FYC: Julia Garner in "The Assistant"
Sunday, March 7, 2021 at 3:24PM by Ben Miller
This year’s Best Actress race is filled with powerful women going through big things. Viola Davis and Andra Day portray groundbreaking artists dealing with systems stacked against them. Frances McDormand and Vanessa Kirby are women trying to work through immense grief. Carey Mulligan is exacting revenge for monumental wrongs.
In The Assistant, Julia Garner portrays Jane, an assistant to a Hollywood big wig. Jane is not going through something big. She is just doing her job. Something big is happening nearby, she recognizes, but she can’t do anything about it...
She has goals. She wants to be a producer and this is the route to make that happen. If she pushes too hard, it ruins her career.
Garner is in every scene of The Assistant and commands your attention. This is a prime example of an actress having her face do the talking in lieu of dialogue. Garner internalizes not only her reluctance to continue down her road, but her inner turmoil as well as a hefty amount of stress. It's not only that Jane has to deal with the things she sees; she also works 15 hours a day and that takes a mental and physical toll that Garner imbues without beating you over the head with it. What would your life look like if you had no joy in your day, your meals were hastily prepared and unhealthy and any slight slip ups could mean the end of your career? Garner puts on a true masterclass of show-don't-tell.
[SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT]
Jane is berated (more than once) by her boss over the phone. Each time, she ducks her head and takes the punches. No pantomiming, no dramatics – just body blow after body blow being absorbed. Garner wears the pain but moves it aside so she can do her job.
The pinnacle of the film comes when Jane decides to go to Human Resources to report what she sees. She doesn’t make a grand movie speech and stomp away with righteousness. She quietly puts her coat on and heads over to the nearby office. When she talks to the HR rep Wilcock (a corporate slimy Matthew MacFayden), the audience can finally see some relief in sight. Jane will finally be heard. That is until the other shoe drops.
Wilcock is not on her side and begins to belittle her and her complaint. Garner never expels with grandiosity, but stammers and represses. As Wilcock explains, her career could end with the right phone call. Or, she could forget this ever happened. The disaster is over and she begins to leave, just as Wilcock ends the meeting with the coup de grace: “Don’t worry, you’re not his type.”
The tone of the film changes following the meeting. Everyone knows what Jane did and she immediately has to know the repercussions. She doesn’t quit in a rage or shy away from the inevitable next steps. Jane’s resolve is to wipe her face and get back in there, despite the toll it takes on her soul. Garner face ages 20 years over the course of the film without losing any bit of her porcelain veneer.
The Assistant is surely too slight and underseen for real awards consideration. Garner hasn't been landing any Best Actress nominations... not even with the Gotham or Spirit Awards! It’s a real shame since she delivers the performance of the year.
Reader Comments (12)
Thank you for this! Aside from maybe McDormand, I think I'd rank Garner above every one of the other 7 actresses who have a real shot of getting a nomination (save for Michelle Pfeiffer, whose film I haven't seen).
Such a good performance. Too quiet for the academy's taste but she'd probably make my top 5
Julia Garner is one of my young favorites. I hope she has a long, interesting career. Very gifted.
Nathaniel: Off topic, but did you ever do a Y/N/MS on the "Cruella" trailer?
That, and the news about Streep doing a new film, "Places, Please" seem like good topics for future posts.
Sorry i don't get the fuss for her but 1 scene opposite the superior Matthew MacFadyen is one of the best scenes of the year.
She was nominated for Best Actress at the spirits!!
She should be winning in my opinion. Brilliant performance.
Agree -- she is excellent and should be in the conversation. My ballot:
Elisabeth Moss, "The Invisible Man"
Julia Garner, "The Assistant"
Carrie Coon, "The Nest"
Vanessa Kirby, "Pieces of a Woman"
Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"
@Paranoid Android
Is that the “Best White Actress” category ballot?
Ummm.. no. Just my picks this year. What a rude comment. Here's the rest of my ballot:
Best Actor
Ben Affleck, "The Way Back"
Delroy Lindo, "Da 5 Bloods"
Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"
Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Kingsley Ben-Adir, "One Night in Miami"
Best Supporting Actor
Leslie Odom Jr, "One Night in Miami"
Bill Murray, "On the Rocks"
David Strathairn, "Nomadland"
Mark Rylance, "Trial of the Chicago 7"
Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"
Best Supporting Actress
Yuh-Jung Youn, "Minari"
Amanda Seyfried, "Mank"
Sarah Paulson, "Run"
Essie Davis, "Babyteeth"
Maria Bakalova, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
@zizo - how thoughtless of you. You enjoy assuming the worst in others I suppose
I am def in the minority here. Julia Garner was nothing special in that movie. But the scene with Matthew MacFayden was great!
Are there some buzz about Garner playing Madonna in a bio pic? Or Madonna wanting Garner to play her in a bio pic?
Julia reminds me SO MUCH of Kirsten Stewart. Very solar style of acting imo