Road to the Oscars Part 1: Actors

Over the next week I’ll be posting a category by category break down of my thoughts on the various Oscar categories. Culminating in a Oscar picks post, and then live tweeting the damned thing @therealmacgyver. I’ve seen all of the nominated movies bar 6 so there will be a few gaps unfortunately.

Today, the guy acting

Actor In A Leading Role:

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart = As I said in the review, he’s playing Kris Kristofferson for the most part. The Dude is long over due an Oscar and will probably win partly because of that fact. But it’s a very real performance. He’s not scared to look tired and flabby and the failings of the movie aren’t down to it’s leading man.
George Clooney in Up In The Air = George is basically playing the same charming dude we’ve seen him play a bunch of times. He’s damned good at it, mainly I suspect due to it being quite close to the real George. Nothing really stand out from him here, for George anyway as it’s a bloody good actor.
Colin Firth in A Single Man = Unfortunately this is one of the ones I haven’t seen
Morgan Freeman in Invictus = Most years he’d probably be in for a shot at the award for this. He plays a damned good Mandela without being a parody, and he’s Morgan fucking Freeman so he’s be riveting reading the phone book. Honestly, I’ve seen him in some terrible stuff and he never sucks.
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker = I think this might be in the same performance boat as George as his character here is similar to the cop he played in The Unusuals. That said there’s some great acting moments here and he is the central focus in one of the best movies I’ve seen in the last 3 months.

As much as I’d like to see Jeremy Renner scoop it, Jeff Bridges pips him to the post a bit. Plus he’s due, Renner is new as far as Hollywood is concerned. He’ll probably scoop one up in a couple of years but it’s the Dude’s turn this time.

Actor In A Supporting Role

Matt Damon in Invictus = I actually forgot I was watching Matt Damon a few times. Well that’s not strictly true, but he nails the character to the wall. Whether it’s a good impression, well who knows. But it’s some damned fine acting regardless. And he looks like a rugger bugger, though maybe a bit too pretty.
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger = Who would have thought Woody from Cheers would be doing this? It’s another damned fine performance, though for half the time he’s a military man being a military man. Very nuanced, sometimes vulnerable and always hits the right notes.
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station = didn’t see it
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones = He plays a creepy guy and off the top of my head that’s not a normal Tucci role but I don’t quite get all the hype. It’s might partly be because the film was so all over the place. Good stuff, but I don’t think it was amazing.
Christopher Waltz in Inglorious Bastards = playing a shit of a nazi who’s full of charisma. It’s a damned fine performance that has those little telling looks in it. Moments play out in a very tense way down to how well Waltz acted. It’s hard to pull of a likeable character when his nickname is The Jew Hunter, but he plays a glorious bastard (sorry)

I’d say it’s down to Woody or Waltz for this, though the buzz seems to be going Tucci’s way. Personally I’m torn between the W’s, but I guess I’ll lean Waltz’ way

Next up: The Ladies