Category: Best Acting

Jewish immigrant Steven Keats’s assimilated life is greatly upended when his less-adaptable wife Carol Kane and son arrive from Russia. A decidedly low-budget film, Kane’s performance as a woman finding her way in a new country despite her philandering husband’s unsympathetic ways is understated and tender. With its sepia toned cinematography, the film feels like an authentic view into New York immigrant life, particularly of the Jewish population.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Leading Role

Obsessed with the First Family, Dallas housewife Michelle Pfeiffer decides to travel by bus to the nation’s capital for JFK’s funeral against her husband’s wishes. Her plans are unfortunately waylaid when she simultaneously befriends and causes trouble for fellow traveler Dennis Haysbert and his young daughter. An often simplistic reflection on race relations in the 1960s South, Pfeiffer nonetheless manages to bring layers to her naïve, simple-minded character who so often is the catalyst for the danger the group experiences. A mixed race couple travelling through the South experiences enough risk on its own that the added dangers were mostly unnecessary. The climax and the ending continue the feeble storytelling, both unearned and unrealistic.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Leading Role

At the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, no single candidate is a certain forerunner with the two most likely contenders, Henry Fonda and Cliff Robertson, representing polar opposites of the politician spectrum. Even dying former President Lee Tracy has refused to take a side between them. It’s a bit simplistic in its approach (Fonda representing a flawed but generally moral man and Robertson an opportunist willing to do whatever is necessary to get elected) but with some quality acting, it remains a fascinating view into the ugly maneuvering that happens behind political closed doors.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Brothers Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, estranged from each other and their recovering alcoholic father Nick Nolte, separately make the decision to compete in a winner takes all mixed martial arts tournament. I don’t find enjoyment from fighting sports in general and even less the beat the hell out of each other version that is mixed martial arts, so I wasn’t attracted to the plot presented here. The characters at their base are uninteresting clichés: Edgerton being a financially struggling teacher and father and Hardy brooding, secretive ex-military. Luckily the actors manage to sell their roles well and the performances by the three are really strong, making a contrived set-up feel somewhat believable and rather engaging.  

Oscar Nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Sean Penn is a man with an intellectual disability, raising his seven year old daughter Dakota Fanning, who due to plot contrivances is suddenly forced to prove his worthiness as a parent. Though my Oscars dedication meant I had to check out Penn’s performance, I had long avoided watching this film. It was both better than and as bad as I had feared. Penn’s performance is dedicated and sincere, but it still feels like just a performance. Michelle Pfeiffer, as the hardened lawyer who has a change of heart, is just one big trope of a character. The film requires the viewer to mostly ignore the first seven years of fatherhood where he would have had to somehow afford formula and diapers when he later struggles to buy his daughter a single pair of shoes , where he receives state assistance and at some point registered his daughter for school but no legal entity questioned his parenting fitness until he got arrested for simply talking to a prostitute. Fanning is the film’s high-point. She gives an exceptionally mature performance for such a young age and there’s a real sweetness to her interactions with Penn.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role