State of the Oscar Race 2013: Exploring the Unknown in this Year's Supporting Actor Oscar Category

Last year's Supporting Actor race was one of the most interesting races.  The critics loved Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike, but he was ignored at all of the "major" award shows.  Tommy Lee Jones got some recognition from critics groups, and the Screen Actor's Guild Awards (SAG).  The eventual winner was Christoph Waltz who also won at the Golden Globes, and BAFTA, for what is largely refereed to by many as a lead performance. What made this category interesting last year was the fact that every nominee was a previous winner, the other two nominees were Alan Arkin for Argo, who won for Little Miss Sunshine, and Robert DeNiro in Silver Linings Playbook, who has two Oscars one for The Godfather Part II, and one for Raging Bull.

What makes this year just as interesting?  The fact that only Tom Hanks who will compete for Saving Mr. Banks has the most history with Oscar with 5 nominations, and 2 wins in the lead category.  This category has a lot of unknown factors. Many of the performers within this category have never received Academy attention, or have only been nominated once before.  See the the list of major contenders listed below:

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club (never nominated)
Pro: Method performance, many actors eat up a performance like this, and why shouldn't they?  Leto is great and I would argue is the front runner.
Cons: Does the slight homophobia which exists in Hollywood understand this performance, the more conservative voters.  Will they get this role?

Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks (two time Oscar nominee, 5 time nominee in acting)
Pros: Enter Tom Hanks who is getting rave reviews for playing Walt Disney, the man who has the most Oscar nominations, and basically beloved.  A beloved actor playing a beloved Oscar winner, Hollywood eats that up!
Cons: Hanks has 2 Oscars, is that enough?  Some may think yes

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave (only nominated for Golden Globe)
Pros: Oscar loves their bad boys in this category, and Fassbender is the baddest!  
Cons:  Is he too bad?  I do not think he can win, but a nomination is likely.  He has also said that he will not campaign.,

Barkhad Abdi-Captain Phillips (never nominated)
Pros: Hanks is going to champion Abdi to a nomination, and he has a lot of friends.  I have heard a lot of celebrities talk about how impressed they were with this relative unknown.
Cons: His unknown status, are people going think only about the titular Captain Phillips aka Tom Hanks.

Daniel Bruhl, Rush (never nominated) 
Pros: Great performance about overcoming and affliction, and achieveing even further greatness, the classic success story Oscar likes to see.
Cons: No one saw this film, and unless Bruhl gets major love from the critics he could be all but ignored, if he shows up at the Critics Choice and Globes this could telling.

Harrison Ford-42 (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pros: The only performer who could seen as that underrated performer in this category this year; he has only one Oscar nomination, and is vastly overdue for consideration.
Cons: Solid performance in a decent film, it has happened many times before, but 42 is not going to be considered in any other categories, which again has happened before, but does he deserve it for this?

John Goodman, Inside Llewyn Davis (never nominated)
Pros:  Goodman has been on the radar of Oscar the last few years turning in great scene stealing performances in Argo, and Flight.  Goodman is a Coen regular, could this be the role that finally gets him on Oscars radar?
Cons: Is Davis going to be one of those Coen movies Oscar voters "do not get?"  It could, but prestige may win out, and help sneak in this category.

Matthew McConaughey, Mud (never nominated)
Pros: He is going to get attention for Dallas Buyers Club, which could make others tune into this film as well; he also gives a great understated performance.
Cons: McConaughey a double nominee in one year?  The film did better than Take Shelter, but are people/voters going to tune in, or make this happen?

David Oyewelo, The Butler (never nominated)
Pros:  The film has the Weinstein Co. on its side, and they know how to get nominations, see Silver Linings Playbook last year.  Oyewelo is great in the film and deserves consideration.  People are underestimating the two men in this film.
Cons:  Another unknown, and while I am certain Harvey will do a major push for The Butler at the moment its an out sight film.

Jake Gylenhaal, Prisoners (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pro: Like with his previous nomination Gylenhaal could get a nomination for a lead role, did they really campaign him supporting for Brokeback because he was the bottom?  "Leads" do well in this category
Cons: Prisoners seems out of sight out of mind, one of those forgotten films that just was solid and well made, but will never hit Oscars radar.

Bradley Cooper, American Hustle (nominated for 1 Oscar)
Pro: He was nominated for an O. Russell film just last year.
Cons: No one has seen the film, hard to say.

This is of course not every possible contender, but these appear to be the strongest at the moment.  The nominees will be centered around a combination of which films people "love" and performances they admire, except for Hanks none of these men have been "major" players for Oscar more than once.  Only Ford fits in the overdue category, like Christopher Plummer, James Coburn, and Morgan Freeman, but he is on the low end of most predictions.  I am excited to see how this category turns out, there are so many great supporting performances out there.

Flight is a Bumpy Ride, Piloted by Solid Direction from Zemeckis and a Brilliant Performance from Denzel

Flight (3 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away)

Written by John Gatins (Summer Catch, Coach Carter, Real Steel)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Don Cheedle, and John Goodman

Daylight savings almost prevented me from going to the movies tonight.  A fun tip for people checking movie times, if you are going to a Regal (I am assuming AMC does the same thing) Fandango is the only accurate website/app to use for looking at move times.  My intention was to see Cloud Atlas today, but because of how long the film is I ended up seeing Flight instead.  Flight ended up being a  bumpy ride, piloted by solid direction from Robert Zemeckis and a brilliant performance from Denzel Washington.

Flight, centers Captain Whip Whitaker (Washington) a pilot who ends up helping land a plane as it appears the plane is going to crash and kill everyone.  Instead of the plane crashing Whip miraculously glides the plane in saving the majority of the passengers on board.  The main problem in the after effects is the fact that Whip was drunk and high while flying the plane.

The film centers around Whip's addiction and the role it has played throughout his entire life.  As the story progresses there is no clear point that explains what happened to him to cause his drinking, but the root of the evil in his life is not the problem the main point is that he has a problem.  Whip has two face two large problems in the film the fact that he has an addiction and the fact that he was drunk and high while flying the plane.  With some casualties on the flight Whip faces prison time.

In his post crash world Whip meets a woman named Nicole (Kelly Reilly) in the hospital.  Nicole is an addict as well, and we see her at the beginning of her journey to help curb her problem.  While I like the concept of the parallel story, and the way these two interact, Nicole's journey and her interaction with Whip is often left with little substance.  Even Nicole's introduction feels awkward and clunky. This lack of depth, and poor character narrative speaks to one of the problems with the film, the script.

This is John Gatin's first time handling material that is this deep, his past films may have some overcoming adversity themes.  Gatins himself has talked openly about his own struggles with alcoholism, and I think he has used his own experiences to color the tale.  Using real life experiences can be powerful to help personalize a script, but it can also bog things down with cliches.  I think the running thematic connection for Gatins is the power of AA, and while this can work it does not always add the to story.

   Gatin's script is by no means bad, but there is a need for him to work on tightening things up, and avoiding the ABC after school special feel. There are also constant mentions of spirituality/faith and "acts of God," but I am not sure that this all connected in the to Whip's journey.  The script does a good job talking about ethics more than this "Act of God" concept, and should have focused solely on doing the right thing without playing the religion card.  As Washington is faced with one tough decision there is this brilliant direction which focuses on him and his characters pain, which he has been fighting throughout the whole film.

That scene with Denzel at the end of the film, along with the brilliant flight sequence in the beginning where the plane is going down is the work of director Robert Zemeckis.  Zemeckis has left the world of live action films for twelve years working on stop motion films (like the scary Polar Express), I am grateful to have him back in the live action world.  Flight, is not a typical Zemeckis like film; he challenges himself to step outside of the box, and work with the solid aspects of the script, and the brilliant acting from Denzel Washington to let the film speak for itself.

Washington character Whip is like Hanks in Cast Away; he is piloting his journey (basically solo) as he  battles his demons, throughout his experiences after this accident.  There were times when I hated this character, and like Whip's attorney Hugh Lang (Cheedle) said he was basically an arrogant asshole.  There is something different about this journey, something typical, but different (another solid part of the script) Whip is an anti-hero, someone you should be rooting  for, but you can't because you know his bender put people's lives at risk.  Washington's performance is one of his best in years, and proves he has the chops when given the right role.

Washington's performance saves the film, and even though there is solid word from the the other actors like Cheedles stodgy lawyer, and Goodman's scene stealing drug/alcohol buddy.  You never lose site of Denzel and the way he owns this role, and how magnetic he is playing this character.  The film has bumpy, and sometimes preachy moments, but they never overshadow Washington.

Argo is a Thrilling, Gripping Edge of Your Seat Thriller with a bit of Comedy Thrown in now and again Creating Near Perfection

Argo (4 1/2 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town)

Written by Chris Terrio (Heights)

Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, and Alan Arkin

Fifteen years ago Ben Affleck was soon to take the stage at the Academy Awards with best buddy Matt Damon for writing the screenplay for the film Good Will Hunting.  As the years passed Affleck took on more roles acting, from blockbusters like Armageddon to some major flops like Gigli.  The Gigli disaster happened in 2003.  

Four years later Mister Affleck took a different vantage point, one from the directors seat, with the film adaptation Gone Baby Gone.  Gone garnered an Oscar nomination for Amy Ryan, and was well reviewed.  Three years later he directed and adapted the screenplay for the film The Town.  The Town's reviews were even better, and also garnered an Oscar nomination for Jeremy Renner.  Affleck's career has evolved as a celebrity, but more so this film proves his evolution as an auteur. Argo is a thrilling, gripping edge of your seat thriller with a bit of comedy thrown in now and again creating near perfection.

Argo centers around the 1979 Iranian Revolution.   Islamic militants storm the US embassy in Iran, they end up holding 52 people hostage while 6 people end up escaping, seeking refuge in the  house of the Canadian Ambassador.  In order to get the six Americans out of Iran a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist named Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) works to concoct a plan to get the Americans out of Iran.  Mendez works with one of colleagues Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston) and comes up with an idea to create a fake movie entitle Argo to get into Iran and out with the six Americans.

The premise sounds absurd but this is based on real life events.  Mendez real life actions were awarded a secret honor, and then quickly revoked in order to keep this mission, and the extent of US involvement hidden, until the 90s when President Bill Clinton opened the file and honored Mendez.  This story is an important one, and shows the volatile nature of this part of the world continues to be a hot spot.  Many will compare this revolution to the current situation going on in Libya, but there is sheer brilliance in the way this story is told, and how it builds to a gripping finale.

The star of this film (in all ways possible) is leading man/director Ben Affleck.  Affleck moves away from Boston and into the terrain of Hollywood and Iran.  One of my favorite lines in the script comes from the fake make-up artists on the film John Chambers (John Goodman) in which he states "So you want to come to Hollywood and and act like a big shot without actually doing anything?..You will fit right in."  This along with the line about anyone being able to direct are laugh out loud moments, but Affleck proves everyone may be able to point the camera, and shoot, but not everyone can create such great work.  This is one of the best films of the year, and Affleck's direction helps set the stage for everything to be made possible.

I always love thinking about a director, directing himself, and what pointers they must give.  This makes me laugh.  Affleck has however coached himself into making people forget some of his awful film roles because his performance as Mendez is incredible.  This is one stellar ensemble filled with the men behind the scenes in DC and Hollywood.  Alan Arkin plays the fake film's director, and his one liners add some great levity to this film.  Goodman and Arkin are truly a dynamic duo.  Bryan Cranston continues to prove why he is not only a brilliant leading man in television, but how he can take any role, and make it stand out on the screen.  Affleck is at ease with strong ensembles, his last two films had incredible casts, and he made each character deep and contextual.  

New screenwriter Chris Terrio words help blend the tension and comedy brilliantly; he appears to have a knack for showing multi-faceted layers, which is something that will land him lots of acclaim.  William Goldenberg's masterful editing blends the real life imagery of the storming of the embassy with Affleck's camera work; he also provides some great cuts that allow the films tension to gain momentum, and blend every aspect of the film together.  Alesandre Desplat's score is haunting, and creates this genius connection with the historical time period along with the different elements of the film.  Together 

all of these pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, taut with perfection. 

As this films tensions builds, and the history lesson ends (well sort of) you sit back listen to Jimmy Carter talk, and realize that as a society we are in a vicious cycle with this part of the world.  Fear is a constant throughout this film, you are afraid you will lose these people, even though you may know the outcome, but the fear is salient with society today as well.  Does this film teach lessons?  Yes, two.  The first seems to be we need to take a step back on things we do not know or understand, i.e. cultures, and parts of the globe.  The second is how to make a modern day thriller about real life events.