by Eric Blume
This too-short Oscar season has all of us firing on all cylinders here at The Film Experience, so sadly we can't engage in a full Supporting Actress Smackdown this week. (The series will return soon though) In its absence, and to encourage hearing from all of you, Nathaniel has asked me to submit my personal Smackdown ballot and let the chips fall where they may...
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
❤️❤️ (out of 5)
In Bates’ favor, her acting very much reflects Richard Jewell itself: broad and messy. Her style here is indeed in lock-step with the overall style of the film: both feel out of a 1990s network television movie…a “Sunday night event” type thing. While overall this is not the strongest field, her nomination is still a mystery. Perhaps we’re to give Bates points for appearing and behaving like a “regular” person (?) which she does effortlessly, but to reward her for a role that asks practically nothing of her feels excessive. She shows none of the wild flavors she had in her great performance in Primary Colors or even the pockets of surprising humor and humanity she found in her small role in About Schmidt. It’s always nice to see Bates get a big screen role, but here it’s a bit depressing watching Bates frump around the kitchen and have crying jags, with nothing else to play.
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
❤️❤️❤️❤️ (out of 5)
On one hand, it’s a bummer that Laura Dern will finally win an Oscar for this smallish role in a film that is never about her character in any way, and twenty years from now it may look like an odd win. On the other hand, Laura Dern is one of the greats and should have an Oscar, and her acting here is fully alive and inventive. She’s not slouching in this glorious movie and creates a very specific character from the page. She deftly moves in and out with Charlie where she’s saying the most appalling things to him one moment, then turns casually warm to him the next. Dern’s Nora is someone who takes great pride in the designer cookies and specialized tea she offers her clients, and she gets off on how open and inviting she projects herself to be. She’s not fully the cyclone of Renata Klein: Dern modulates her Nora, but she’s playing on multiple levels: you sense that Nora’s divorce was painful and brutal, and she thinks she’s now a crusader. Everything she gets in a client’s favor serves as balm for what she maybe didn’t get. She’s forceful, and she’s aggressive, but she’s human…in fact, Dern shows you moments where Nora actively reminds herself to be human. Dern seizes on this character’s feverish intelligence and drive to win, but you feel that’s part of her armor, too. The role couldn’t be bettered, and Dern turns in a fully-realized character at the fringes.
Scarlett Johansson, JoJo Rabbit
❤️❤️❤️ (out of 5)
Bravo to Scarlett for tackling a completely different role from what we’ve seen her do, and for jumping so joyfully into Taika Waititi’s super specific stylization with aplomb. It’s easy to underestimate Johansson’s contribution to the film: she’s really the spirit of humanity in the movie, but only slowly reveals the layers of that over the course of the film. She keeps surprising us with the character throughout. Her rapport with young Roman Griffin Davis feels true and uncliched: you sense their history and unique bond. She also feels like a genuinely German mom. Her performance feels period yet immediate. She’s wonderful.
Florence Pugh, Little Women
❤️❤️❤️ (out of 5)
Pugh’s marvelous work here stems from her clarity: you always know where Amy is emotionally at every moment. Pugh and Gerwig charted Amy’s journey very specifically, and Pugh’s tight understanding of the character pulls her front and center of every scene she’s in, appropriately for dramatic impact. In acting class, you learn early about action, intention and obstacles, and Pugh’s acting here is locked into those basic concepts. Everything is kept very simple: Amy is uncomplicated, and acts impulsively and manipulatively. Pugh doesn’t apologize for her and barrels full steam ahead. Pugh’s Amy is funny, charming, selfish, awful, and one hundred percent real. As an actress, Pugh lets us understand where Amy is coming from at every moment, and she’s got flair and passion to burn. It’s an exciting and inspired performance.
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
❤️❤️❤️½ (out of 5)
Usually when a movie of a real-life story has a “composite character” who plays against other actual identified humans, the role is a disaster. It’s part of the beauty of Robbie’s performance that her “Kayla” feels as specific and “real” as Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson surrounding her. Robbie locks in the details: the brash cluelessness of a self-proclaimed “influencer” with the steely resolve to get the job, dig in, and get ahead. Robbie isn’t playing “at” the qualities of a young Republican girl who feels the world is hers…she’s just in it, with no knowing wink. She even makes you believe the biggest stretch in the character (when this straight girl has sex with Kate McKinnon, you buy it…Robbie shows you Kayla’s “bad girl” streak, that there’s more curiosity in there than you might think). Robbie’s sensuality is sometimes almost too much for the camera, and she puts that powerful quality of hers to great advantage in the big scene with Lithgow: one of the most beautiful, sexualized women in the cinema today is reduced to a tearful little girl in front of us. The processing of her shame in this scene is palpably sweaty, horribly disgusting, and intensely sad. Robbie thrusts you right into that moment, playing multiple shades of confusion, power, loss of power, anger, fear, and grief. I hope we’re not already taking for granted what this fiercely talented actress brings to the table.
We're missing the chance to get into a big discussion on these five performances, so share your thoughts and heart ratings with us in the comments. Do we all feel this isn't the strongest category we've had compared to years past? Do any of these performances tower above the others? Sound off and share!