Year in Review. Each day another different angled wrap-up.
Last year during our year in review roundup we did our first list of "best co-star chemistry" and it was such a fun way to pinpoint the intangible and often uncategorizable spark that ignites greatness in movies that we're doing it again. Want to capture lightning in a bottle in your movie? Hire the right casting director who will pair the right actors together. No special effect, setpiece, or plot twist can or will ever rival the amount of movie-long electricity that can be generated when actors are really sparking off each other and nailing whatever the roles their characters play in each other's lives simultaneously.
The list is presented without much commentary... unless we couldn't escape it. Chime in in the comments, won't you?
16 Chris Pine & Ben Foster, Hell or High Water (Brothers)
15 Ralph Fiennes and Alden Ehrenreich, Hail Caesar (Director & Star). Theory: If the whole movie were as sharp and funny as their single scene together, the movie would be the single best movie of 2016.
14 Joel Edgerton & Ruth Negga, Loving (Husband & Wife)
13 Tilda Swinton & Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash (Ex-Lovers)
12 Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae in Hidden Figures (Co-workers/Friends)
11 Jessica Chastain & Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Miss Sloane (Strategist & Pawn Piece)
10 Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe, Swiss Army Man (Man & Corpse or Ego & Id or Altar Egos?)
09 John Early & Jesse Plemons, Other People (Friends / Hometown Escapees)
Yes, Molly Shannon significatly elevates this dramedy as the cancer stricken mom but isn't its secret weapon really the escape valve scenes whenever David (Jesse Plemons) sees his old friend Gabe (John Early) both in town again after a long absence. It has to be one of the most relaxed, funny, and authentic depictions of longtime queer friendship we've seen onscreen.
08 Theo Taplitz & Michael Barbieri, Little Men (Instant Besties)
07 Stephen McKinley Henderson & Denzel Washington, Fences (Long Time Co-Workers / Friends / Neighbors)
Talk about a lived in chemistry absolutely resonating -- so much so that their eventual rift is just heartwrenching while completely underplayed -- thank god they didn't recast the roles from the stage.
06 Kate Beckinsale & Chloe Sevigny, Love & Friendship (Mean Girls, Clique of Two)
05 Craig Robinson and Markees Christmas, Morris from America (Father & Son)
04 Colin Farrell & Rachel Weisz, The Lobster (Forbidden Lovers)
04 Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman, 10 Cloverfield Lane (Captor/Captive)
and three (okay four) true jawdroppers...
03 Crudup, Fanning, Bening, Gerwig, Zumann in 20th Century Women (Makeshift Family / Roommmates / Village Child Raising Teen-Guiding)
02 Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea (Uncle and Nephew)
UPDATE: I FORGOT THESE TWO IN THE FIRST DRAFT WHICH IS HILARIOUS BECAUSE... TOP O' THE LIST
01 Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, La La Land (Lovers)
This is their third picture together and I hope they make at least 3 more...
EXTREMELY HONORABLE UNCATEGORIZABLE MENTION ...they never share scenes but Lord how they resonate as fundamentally the same and different: Alex R Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes in Moonlight (True Self). And to think that Barry Jenkins reportedly wouldn't even let them watch each other scenes. How did this miracle happen?