The Screening Room

Posted by Chris Vognar @ 11:16 AM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

Let's see: No. Wow, that was easy. He'll deserve it, too. No one can bore into a character's heart of darkness like the soft-spoken DDL. But I'll tell you who comes close - Viggo Mortensen. I just watched Eastern Promises again over the weekend, and I was knocked out by the amazing stillness of Mortensen's Russian crime henchman. Like Lewis, he fully inhabits every character he plays. And that bath house scene is one for the ages. They picked the wrong naked dude to mess with.

Posted by Tom Maurstad @ 11:41 AM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

Okay, I'll go out on a limb here. While I think DDL's performance in There Will Be Blood was compelling and accomplished, it felt a little too familiar to me. I don't think he created this performance out of whole cloth, I think he put it together with the pieces he had left over from his Bill the Buthcher performance in Gangs of New York. The two seemed like two different shades of black, or maybe, more accurately, the same black hole at the center with different rings of grey around them. Anyway, I will second Chris's cheer for Viggo Mortensen's performance. I've watched Eastern Promises a few times now, and he really is a wonder. It's a fascinating exercise in acting -- it's like he started with the premise "I'm not going to give anything away" and then he still communicates so much depth and richness.

Posted by stephen becker @ 11:59 AM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

It's interesting the contrast between DDL (let it all hang out) and Mortensen (keep it all in). Two other performances in this category that I found fairly similar were George Clooney's and Tommy Lee Jones'. I'll preface this by saying I don't think either of them has much of a shot at winning. But I thought they both were textbook examples of what an actor can convey without words. Jones' weathered mug and sad eyes get to the heart of what it must feel like to be a dad investigating his son's death. And watching Clooney in the back of that cab as the credits role on Michael Clayton -- no words necessary. (As a side note, Clooney said at last year's Toronto Film Festival that he was rethinking the movie scene by scene as the camera rolled on that final shot.)

Posted by Chris Vognar @ 12:18 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

I think there's more to Lewis' performance that letting it all hang out; Plainview is far more taciturn than Bill the Butcher. To me he's a stoic misanthrope of the rapidly changing (and closing) frontier. Clooney and Jones were both fine; I'd say these performances are the best of their careers. I was particularly wowed by Jones, whose character undergoes such a profound transformation. As Stephen says, it's all in his face, and in his body language. This is a lived-in portrayal of a man losing the certitude of his worldview in the face of slowly unfolding personal tragedy - a description that applies to Clooney's performance as well.

Posted by Tom Maurstad @ 12:31 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

There was a lot of acting without words in these performances. Of all of them, I think Clooney's may be the real breakthrough. He's been talked about and has talked himself in interviews about aspiring to be an actor in the tradition of Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Stewart. But to this point, he's never allowed himself to go beyond being cool -- his characters are always unflappable and in control. But in Michael Clayton we finally see him playing a character that is out of control, we watch his character slowly fall apart. And that final scene in the taxi is just great -- you see everything he's going through play across his face. I think Johnny Depp is handicapped by the novelty of his performance, that "Johnny Sings!" aspect.

Posted by stephen becker @ 12:38 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

I agree, Tom -- I think Hollywood really wants to give Depp an Oscar, but this year just isn't the right one probably. Let's shift gears and talk about the ladies. I'm seeing this as a two-horse race between Julie Christie and Marion Cotillard. But I keep asking myself if they will really give the award to a mostly foreign-language performance.

Posted by Chris Vognar @ 12:50 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

I think Christie is as much a sure thing as DDL. It's funny how momentum and buzz coalesce in some Oscar races; these two remind me of last year, when Mirren and Whitaker were crowned so early.
For me, the nominee who most defined her film was Ellen Page in Juno. Diablo Cody's screenplay has been justifiably praised, but that film is simply not that film without Page's vision of the character, and without her indelible line delivery. Because of her, Juno is the most distinctive movie character of the year.

Posted by Tom Maurstad @ 1:05 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

While I don't mean to take anything away from Ellen Page and she was great in Juno, I think the voice of that character and the movie was created by Diablo Cody's screenplay. She just wrote a backpage essay for the Feb. 15 issue of EW (on her teenage-crush on the New Kids on the Block) and it has that same voice ringing through it. I don't know how you could read her dialogue and not sound smart and funny. The performance I keep coming back to is Laura Linney's in The Savages. In honor of the presidential election season we're in, I'll use a political buzzword: she's so authentic.

Posted by stephen becker @ 1:14 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

If there were to be a huge upset in either of these categories, I think Page would be the most likely to deliver it. Her character was certainly the most likeable in the field. I also like Linney, and I was shocked that she was nominated since she hadn't received much of anything before the Oscars. But I don't think she should spend much time polishing that acceptance speech. One other note on Cotillard/foreign language winners: Looks like the last one came in 1998 when Roberto Benigni won for Life is Beautiful. Thankfully we haven't heard from him since.
Any hope for Blanchett turning the double play Oscar night? The movie was so-so, but she was her usual electrifying self in it.

Posted by Chris Vognar @ 1:29 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

Stephen, you forget the greatness of Benigni's Pinocchio. I kid. I like Cody, but I'm getting a little tired of her; the word that best describes her for me is "overexposed." I don't think Page has a chance; the Academy generally honors out-of-the-box and/or young nominees in the supporting categories. But hey, I'd be thrilled to be wrong on this one. Linney is, well, Linney: great in everything she touches. She'll win one day, though she could probably care less.

Posted by Tom Maurstad @ 1:47 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

I'm with you on the Cody overload, Chris -- for me, the relentless snappiness of Juno's dialogue wore out its welcome. I hope Ellen Page doesn't win; that would be kind of like Winona Ryder winning for her performance in Heathers. I think Julie Christie will win; I just wish Laura Linney would.

Posted by stephen becker @ 2:10 PM Wed, Feb 13, 2008

Well, it looks like it's settled then: Lewis and Christie are the picks, though we all secretly long for someone else it seems. Tune in next week when we rumage through the director and best picture categories.

Posted by GetRich @ 6:14 PM Mon, Feb 18, 2008

I'm really hoping for Cotillard to win this one. Where Christie is understated, Cotillard is the extreme opposite but never unrelatable. Besides, she's in practically every scene of the movie. I'm hoping Cotillard will pull an Adrien Brody and surprise everyone.