Category: Best Acting

In this slow-burning character study, Peter Fonda is Ulee, a widowed Vietnam vet who spends his days working the family bee hives and cares for his two grandchildren whose father is serving time for a bank robbery. When his son’s accomplices surface looking for money that was hidden after the robbery, Ulee is pried out of the shell he has kept himself hidden in and must deal with the risk these men pose to his family. The film relies solely on Fonda’s performance and it’s a strong one. It is indeed slow to get going, but is satisfying in the end.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actor in a Leading Role

In this take on Strangers on a Train, Billy Crystal is a novelist who suffers from writer’s block after his ex-wife Kate Mulgrew received acclaim from a story she allegedly stole from him. He thus takes a job teaching at a community college where he meets quirky Danny DeVito who proposes that he’ll kill Billy’s ex-wife if Billy kills his overbearing mother Anne Ramsey. It’s an entertaining dark comedy with good chemistry between the two leads and Ramsey giving an especially solid performance in her supporting role.

Oscar Nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

I remember the summer this was such a hit with middle aged, particularly white, women. Being firmly ensconced in those categories now, it seemed like a good time to check it out. It mostly doesn’t work for me. The parts with the adult children are drawn out and overall unnecessary, not helped by the fact that the two characters are quite dislikable. Clint Eastwood as the love interest here is a bit far-fetched and I kept imagining many other actors in the role. Similarly, while she brings her usual quality to her role, I didn’t quite believe Meryl Streep’s portrayal as an Italian immigrant though the melancholy and resignation she experienced as an Iowan housewife did come across. Overall there wasn’t a lot of chemistry between the two and the pairing was hurt more from that than the actors as individual characters. The setting is attractive and feels evocative of Iowa in the late summer, though the featured bridge isn’t the most inspirational structure. 

Oscar Nominated: Best Actress in a Leading Role

Richard Harris is a brutish, ambitious coal miner who is given a place on a local rugby team after impressing the team’s owner with his aggression. He’s an unlikable lout who assaults opposing players and attempts to rape his landlady. At the same time, no one treats him as anything more than a goon and a payday. I had a hard time relating to or finding interest in the hyper masculinity of the main character and the world he inhabits. It is obvious that Harris put much into the character, believably encompassing his roughness and belligerence. 

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Actress in a Leading Role