As noted by the recently departed Alan Rickman on his BAFTA win for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves "Subtlety isn't everything." As far as Oscar is concerned, this year Best Actor was go big or go home. Take a look the leading men outside the bubble and you'll find mostly nuanced performances like those from Michael B. Jordan, Tom Courtenay, and Tom Hanks with their scenery unchewed. Rewarding more broad work has made this the Year of the Ham.
Some of the bigger choices have been more welcome than others in this field, so let's have some fun assessing the hammage:
Bryan Cranston - Trumbo
Clearly the most guilty of going big for its own sake, Cranston's nomination leaves quite a sour taste in your mouth. The performance feels built upon arched shoulders and mustaches, even if Cranston is a game actor admirably going along with the film's schlocky tone. It's not just the scenery getting chewed, but the script, the costumes, the camera, and poor Diane Lane. It's so hammy, he even shows us his hams in a prison scene.
Level of Ham: SPAM - some people like it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Matt Damon - The Martian
Here's a role that actually calls upon the actor to be a ham. Matt Damon gets to use more of his natural charm than he has in anything outside of the Ocean's franchise and spends much of his performance breaking the fourth wall. He leans in on the nerd humor that's heavy on puns and dirty words, but thankfully never goes full broski. Everything lands, including his unexpected emotional moments, but this a performance playing right to the crowd. The visible hams are an obvious emaciated stunt double.
Level of Ham: Honey-Baked - generally pleasing to everyone
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant
Everyone's favorite raw bison-eating punching bag this Oscar season, I'm actually higher on this performance than what seems to be the vocal internet majority. The grunting, drooling, moaning bits are truly over-the-top especially early on pre-revenge quest, but it settles into a less growling machismo once DiCaprio is flying solo. It's not like DiCaprio hasn't overacted before to our adoration, so why is everyone so vocally dissenting now? More emaciated hams.
Level of Ham: Ham steak - too big to ignore
Michael Fassbender - Steve Jobs
To not project to the rafters when playing a megalomaniac like Steve Jobs would be to miss the character entirely. What's most exciting about Fassbender in the film is that he's never been so vocal on screen, so this performance is a clear 180 from his usual brooding work. The Jobs version of brooding he gives here is to verbally eviscerate the ensemble and audience in Sorkinese at 100 words a minute. Sorry, no hams this time.
Level of Ham: Tenderloin - a refined standout
Eddie Redmayne - The Danish Girl
In the same year as Redmayne's manic whisper-shout barechested miasma in Jupiter Ascending, he delivers another performance that reads as overly modulated and projecting to the back row. Call it an A for effort, even if he's so focused on externalizing Lili's internal turmoil that the mannered behavior takes center stage. It doesn't help that director Tom Hooper broadcasts every nuance as deafeningly loud. Ample hams (and more) on display.
Level of Ham: Bacon - lots to savor but little nutrition
Being a ham isn't always a bad thing - just look to the aforementioned Alan Rickman performance for one that is both delicious and appropriately oversized. The five nominees may be playing for the back row, but sometimes brilliantly so.
What is your favorite hammy Oscar nomination?