5. Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married.
Is she good/capable in the movie? Yes. Is it worthy of an Oscar for her very first nomination? No. Anne plays Kym, a former model who ditches rehab to attend her big sister's painfully diverse wedding and along the way we hear her awkward to the point of nausea-inducing speeches drawing all the attention away from her sister's big day to her tragic needs and insecurity. It turns out that Kym is in the running for Worst Person in the World and she seeks to prove it with every passing scene. I cannot honestly believe that this person would ever exist, and I found myself more in disbelief than in suspension while watching her and I did not end up buying her portrayal or the character herself. And her babbling speeches this award season certainly did not help my feelings.
4. Melissa Leo- Frozen River.
Melissa plays Ray, an abandoned Mom of two who just wants to buy her kids a double-wide trailer to live in, so she happens upon a smuggling ring in Indian territory in upstate New York in order to make extra cash. Considering she has so much going wrong with her life, she remarkably is not a pitiful or pathetic character, unlike Halle Berry in Monster's Ball for example. She recognizes her responsibilities in certain aspects of her story and completes them despite remarkable odds. I probably liked her character and portrayal third best out of five, but I do not think it is a strong enough role this year to win the Oscar (it was a great year in spite of the Writers' Strike).
3. Kate Winslet- The Reader.
Kate plays Hanna, a train toll collector who starts an illicit affair with a 15 year-old boy in Germany 1958 (or thereabouts). It is his first love affair and it lasts a summer, but she leaves him unexpectedly only to be reunited about ten years later while he is studying a trial where she is being tried for exacting unspeakable crimes (but not pedophilia). Kate is nude for approximately the first half of the film, which I am never a fan, especially because in this case it does not do much except to make her out as more of a monster than she already is for taking advantage of this boy with absolutely no regard for his wellbeing. I was convinced that it was Hanna on screen and not Kate, but her portrayal is so non-expressive that I felt I did not even know who she was or have one inkling about her motives in any aspect of her life the film portrays. She seems to be the one to beat this year which I find unfortunate and I am trying not to be too cynical about the possible reasons why.
2. Angelina Jolie- Changeling.
Angelina plays Christine Collins, a single working mother who comes home from work to find her son missing. The police are too corrupt to think they could ever make a mistake and jump on the first missing boy they find who even remotely resembles the description of her son, mostly so they can stop looking for him. She, obviously, recognizes that the returned boy is not in fact her son and continues to stand up to the police until she is thrown in a psychiatric ward for doing so. It goes without saying that Angelina is an excellent actress, but I am always shocked at how quickly I absorb into each new role she takes. I never doubted for a second that she was Christine and I never thought "why is Angelina dressed like a Gibson Girl" because she is able to transform herself, with simple period makeup and dress, into this character. The movie has its weak spots but it is not her failing. It may be the main downside to her international fame is that it is harder for her get the acclaim she deserves for roles such as this.
1. Meryl Streep- Doubt.
Meryl plays Sister Aloysius, the principal of a strict Catholic school in '60s Bronx who is feared by everyone, even though she still lies below the Catholic men in terms of power. Meryl has the uncanny ability as an actress (and a woman) to utterly dismiss someone with the simple snap of her eyes. She excelled in doing this as Miranda Priestley in "The Devil Wears Prada," but here it is a far more severe, far more dangerous dominance. She pulls the viewer toward her in every scene, and makes the other actors, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman, look like amateurs (and no real disrespect is meant by that- she is Meryl after all). She is able to command full attention and give an absolutely defining leading performance all without transforming makeup, without a sob story, and without ever taking pity on herself or expecting more of others than she does of herself. In short, she is my pick for Best Actress of this year's Oscars because Sister Aloysius does not just seem like a real nun you would find in the '60s, she seems like a true and real woman who does what she feels is right and makes no apologies in doing so. Meryl has played such varied characters throughout her fabulous career, and her turn in Doubt will not be forgotten easily by the viewer and hopefully the Academy.
Images found via Google Images.
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