Top Ten: Annette Bening's Best Performances
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 11:43AM The one and only Annette Bening turns 60 today. But, really, she's ageless. And with agelessness comes the superpower of never-peaking. She's been brilliant from the start and, if anything, keeps getting moreso. Herewith our ten favorite performances by The Bening, though should you ask us on another day the films and the order would change.
THE BENING'S 10 BEST
10 Mother and Child (2009/2010)
Released in the early summer of 2010 to little fanfare, and immediately eclipsed by a much bigger summer hit in The Kids Are All Right, she was moving playing an unlikeably negative and guarded woman who'd once given up a child (Naomi Watts) for adoption.
09 The American President (1995, Globe nomination)
The moment mainstream audiences fell in love with her. And to think she was playing someone from that hardly loveable profession: a lobbyist! The film was a hit and the Globe nomination followed.
08 Running With Scissors (2006)
Warren Beatty once called this her best performance. I wonder if he still feels that way or if it was merely said in the heat of awards campaigning? Had the movie (Ryan Murphy's debut feature) around it been less messy perhaps her performance as the drug-addled bad mom to Augusten Burroughs would have excited more awards voters?
07 Valmont (1989)
The movie can't hold a candle to Dangerous Liaisons (1988), adapted from the same material, but she's running circles around it and entirely dazzling as the dangerous Merquise de Merteuil. This one's fascinating to watch since her performance is so diametrically opposed to Glenn Closes's earlier take on the exact same character. It reminds you of what great actresses (plural) can do with their powers of interpretation.
06 Bugsy (1991, Globe nomination)
The film that cost her the Catwoman role but gave her her personal life -- she and Beatty are still going strong. It's strange that this charismatic performance as actress turned gangster's wife Virginia Hill only landed her a Globe nomination because the film was critically well regarded, an Oscar favorite, a minor hit, and the first movie to give her the complete Movie Star treatment in hair, makeup, wardrobe, and cinematography. Oh...the cinematography by Allen Daviau was breathtaking. Daviau sadly never won an Oscar despite 5 nominations for mostly beloved movies. (Does anyone know why he and Spielberg stopped working together?) He appears to have retired when he was only about 58. He's now 75 years old.
05 Being Julia (2004, Globe & NBR win / Oscar, SAG, & Critics Choice noms)
I maintain that had the movie been better she would have won the Oscar. T'was the movie itself that doomed her best chance at a win. (Not that this is the performance of hers that people love best or anything but the Oscar is as much about timing as its about anything)
04 American Beauty (1999, SAG & BAFTA win / Oscar & Globe noms)
Her biggest hit (with The American President and Bugsy as distant seconds and thirds) and still arguably the signature role as uptight bitchy real estate agent Carolyn Burnham. She will sell this house today!
03 The Grifters (1990, NSFC win / Oscar & BAFTA nominations)
Her fourth movie was the breakthrough. It was impossible to miss that star mojo once con-woman Myra Langtry's impish sparkling eyes blinded you.
02 The Kids Are All Right (2010, NYFCC & Globe win / Oscar, BAFTA, SAG, Critics Choice, & Spirit noms)
Her most souful turn as a lesbian mom dealing with a soon to be empty nest and a wayward spouse. That dinner revelation scene - gah! In a year absent a steamrolling choice (that'd be Natalie Portman in Black Swan that particular year) surely she would have won the statue?
01 20th Century Women (2016, Globe, Critics Choice, Gotham & Spirit nominations)
Uff. We were so close to her fifth Oscar nomination for her all time best performance as bohemian iconoclast mom Dorothea Fields. This performance is a masterpiece of warmth, whimsy, and wonder. A24, in one of their rare missteps, didn't get behind this film enough and gave it that oft-doomed last weekend of the year slot.
How would you rank her work?
BONUS TRIVIA: The major prizes she's yet to win are LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics Association), the Academy Award (Curse you Hilary Swank!), the Tony (1 nomination) and the Emmy (1 nomination). She's surely going to take some Lifetime Achievement Awards in about a decade's time if she doesn't win those soon.
BONUS TRIVIA 2: I tried to find an actress with the exact same Oscar stats (1 supporting nomination, 3 lead nominations, never winning) but couldn't! Emma Thompson and Jodie Foster both have the same breakdown in acting nominations for supporting/lead, but they've both won (multiple) Oscars. Annette meanwhile still awaits her first.
Reader Comments (57)
Weirdly one of your other favorites, Montgomery Clift, has the same count, but for men. I suspect the next person to get 3 Leads/1 Supp is going to be Saoirse Ronan, perhaps this year.
I agree with Warren about RWS,she's great in it and Jill Clayburgh,she's a more real but drugged out Carolyn Burnham.
I know i'm in the minority but I don't enjoy her Being Julia performance.
She is totally better now than she ever was,that ltd cameo in Postcars got me into Annette and even though she worked far less cos of mother hood in the 90's it was great to witness her flawlessness this last 20 years and the 20thCW snub is always gonna come up when discussing her from now on.
Yay! What a great idea for a list. There's still a lot of her filmography I haven't seen yet but here's mine (although I wish I could put President and Valmont higher, and on another day in another mood I might):
10) Postcards from the Edge
9) Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
8) Running with Scissors
7) Valmont
6) The American President
5) The Grifters
4) American Beauty
3) Being Julia
2) The Kids Are All Right
1) 20th Century Women
Haven't seen quite a few, including Bugsy, Mother and Child, Regarding Henry, Love Affair, Richard III and The Seagull.
Nat, if/when you see The Seagull, I'd be interested to hear if you think it cracks your top 10.
My top 8:
1. American Beauty
2. Being Julia
3. The Kids are all right
4. Film Stars don't die in Liverpool
5. 20th Century Woman
6. Bugsy
7. Ruby Sparks
8. Danny Collins
While I still haven't seen Liverpool yet, from what I've seen, I think her performances in The Grifters and 20th Century Women rank 1-2, or 2-1, clearly above the rest of her work. I guess I'd put American Beauty 3rd and Valmont 4th, and after that it's kind of a jumble. I've never quite connected with the love for her work in Being Julia and (especially) The Kids Are All Right.
What a great post, has this never been done before? She deserves the recognition. She is so great in American Beauty, The Grifters, Bugsy, The Kids are All Right, and The American President. I love all those films, even though I can't stand Warren Beatty - he is such a bad actor. Go Annette.
1 20th Century woman
2 The Grifters
3 American Beauty
4Film Stars don't die in Liverpool
5Bugsy
first saw her in the play Coastal Disturbances NYC
did the whole play in a bikini And I fell in love with her !
She was also good in Mrs. Harris and in her brief part in Ruby Sparks. I haven't seen Valmont (it's hard to track down) or Running with Scissors (the bad reviews are a deterrent).
THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT is my personal fave, though kudos to her underrated, devastatingly funny turn in MARS ATTACKS! too.
I adore her in Mars Attacks!
Geez! Her performance is 20th Century Women is hardly outstanding. And she's terrible in American Beauty. Had she won a Razzie for that, I'd say they were being generous at awarding anything to that performance.
The Mars Attacks movie is widely beloved in Europe basically because it makes Americans looks so stupid.
I may be out of the loop but I've seen a fair bit of Bening's work and I can see she is a gifted technical actress but she leaves me cold. I think she's altogether too much in American Beauty and especially Being Julia. And I can't abide her in The Grifters or Bugsy. I think Joan Allen deserves the roles/plaudits.
Maybe it's a case of I really can't stand the films she makes (case in point: The Kids Are All Right which makes me want to gauge my eyes out). I missed 20th Century Women, so I'm going to give it a go. Fun to see she's going to be in Captain Marvel.
I think Annette's face is what keeps her working and more so believable,it's totally free of that plastic look some actresses have acquired over the years
Speaking of goddesses: I've just find out there's a documentary coming out with Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright and Eileen Atkins named Tea with the Dames.
Has anyone seen it?
I rather agree with evangelina, but I must say I have liked her in Liverpool and American Beauty.
The comparison with Emma Thompson is not quite accurate. She has two Oscars, but her second is for a fifth nomination for Adapted Screenplay. Meaning she has 5 nominations total.
Peggy Sue - it's on BBC2 in the UK this weekend...
1. 20th Century Women (I love her in this wonderful movie a whole lot)
2. The Kids are Alright
3. The Grifters (one of cinema's sexiest sexy minx performances)
4. American Beauty (a divisive performance but I think she's the best thing in this problematic film)
5. Running with Scissors (RWS is a big mess but she shines in it)
"I think Annette's face is what keeps her working and more so believable,it's totally free of that plastic look some actresses have acquired over the years"
Terry Gross actually discussed this with Annette when she was a guest on NPR's Fresh Air a couple of weeks ago.
What did she say?
Shocked Liverpool was't in your Top 10. It probably would be in my top 5. She's great regardless.
After spontaneously catching Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, which miraculously came back to a local indie theater well after its initial release, I was reminded of how versatile Bening is and how impressively she can craft such the specific voice, physicality, and inner world of characters that had previously seemed outside of her wheelhouse. She gave a compassionate performance that convinces the audience of Jamie Bell's attraction to someone so profoundly insecure and damaged. Their chemistry was off the charts. Was in tears by the end.
As the credits rolled, I also thought about how sad it is that she can't catch a break with Oscar. Fortunately for her, she's made some of the best career choices out of any actress out there, so her filmography will live on and on!
Also, please join me in laughter at this USA Today article celebrating Bening's birthday, who is still sassy at SEVENTY haha.
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/people/2018/05/26/happy-birthday-annette-bening-still-sassy-at-70/35394901/
Hopefully someone lets them know soon.......
Bening is simply the best. Her work in Running with Scissors is very strong, and I do agree that had the movie been a bit better, she could have worked her way to a nomination (I don't think anyone was beating Mirren that year). She has so many strong performances over the years, and it will always bother me that she didn't get a nom for Film Stars Don't die in Liverpool and especially 20th Century Women, which I rank as perhaps her strongest work (Being Julia and American Beauty are close behind).
1. American Beauty
2. Valmont
3. The Grifters
4. 20th Century Women
5. The Kids Are All Right
6. Bugsy
7. The Siege
8. Being Julia
9. Running With Scissors
10. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Haven't seen The Seagull yet.
David -- OH NO. I clicked and it is definitely not fixed.
My Top 5:
1. The Grifters
2. Bugsy
3. The American President
4. American Beauty
5. Mother and Child
Liverpool would be a runner-up. She's good but doesn't live up to the hype in either The Kids Are Alright or Being Julia.
Running with Scissors? Seriously? That movie sucked and she over-acted in that film. You all chose this and her overrated performance in American Beauty instead of her low-key yet powerful performance in Open Range? *facepalm*
I have a difficult relationship with her. I loathe her more histrionic performances but she started to win me with her fantastic and understated supporting performance in Open Range. She's pretty great too in The Kids Are Alright (her best turn, IMO) and 20th Century Women, but I can't stand a single scene of her overacting in American Beauty and Being Julia. I still don't understand how you gave her your gold medal for that, when you had Imelda and Winslet in PERFECT performances.
The void -- weirdly i have not seen OPEN RANGE despite having seen nearly all of her work otherwise.
Cal -- consider it the heat of the moment and letting the Oscar race influence you. I try not to let that happen but sometimes it does. Today I wouldn't give her the gold medal for that (though I do think she's great in the movie). I don't mind admitting it because I think it's very weak of other people not to realize that all the noise from Oscar campaigning does affect their perceptions about movies. ;)
Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool is up there for me. The movie unwisely spends too much time with Jamie Bell and not enough with Bening, but she conveys in just a few scenes how Gloria is both still magnetic and also a has-been who's approaching self-parody.
Big and loud are so hard to pull off but I love her PRECISELY for that. I think doing histrionics in a way that is entertaining and captivating but also believable and not grating is immensely hard to do and she nails it.
20th Century Women and Kids Are All Right are beautiful examples of her being quieter, but my favorite is her at her most "most:" American Beauty. The Grifters and Running With Scissors, two other big turns round up the top 5.
Bugsy is close though, she began her career a bit too late but that was the total star turn she deserved and could give us.
I am not a Bening fan, but really really like her in American Beauty! For me her best performance. I echo the mention of her performance in Open Range. She is solid there. And very charming in The American President
01. American Beauty
02. Open Range
03. The American President
04. The Siege
05. The Kid`s Are Alright
I don't know ... is that even relevant to blame her natural face for her career? It's not like she is seeking out a starring role in Ocean's 8.
I love other people are mentioning Open Range. One of the most underrated movies of this century. Bening is awesome in it.
Slight typo, "Her biggest hit (with The American Beauty and Bugsy as distant seconds and thirds)", I think that should say 'The American PRESIDENT'. Understandable mistake tho!
The fact that NONE of you even mentioned her performance in THE GREAT OUTDOORS, you can all kiss my ass. jk... This was when i was first introduced to Ms. Bening. Her chain-smoking sister was so vampy and quipy. All of you should go find yourselves a "spin cycle" for not mentioning this gem of a performance!! SHAME!!
In general I don't think Aaron Sorkin writes female characters particularly well, but Annette played her lobbyist so endearingly, astutely well that I came away from The American President wishing she were Commander in Chief instead of Michael Douglas.
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS was such a disappointment (I loved the book), but Bening was fantastic. I've only seen it once and I still giggle with the scene at the therapist. Wish her and Alec Baldwin got their own movie.
Wonderful post! Anyway, she got a Golden Globe nomination (Best Drama Actress) for Bugsy, too. My Top 5 of Annette's performances would be:
1. 20th Century Women
2. The Kids Are All Right
3. Valmont
4. Being Julia
5. American Beauty
(with The Grifters being a very close 6th)
I just caught Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool last week and I agree with some of the posters above > I had no trouble believing Jamie Bell's character would be attracted to this woman. Which is not to say that Gloria Grahame came off as remotely idealised.
I got the impression Bening got lukewarm notices for the film so maybe my expectations were low but I was a bit blown away by her performance. For such a sketchy/repetitive film, it's striking that she achieved such a whole, evenly toned, somewhat intriguing, always watchable character.
And despite all that - I'm not even sure I would rank it among her all-time top ten performances. Because good god there are so many!
The 2010 Oscars are the year where I really don't like any of the winners. I was not a The King's Speech fan at all and went back and forth between Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right winning everything.I don't hate the acting winners, but I was definitely more drawn to the subtler performances (see: not the winners) that year. It takes nothing away from the showier work of Portman or Bale or Leo, but just imagine if the history books showed Bening, Hawkes, and Weaver as the Oscar Winners in those categories, instead. I'd mention an alternate for Colin Firth winning for The King's Speech, but Ryan Gosling somehow didn't get nominated for Blue Valentine.
I don't have a problem with Annette Bening losing for Being Julia (as wonderful as she was) because I think all the other nominees were in better films. I wanted a Vera Drake sweep that year (but would have settled for Catalina Sandino Moreno winning for Maria Full of Grace). I was down for Swank or Bening winning in '99 (that's mostly true: I think Chloe Sevigny should have won for Boys Don't Cry and Bening should have won for American Beauty).
I do think 20th Century Women is Bening's best work yet. I also really want to see The Seagull for the caliber of the cast all around. Bening is so smart in her choices that I'm sure she spins gold out of that script.
Love her in wicked roles, so The Grifters is number one for me.
It's been a busy day, but how nice to end it with this post. I've been a fan of Benning's since "Postcards From the Edge", and I am delighted with the top 10 you have picked.
My favourites, are Bugsy, The Grifters, Kids are Allright, and 20th Century Woman.
Her stature will grow with time because she has picked very interesting dramas and is so unself-conscious in terms of her acting style. I find her appeal very similar to Emma Thompson.
I always know any part she picks will be worth watching.
Odd comparison, but Nick Davis said it, Kathy Bates and Annette Bening are similar actresses. Both prone to bold theatricality that makes them a bit superficial and heavy handed. Bates and Bening would be superior nominees to usurp Midler and Dern in 1991. But both would have to wait at the ass end of the decade for their sophomore nods. And 1995 they both had nomination worthy work in The American President and Dolores Claiborne. But their late 90s nods earned them wins on the way to Oscar they just couldn't clench. They also share several directors in common.
She is a fabulous actress. And nice to see some love for Mother and Child! Not a great movie necessarily, but very moving and she is wonderful in it. My list:
1. 20th Century Women
2. The Grifters
3. The Kids Are All Right
4. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
5. Being Julia
6. American Beauty
7. Mother and Child
8. Mars Attacks!
9. Bugsy
10. Postcards from the Edge
There are several I haven't seen, but of the ones on multiple lists I have not seen Valmont or American President. The one that leaves me totally cold is Running With Scissors--I disliked the film and her in it. Every actor has their duds, though.
There's a typo in the American Beauty write-up btw.
Agreed on number one here, but I did just want to give props to her performance in MOTHER & CHILD, which I thought was exquisite.
Obviously I'd never mess with one of the most iconic pfemale roles of all time, but I do sometimes wonder how her Catwoman would have turned out.
I agree with your top 4, but I'd probably include Mars Attack! in the 5th spot. She was great there, playing goofy.