The Film Experience

by Christopher James

(from left, clockwise) Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Paul Raci, Leslie Odom Jr. and Sacha Baron Cohen make up the 2020 Supporting Actor race.Category fraud has been talked about extensively at The Film Experience. Yet, year after year the supporting categories are filled with leading performances. This year, one could argue that four-fifths of the Supporting Actor field is made up of leading performances. How is a true supporting actor supposed to compete with a lead performance that has been strategically "demoted."

Bad blood aside, the field is filled with many interesting performances from a diverse group of nominees. Even better, four of the five nominees are celebrating their first acting nomination this year. The Oscars can often be accused of repeatedly nominating their favorite actors, whether or not they deserve it, so it's nice to see fresh blood...

On the less generous side, playing a "real life" historical figure is still an easy path to a nomination. Four of the five nominees are here for playing real people. Additionally, four of the five nominees are from Best Picture nominees, illustrating Oscar's unwillingness to look past their favorite films of the year. We can quibble about the Oscars all day (and frequently have). Yet, all that matters at the end of the day is whether the performances cited are good, and for the most part they are.

Without further ado, let's review the five nominated performances for Best Supporting Actor.

Sacha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman - The Trial of the Chicago 7
30:14 minutes of screentime (or 23.23% of the total running time) | First time nominee | First appearance, 3 minutes into the film

Sacha Baron Cohen knows how to command the spotlight. His portrayal of Abbie Hoffman lives or dies on the ability to make him a larger than life yippie crusader. In many ways, Cohen is up to the task. He’s incredibly watchable throughout the film. However, like the film, there’s a hollowness to his performance. There’s a MadTV element to it, like we’re always supposed to know that this is Sacha Baron Cohen playing Abbie Hoffman. Aaron Sorkin’s script gives Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (Jeremy Strong) ample bits of comedy and levity, making them the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Chicago 7. Cohen gives these moments his all.

Yet, he never seems adept enough to dramatize the central gulf between him and the more “respectable” radical, Tom Hayden (Eddie Redmayne). In a third act argument between the two characters, both Cohen and Redmayne find themselves a bit lost in the wordiness of Sorkin’s dialogue. They quickly spit out their lines, but forget to add the necessary characterization. When Abbie takes the stand near the end of the film, Cohen recovers some ground with his character. After a whole movie of overplaying every affectation and vowel that Hoffman utters, Cohen finally downplays his performance to essentially state Sorkin’s thesis. A few good notes does not an Academy Award worthy performance make, though.

Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton - Judas and the Black Messiah

46:09 minutes of screentime (or 36.80% of the total running time) | Second nomination (Previous nominee: Best Actor for Get Out in 2017) | First appearance, 3 minutes into the film

A chill ran down my spine when Daniel Kaluuya's first speech happened. Immediately, the actor sinks into the grandstanding oration that made Fred Hampton such a charismatic and powerful leader. "A dashiki ain’t gon’ help you when they come up in here wit’ some tanks like they did in Henry Horner!" Hampton bellows to a crowd that is either walking out or standing up cheering. Kaluuya has the star power to be necessarily larger than life, but also the commitment to disappear in the role. Director Shaka King and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt understand the starpower Kaluuya has during these grandstanding rallying cries. He's framed as a larger than life figure when in public, making him appear like this Messianic titular figure. That's a lot of pressure for an actor to fill. Luckily, Kaluuya is more than up to the task. There's a reason why his "I am a revolutionary" speech has been the cornerstone for the film's marketing.

For this whole season, we've seen so many clips of Kaluuya excelling at Hampton's speeches. Yet, the movie's secret weapon is the loving relationship between Hampton and Dominique Fishback's Deborah Johnson. The film wisely sketches out Hampton's personal life aside from the cause. This further outlines why he fights so hard for black liberation and gives him a more fleshed out motivation and makes his character fully rounded. When Hampton is released from prison, Hampton shares a tender moment with a pregnant Deborah. For a moment, the movement disappears and we are inhabiting the inner world of Fred and Deborah's love. Kaluuya's performance is far from one note. Fred Hampton is a revolutionary who loves as much as he fights. His tenderness is directly related to his strength and his ability to connect with people. These keen observations are part of what make Kaluuya one of our most exciting actors. I cannot wait to see what else is in store for his career.

Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke - One Night in Miami

54:20 minutes of screentime (or 47.52% of the total running time) | First time nominee | First appearance, 3 minutes into the film

There’s nothing but big shoes to fill in One Night in Miami. The film cast of characters includes Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown. All the actors are able to effectively bring to life these historical figures and convincingly play out conflicts that may have happened during one night that they spent together. Yet, it is Leslie Odom Jr. who reaped the lion’s share of the awards buzz for his work as Sam Cooke. He stands out largely because he is the character who provides the spark for much of the conflict in the film. After Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) becomes the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World, Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) wants to use this opportunity to discuss his role in the Civil Rights Movement and convince him to convert to Islam. X criticizes Cooke for “selling out” to white audiences, causing Cooke to defend his success and music. The discussions about the responsibility one has when given a platform give Ben-Adir and Odom plenty of opportunity to leave an impression. Odom does a great job presenting Cooke’s nuanced views on celebrity and racism. However, the movie sometimes doesn’t give him enough of an opportunity to vary his performance.

So much of the movie takes place in the Miami hotel room that we don't get a lot of time to see the characters in their element. That's why Odom's standout scene is a flashback to a Boston performance. It allows Odom to channel Sam Cooke's incredible stage persona. The sound goes out and a warmed up crowd immediately turns on Cooke. However, he is able to use his voice, without amplification, to entertain and excite the crowd in a rallying cry. Odom conveys what it takes to command a crowd and showcases the power of stage presence. This is very different than the compact nature of the story up to that point. Odom allows us to catch a bit of breath outside of the hotel room. We're predisposed to like Sam Cooke as he acts as the audience surrogate in many ways. Odom never squanders this audience good will.

Paul Raci as Joe - Sound of Metal

18:21 minutes of screentime (or 15.19% of the total running time) | First time nominee | First appearance, 27 minutes into the film

What makes a great supporting performance is believing that they are the star of their own movie. What Paul Raci excels at is effortlessly placing Joe at the center of his own narrative. As the head of a community for deaf addicts, a lesser movie would’ve just made Joe a “fairy Godfather” of sorts, only there to solve Ruben’s (Riz Ahmed) problems. Raci smartly makes Joe’s life and mission larger than just Ruben. We can sense that Ruben is just one person Joe has taken interest in and that his drive is to help deaf people find their place in the world.

We learn so much about Joe during his intake meeting with Ruben. He’s confident and welcoming as Ruben and Lou (Olivia Cooke) arrive, speaking clearly. Once he gets one-on-one with Ruben, he begins signing and using a device that transcribes his speech. Raci is a child of deaf parents and fluent in sign language. This authenticity helps his performance transcend typical potholes that may have fallen this introduction. He effectively slips into the various ways that Joe can communicate with Ruben, allowing him the space to use his supporting character screen-time to share his worldview with Ruben. Joe wants his wards to learn how to thrive as deaf people, rather than solve their hearing issues. As a Vietnam vet injured in the war, Joe has lived a majority of his adult life deaf. He doesn’t need to monologue about his experiences, we read them on his face and in the subtext of his ideology.

Lakeith Stanfield as Bill O'Neal - Judas and the Black Messiah

49:51 minutes of screentime (or 39.75% of the total running time) | First time nominee | First appearance, 1 minute into the film

While Daniel Kaluuya gets all the bravado as the titular Black Messiah, Lakeith Stanfield has a trickier role to play as the titular Judas (yes, they are both the titular role). After impersonating an FBI officer to boost cars, the feds enlist Bill O'Neal to infiltrate the Black Panthers and take down Fred Hampton. It is tricky to play someone who is actively betraying an organization fighting for black liberation. This is where the strength of Stanfield's performance comes in. In most scenes, he makes Bill fade into the background, listening and observing. Initially, his listening is more of a function of his job, acting basically as a human tape recorder with the goal of funnelling information. Stanfield manages to also chart how this act of listening transforms Bill into a more active person who becomes galvanized by Fred Hampton. Shame and discomfort read across his face even when he's trying to display strength. Stanfield's performance may be less bombastic, but it's still just as effective as Kaluuya's performance.

While the character may read as passive, Stanfield knows how to effectively drive a scene. One harrowing scene in particular involves a couple Panthers interrogating Bill about his past while he is in a car. With a knife and gun pointed at him, Bill is instructed to hotwire the car, to prove that he had impersonated an FBI official solely to boost cars, and that he is not an informant. Uncharacteristically, Stanfield makes Bill more hyper, jumpy and defensive. Now that he's the center of attention, he wants to find some way to deflect it, but can't. Once he successfully hotwires the car, he laughs for a second. He's successfully evaded getting exposed. Bill doesn't want to rock the boat further. He quickly diffuses the tension and drives off. The target has been moved and he can breathe a small sigh of relief. Stanfield excels at playing the duality of his Judas character throughout, which builds to a satisfying, if heartbreaking, conclusion.

Conclusion

Each actor has their own unique gifts, making this an overall strong lineup. Kaluuya is almost guaranteed the win. While it may be the showiest performance in the lineup (and a strong one), I would cast my ballot for Paul Raci. With less than half the screen time, he makes Joe feel like the star of his own show, sketching out decades of a life and bounds of wisdom in just a few short scenes.

Remember to vote on who SHOULD win the Oscars on the Oscar charts.

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