Previously on Streep Reader Rankings we covered The French Lieutenant's Woman, Music of the Heart, Doubt, The Deer Hunter, One True Thing, and Ironweed. Now we hit the top ten. Ten and Nine were a statistical tie, constantly trading dominance as I tallied the results of your ballots. Since both films were listed in last place on 7% of the ballots, I broke the tie by looking at first place votes. Only one of the two had any.
TOP TEN STREEP NOMINATED PERFORMANCES
According to The Film Experience Readers
10. Julie & Julia (2009)
Role & Balloting: Streep has played many biographical parts in her long career which accounts for some of her record-obliterating nomination haul (8 of her 17 nominations are for biographical roles and she is now 5 nominations beyond her nearest rival Jack Nicholson). This widely seen warm serio-comic interpretation of the famous chef Julia Child is the last film in the countdown without any #1 placements on reader ballots.
Who Won the Oscar: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Other Nominees in Guesstimate Order of AMPAS Love: Meryl (Julie & Julia), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
The Dread Sixth Place Finish?: One supposes the fifth slot was neck and neck between Mirren and Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria). There wasn't a ton of enthusiasm for either film though, since the top four candidates absorbed all the Oscar heat.
09. Out of Africa (1985)
Role & Balloting: Streep had another huge success with this romantic epic about the Danish author Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen). If Geraldine Page hadn't been so absurdly overdue (It was her 8th nomination which was at the time the longest stretch by any actor without ever having won the gold. Peter O'Toole now holds the record with 8 nominations without a win) the Best Actress race would've been between Whoopi and Streep both headlining very very big hits. (The Eighties were a different time with box office and moviegoing; people still flocked to prestige dramas in big numbers.)
Who Won the Oscar: Geraldine Page, The Trip To Bountiful
Other Nominees in Guesstimate Order of AMPAS Love: Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple), Meryl (Out of Africa), Anne Bancroft (Agnes of God) and Jessica Lange (Sweet Dreams)
The Dread Sixth Place Finish?: Cher was left on the outside looking in for Mask as the mother of a deformed boy. The snub even resulted in an Oscar night moment when Cher, clad in one of her typically outre outfits quipped:
As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress."
Reader Comment. Marcos writes:
I first noticed Streep in The Deer Hunter. I liked her a lot and was impressed, but I became utterly fascinated when I was able to realize the extent to which she immersed herself in roles that were so different. Choosing between Bridges and Out of Africa [for #1] was difficult. One of Streep's best scenes ever was her lover's funeral. She moves forward to grab a handful of earth to throw it on Robert Redford's grave. She moves ahead, but the camera stays still. She grabs some earth and extends her arm to throw it on his grave. Her hand starts shaking and, without releasing the earth, she brings it to her chest and walks away."
Three more Oscar roles after the jump
08. Postcards From the Edge (1990)
Role & Balloting: Streep played a fictionalized version of Carrie Fisher named "Suzanne Vale" in this mother/daughter comedy about self-sabotaging actresses. This performance still seems to be divisive, placing generally very high or very low on the ballots. Pssst, it's a favorite of yours truly and I'll share my own rankings soon.
Who Won the Oscar: Kathy Bates, Misery
Other Nominees in Guesstimate Order of AMPAS Love: Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman), Anjelica Huston (The Grifters), Meryl (Postcards) and Joanne Woodward (Mr & Mrs Bridge)
The Dread Sixth Place Finish?: We could probably debate this one all day as there are several candidates (including the critically lauded Mia Farrow in Woody Allen's Alice --she's great in that one. Sigh, yet another Mia Farrow snub) but my guess is Michelle Pfeiffer was a distant sixth for Russia House given that she was a failed frontrunner the year before, an A list star paired with an Oscar winner (Sean Connery) and doing an accent and she still had "when will she win?" momentum. (Pfeiffer has been pretty cursed with presumed sixth spot finishes throughout the years as that obviously happened to her for 2002's supporting actress lineup and probably for 1993's actress lineup as well)
Reader Note. David Writes:
Suzanne Vale doesn't have an exotic accent, impressive mimicry and doesn't live in an (apparent) epic context. But I think it's probably Meryl's most complex role. I love her sense of humor, her strength and her weaknesses even more. She shows all her wounds in so many different, subtle ways: with bitter humor, by singing (OMG what singing!), but even more through listening to her mother sing, or hiding herself in the wardrobe. Suzanne speaks through her jokes: she knows everybody thinks she's just a spoiled woman who shouldn't complain so she just laughs bitterly about all her troubles when what she's really doing is screaming for help. She's really damaged, but despite everything dying to have fun.
07. A Cry in the Dark (1988)
Role & Balloting: This crabby severe performance is still well regarded. Aussie Lindy Chamberlain was all but crucified by the media for being insufficiently emotive when she claimed that dingos snatched her baby but Meryl was lauded for recreating her, abrasive personality and all. Though this role only received one first place finish, and though it was missing from a lot of ballots (28% of the voters hadn't seen it), it nearly always placed high for those who had. It is one of Streep's most virtuosic transformations.
Who Won the Oscar: Jodie Foster, The Accused
Other Nominees in Guesstimate Order of AMPAS Love: Glenn Close (Dangerous Liaisons), Meryl Streep (A Cry in the Dark ...I can't remember when "give her Oscar #3!" talk started. It may have been as early as Silkwood but it was definitely on by 1988 though it died down considerably after this until the late Aughts rolled 'round), Melanie Griffith (Working Girl) and Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas in the Mist)
The Dread Sixth Place Finish?: I can't even talk about this year. Susan Sarandon's "comeback" in Bull Durham was totally statue worthy, let alone for a nomination. She had traction, too, but it didn't pan out somehow in the end. I blame Melanie Griffith for that last minute comedy hit which sucked all the oxygen out of the room for everyone else but especially for Sarandon who she bested for the Globe.
Reader Note. William Writes:
She certainly scares me more than any dingo would. I love how hard her eyes are. I don’t remember one moment where she seeks sympathy for her character. For the movie to work at all the actress must convey the unreachable hardness of the character (to explain why the world was so judgmental and unforgiving) while also keeping us intrigued and involved. In some ways this may have been her most difficult challenge as an actress.
Let's pause here to soak it all in.
#10 and #9 were a statistical tie and #8 and #7 were very close. The top six were the clear winners of this "Reader Ranking" experiment, considerably outdistancing the other ten nominations.
06. Kramer Vs. Kramer (1979)
Role & Balloting: Meryl played Joanna Kramer, the one who wanted out in this divorce drama. It became the top grossing film of 1979, it's title shorthand for divorce it so captured the zeitgeist. It is one of those best pictures that people sometimes complain about since it beat not one but two bonafide auteurial masterworks (Apocalypse Now and All That Jazz) but damn if this isn't still a remarkably potent affecting drama.
Who Won the Oscar: Meryl Streep (1ST WIN!), Kramer Vs. Kramer
Other Nominees in Guesstimate Order of AMPAS Love: Let's list them alphabetically instead: Jane Alexander (Kramer Vs. Kramer), Barbara Barrie (Breaking Away), Candice Bergen (Starting Over) and Mariel Hemingway (Manhattan). The only thing I knew about the Oscars at this point in life was that Star Wars had lost to Annie Hall and my parents and older brothers were really mad about it. "The Oscars! Pissing People Off For 84 Years!"
The Dread Sixth Place Finish?: I'm going to guess Valerie Harper for Chapter Two. She was a Globe nominee and her co-star Marsha Mason did manage a nomination in Best Actress.
Reader Note. Chris writes:
I think she has (so far) actually won for her two strongest performances, both of which I love. She is just stunning and haunting as Sophie but her Joanna Kramer is equally brilliant. She makes you literally feel the internal struggle of this Mother and she is heartbreaking in the courtroom scene - "I'm his Mother, I'm his Mother".