girls basketball coach, at night he’s got a nasty drug habit. After a basketball game, one student, Drey, finds him smoking crack in the girls bathroom. She’s a bit of a loner, quiet and mostly self-reliant, but she forms a friendship with him.

This isn’t your ordinary “ambitious inner-city school teacher shakes up the world” story… In Half Nelson, Ryan turns to drugs because he realizes his goal of ‘changing the world’ was too ambitious. Drugs give him a way to escape the pain of reality – that most of his students don’t care about history, aren’t motivated and just don’t want to be there. But Drey is different. What I like about Ryan’s performance is the spark you see in him whenever he’s with Drey. He begins to care about here and wants to keep her out of harm’s way. But he can’t escape who he is and in the end seems resigned to the fact that nothing is going to change. You can see his spark change in the latter half of the movie. The energy in his eyes starts to fade, his body language emphasizes how he’s lost his motivation, and he gives off a sense of connected honesty, that he knows his role in life and is stuck there. His overall performance is really good.

#2: Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness

Will Smith plays Chris Gardner, a struggling salesman. After a series of tough days, he notices how happy people in the financial district seem. They seem to be living a wonderful life. So he decides that he wants to become a stock broker. But when his wife leaves and his bank account runs dry, it becomes increasingly tough to pursue his dream while being a good father.

This was an eternally sad movie. Chris’s life just keeps going downhill even though he has the best of intentions for his future and for raising his son. It’s this massive contrast between his dedication to pursuing his hopes and dreams and the reality around him that causes us connect with him so deeply. One scene in particular – where he’s forced to spend the night in a bus station bathroom - is particularly moving. Even scenes that should be happy elicit a sense of sadness – like when his son tells him he’s a good father – we’re still sad because we’ve seen how hard it’s been for Chris to do his best. This is what’s best about Will’s performance – the earnestness he shows in the light of sacrifice.

#1: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland

Forest plays Idi Amin, the brutal dictator of Uganda in the 1970’s. The story is told through the eyes of his doctor, Nicholas (played by James McAvoy). Nicholas is one of Amin’s closest advisors, and forms a bond with the dictator who seems to have nothing but best intentions for Uganda. But as time passes, that changes. Amin’s afraid of being assassinated and anyone even suspected of acting against the dictators wishes ends up brutally murdered.

When I began writing this, I listed Forest as my #2 pick. But after thinking back on how good this performance is, I had to boost him to #1… Forest delivers a really exceptional performance – he’s incredible in this role. As the president of Uganda he starts off seemingly wanting only the best for his country. He’s extremely personable, gregarious and everyone around him seems to be drawn in by his jolly personality. But as the movie progresses, we see Amin become increasingly paranoid. He suspects everyone wants to kill him. Forest does such a good job here of showing us his paranoia without directly speaking to it. It’s in his eyes, his expression, the odd pauses when answering a question. As more time passes, it develops further. We see sudden shifts between a jolly, happy president and a brutal, murderous, vengeful man. To some degree, it even inspires fear in us – we’re not sure how he will react as events unfold. He’s my Oscar pick this year.

So, tomorrow I’ll post my pick for best actress. I’m not going to post a pick for Best Picture or Best Director because I haven’t been able to watch Letters from Iwo Jima. It’s not playing in theaters anymore… maybe I’ll rate the other films… but I’m not sure yet…. I’m disappointed I didn’t get a chance to see all the films nominated this year… =(