I wish the Academy would consider letting the actors be six. Voting scenarios would make any nominated performance a true contender. Here at the Spirit Awards six remarkable performances were nominated and knowing the Film Independent people as I do; they tossed and turned for this category having to pick only one actor.
In dealing with indie film voters they have a financial criteria that makes their eyeballs focus on movies lost in the shuffle of the blockbuster and Oscar machines and this eliminates usually the eventual Best Actor. I’ve also have seen the scenario where the deserved Best Actor wins Saturday and the most lobbied performance wins Sunday.
Here is the beauty of the nominees; most are actors you heard of but they’re nominated the least likely role or a film you have never heard of and you fancy yourself a film fanatic.
Let’s start with the remarkable and deserved nomination of the hardworking Wendell Pierce for “Four” the film presentation of Christopher Shinn‘s play of the same name. If you saw Mr. Pierce on the street and you started to wonder where have I seen him and he offered “The Wire” or “Treme” or “Suits” you’d probably say no and think he was one of your children’s music teachers. He plays a man with the need to fill his void of loneliness like many do with the help of the internet and meets up with a young caucasian for a night out. It’s not easy to try and control the scenery of a blind leap of faith in dealing with personals. Long gone are the letters to the PO Box it’s all about instant gratification or eternal regret. He is the type of actor actors root for and by this reading has probably appeared in ten shows, 2 films and three shorts.
Thure Lindhardt, is the driving force of “Keep the Lights On” because he’s the empathetic character that you root for. As in most lopsided relationships the one who cares is the one who is least cared about with the equivalent of the “worser” half. He carries the picture and you root for him, you hope he runs away, and ultimately you understand why he does what he does because his actions are human which can be overlooked by the judgemental eyes of different points of view.
Matthew McConaughey was figured by many to be nominated for his more acclaimed roles in “Magic Mike” and “Bernie” for the Academy Awards but thank goodness for The Spirit Awards where he was deservedly able to be a double nominee chiefly because the brisk bits of brilliance that showed him at polar opposites of the acting spectrum. Here he is nominated for his centrist yet darker work in “Killer Joe” and he portrays a cop who moonlights as a hitman with all the other mental twists a bored human must create to keep the game of life interesting. He makes the performances of those around him better and he leads a bunch of rag tag kids to do things they never would have considered on his own.
Jack Black can act; he carries comedies and what voters in any voting body forget is acting too and often the most difficult to do. Mr. Black has created an array of methods to draw us in doubled over laughter sometimes just a look, or the way he sings operatically to something as simple as a nursery rhyme but in “Bernie” he captures a man who has a better chance of budding with a plant than making the commitment or duality of sex with either a man or woman. Men of God sometimes take the path to keep their demons at bay and with any luck don’t act on them. Mr. Black plays a real person who liked the fanciest things in a small Texas town and he played along with the wealthy widow Marjorie Nugent played by the acerbic Shirley MacLaine. Mr. Black’s portrayal of the real life Bernie Tiede shows us that even the nicest, loving, generous and God loving can snap and usually well after when you thought he would. He took the challenge of drama and used his expertise in comedy to make it pay off for this well-deserved nomination.
David O. Russell did what no one else has been able to do. He made Bradley Cooper become better known as an actor instead of a movie star. They are two different animals and they always will be and rarely does someone escape the movie star tag and begin a career as an actor so well into his career. He is our modern day Cary Grant and here in “Silver Linings Playbook” he captures the insidious denial of a bi-polar person who refuses to accept his duality. We see him after the inevitable exit stage of his marriage, a physical shell of his former self, a court mandated rehab stay and his belief that despite his delusional reality he can if he follows his plan of Excelsior he can get it all back. He is a native of Pennsylvania and he played the role that will define him for years to come. He was the guy you root for from beginning to end and the person who benefits most from the most unlikely sources of scenarios; dance.
Finally, the work of John Hawkes has gone from consistent to gold standard and more actors wish they had his career trajectory than one like a Tom Cruise or Robert Downey Jr. His roles are gritty and dark and in his portrayal of the most polite and understanding man in an iron lung in “The Sessions” is only going to increase the ever growing legend of his work. He was a presumed shoo-in for the Oscar nomination that wasn’t even questioned. Well, the five that were nominated (and had it been six four other actors would have vied for the sixth pole position) were performances that were well deserved and from an inevitable place of this being the year of the actor he has a tremendous chance of winning his second Spirit Award (The other being the one he earned for “Winter’s Bone” the sharpest, rapier opposite of his portrayal of Mark.) He gives a performance that young actors from here to eternity will use in their showcases and will try to duplicate the genius of Mr. Hawkes for his ability to create so much with so little ability for movement. His voice his eyes and facial expressions are all he’s able to convey compassion for and his truth is one you hope you never have to experience.
My heart says Bradley Cooper and my head says John Hawkes; he can’t be snubbed twice in two days.
TBK Media Co. (The Brown Knight) 