-Its hard to single out what classifies as a "best actor" performance. Every year so many actors give performances that are labeled as "the best of his career," "the performance of the decade," or "a shoe-in for an Oscar!" With heaps of critical praise such as this, its no wonder that so many performances garner awards out of sheer buzz more than anything else while truly great work by gifted actors goes by unwarranted. One of the most noticeable examples of this is Benicio Del Toro's oustanding work in Che I & II which took home the Cannes Film Festival's Best Actor award in 2008 but was nowhere to be seen come awards season. This is surprising given the magnitude and electricity of Del Toro's work in the ambitious 2-part biopic. Of course there isn't room at the Oscars for every brilliant male performance that comes along. Case in point: the 2002 Oscars. 2002 saw a handful of great performances turned away come Oscar time for sheer lack of space. Such performances included: Richard Gere for Chicago, Kieran Culkin for Igby Goes Down, Adam Sandler for Punch Drunk Love and Leonardo Dicaprio for BOTH Gangs of New York and Catch me if you can. In the end I suppose that it must be quite hard with so many enriching male performances given year after year that it might just be easier to vote for someone with lots of buzz surrounding their performance or film rather than examine all the work done by actors in film throughout the year. In any case, here are some fine examples of excellent performances given by some of the screen's finest actors that the Academy shamefully overlooked.
1940s:
-Joesph Cotten for Shadow of a Doubt (1943) instead of Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine
-For many, Cotten's career was at its peak when he gave a charming, yet chilling performance as a murderous uncle in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. As a serial killer who murders wealthy widows before robbing them, Cotten gave his most memorable performance. His portrayal of Uncle Charlie is perhaps one of the most captivating serial killers brought to the screen due to the compelling and charismatic nature of the character. Cotten plays him as debonair, but also allows his disdain for certain aspects of society to shine through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5XCz4B_ejg
1950s:
-Robert Mitchum for Night of the Hunter (1955) instead of Frank Sinatra for The Man With the Golden Arm
-Mitchum has long since been considered one of the screen's most underappreciated actors depsite having given a plethora of powerhouse performances that went by unheralded by the Academy. The most glaring oversight of all these however was the actor's work in Charles Laughton's disturbing The Night of the Hunter. Playing a an escaped convict posing as a preacher who marries then kills a widowed mother of two whose children hold the key to a hidden pile of money, Mitchum is positively unnverving. His speech on good vs evil is given as if he were a real preacher and the way he is able to put everyone underneath his spell makes the film all the more unsettling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X20XIg38GcE
1960s:
-Warren Beatty for Splendor in the Grass (1961) instead of Stuart Whitman for The Mark
-It was obvious Beatty was destined for stardom just from watching his conflicted turn as the son of a rich family who falls for a girl from the opposite side of town in the steamy drama Splendor in the Grass. Beatty's film debut was one of the most impressive given in film history as he successfully helped carry the entire production. His role as a young man torn between his family's expectations, the girl he loves, and the dreams he has for his own life gave the actor plenty to work with, which Beatty did in an outstanding way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiFeVc7s7TQ&feature=related
(please watch up to 1:15)
1970s:
-Gene Hackman for The Poseidon Adventure (1972) instead of Peter O'Toole for The Ruling Class
-The Poseidon Adventure was a landmark film that ushered in a whole wave of disaster films in the 70s, many of which were helmed by super-producer Irwin Allen. Yet before the genre turned into campy satire, there were performances such as Gene Hackman's in The Poseidon Adventure which brought forth the main themes of the genre: courage, perserverance, endurance and hope. As the minister who leads a group of passengers to safety aboard an ocean liner that capsizes on New Year's Eve, Hackman gave one of his most powerful and popular roles. Playing Reverend Scott, Hackman presents a man so torn by his faith, yet who clings to it tirelessly as he tries to bring his fellow passengers to safety. His belief in God's existence is never questioned at all throughout the film making Hackman one of the most believable men of the cloth ever to be shown on screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMuguMyYvQ4
1980s:
-Jack Nicholson for The Shining (1980) instead of Jack Lemmon for Tribute
-So many stories have been reported with regards to the notorious filming of Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. Yet what remains is an excruciatingly enthralling horror film and a dynamic performance from Jack Nicholson. As a writer hired to caretake an isolated hotel for the winter, the actor is given the chance to turn his sly, slick persona into one of maddening lunacy. The duality of the role is interesting; one the one hand there's traces of the Jack audiences know, but also an unstable maniac out to wreak havoc on his family. It is one of the actor's best performances and one which definitley deserved more critical acclaim than it got.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt9E1_KFfMY&feature=related
1990s:
-Jim Carrey for Man on the Moon (1999) instead of Denzel Washington for The Hurricane
-Film critic Roger Ebert said once that Jim Carrey had been underappreciated as an actor in the past. He had to have been referring to Carrey's work in this biopic of the late, offbeat comedian Andy Kaufman. As Kaufman, Carrey abandons literally ALL trademark gestures and traits and instead focuses his performance on channeling the late Kaufman himself. This is not a vanity project or a star vehicle by any means. The film is most definitley a well-deserved tribute to one of comedy's most intriguing figures as well as Carrey's most daring and surprising performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ezPotNSNqg
2000s:
-Hugh Grant for About a Boy (2002) instead of Michael Caine for The Quiet American
-Grant has always been one of film's most endearing British actors with his unique charm, comedic abilites and an overall likeability. Yet some were quick to write him off as a leading man whose talents couldn't stretch past romantic comedies. However in the moving and intelligent comedy/drama About a Boy, Grant delivers a multi-layered performance that alternates between the dramatic and comedic; at times blending the two together. Grant nails every scene as a carefree bachelor who is content to engage in one relationship after another without letting anyone in until he befriends a young schoolboy with whom he forms a kinship with and who shows him what's missing from his life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPgbiSbYzfg
Tomorrow...Best Picture!!
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