Alternate Best Actor 2005: Results

5. Guy Pearce in The Proposition- Pearce gives a strong understated performance that is particularly effective in portraying the complex relationship that motivates his character.

4. Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang- Downey could not be better in his role finding just the perfect tone for the film.

3. Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada- Jones perfectly cast himself portraying the complex motivations of his character brilliantly.

2. Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence- Mortensen is terrific in his depiction of the slow dissolution of his character.

1. Ray Winstone in The Proposition- The underrated Ray Winstone wins this year with his powerful performance as a man trying to bring the law to the lawless. Winstone succeeds far more than anyone would expect creating a poignant depiction of a character that could perhaps have been a throwaway in lesser hands.

1. Ray Winstone in The Proposition
2. Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote
4. Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
5. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain
6. Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
7. Guy Pearce in The Proposition
8. Brendan Gleeson in Six Shooter
9. Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man
10. Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener 
11. Pierce Brosnan in The Matador
12. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain
13. Eric Bana in Munich
14. David Strathairn in Good Night and Good Luck
15. Christian Bale in Batman Begins
16. Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line
17. Greg Kinnear in The Matador
18. Jesse Eisenberg in The Squid and the Whale
19. Tom Cruise in The War of the Worlds
20. William Moseley in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe  
21. Adrien Brody in King Kong
22. Matt Damon in Syriana
23. Daniel Radcliffe in The Goblet of Fire 
24. Terrence Howard in Hustle and Flow
25. Johnny Depp in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
26. Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith

Next Year: 2005 Supporting

Alternate Best Actor 2005: Guy Pearce in The Proposition

Guy Pearce did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Charlie Burns in The Proposition.

The Proposition is an effective film about a British lawman making a deal with an outlaw that if the outlaw kills his older brother he will not hang the outlaw's younger brother.

Guy Pearce portrays the outlaw given the proposition that he seems to accept, and goes off to find his older brother Arthur (Danny Huston) while his younger brother Mikey is being held to be hung if Charlie does not kill his brother by Christmas. Pearce portrays one of the two leads in this film, which is a very interesting film in that although there are flamboyant performances in the film from a great number of the supporting cast particularly Danny Huston, and John Hurt as a racist Bounty Hunter, but the leads of the film both give rather understated performances.

Pearce portrays Charlie Burns as a reserved man and does well to show the life of the man is reflected in his face. In the film we only learn of rather limited information about the Burns boys and their endeavors of outlaws. We never do learn exactly how much Charlie and Mikey were really involved with the crimes ascribed to Arthur, but Pearce does well in creating his own history of Charlie through his performance. He portrays Charlie as a rather hard man, certainly with his own wealth of less than savory experiences that seems to have permanently tarnished his expression to at least some degree.

The Proposition is an interesting film in that really one can sympathize with both leads, even though they are in a way at opposite ends. Pearce though allows us to easily follow Charlie through his half of the story as well as sympathize with him by portraying that the driving force that propels him in this story is his concern for his younger brother. Pearce is very strong in creating the strong need Charlie has to protect his brother. In the film itself Charlie says very little in regards to how deeply he cares about, but Pearce very powerfully portrays the very emphatic need Charlie feels to do what is best for his brother. 

Pearce really says very little throughout the film, in fact most of the time he is looking at others studying them in some way. Pearce is especially adept at portraying the feelings within Charlie without saying very much at all during his performance. His very best scenes involving this come in all of his scenes with Danny Huston as Charlie's deranged older brother. Pearce is almost completely silent in these scenes but he is perfect in conveying the struggle within Charlie during these scenes on whether or not to kill his older brother to save his younger. Pearce is excellent because he portrays a distaste for his brother, yet at the same time the two actors properly establish a familiarity between the two.

Guy Pearce is a strong presence throughout the film, but his best scenes come at the very end of the film when Charlie finally does choose to act. Pearce is perfect in the last moments of the film portraying the part still very quietly but with tremendous impact as he shows quickly Charlie's grief for his younger brother that quickly becomes a passionate anger against Charlie's older brother. His fierce stare, and his delivery of "no more" Pearce absolutely delivers the necessary impact the final scene of the film deserves, and as well he creates the proper resolution between the relationship between the two brothers.

Guy Pearce gives a very good performance here as the co-lead of the film, and fulfills his half of the film extremely well. Pearce although underplays his role very throughout the film but he does not fail to stand out just the same. Even in scenes with far more extroverted characterizations Pearce never allows himself to be overshadowed in the film. He stays firm in the film doing well in his assured, and realistic reactions in the film. In a way Pearce through his work here even allows the performances of Hurt, and Huston the impact they should through the way he reserves himself in the film. Yet Pearce even in his minimalist approach still creates a remarkable portrait of this outlaw.

Alternate Best Actor 2005

And the Nominees Were Not:

Guy Pearce in The Proposition

Ray Winstone in The Proposition 

Viggo Mortensen in A History of Violence

Tommy Lee Jones in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Robert Downey Jr. in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

LAWLESS

LAWLESS
Written by Nick Cave
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Guy Pearce

Maggie: Ain’t that just like you, to believe your own goddamn legend?

LAWLESS, John Hillcoat’s follow up to the quiet and haunting post-apocalyptic contemplation, THE ROAD, is in many ways, the direct opposite of that film. While it is often just as visually interesting, it is a much louder film than his last. LAWLESS oscillates between the kind of quiet moments one expects from a prohibition-era period piece and the kind of roaring gunfire one expects from a mobster film from the same period. It boasts an unbelievable cast of actors but sadly even they cannot breathe life into this surprisingly drab film. For all its pedigree, LAWLESS is simply far from flawless.

Based on the true account of the Bondurant brothers, as chronicled by descendant, Matt Bondurant, in his novel, “The Wettest County in the World”, and adapted by singer/songwriter, Nick Cave, LAWLESS focuses most of its attention on the runt of the litter, Jack. Jack is played played by the guy who coincidentally also has the most to prove in this project, Shia LaBeouf, who steps away from big budget blockbusters and toward bigger budget indies instead. To make this point abundantly clear, which Hillcoat does again and again with many of the film’s failed attempts at subtlety, LAWLESS opens with a young Jack being taunted by his older brothers as he struggles to catch the runt of a pig litter on their farm. LaBeouf catches the metaphorical pig and demonstrates his potential for meatier fare as his career continues, but when you’re acting opposite the likes of Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska, your best isn’t necessarily good enough.

LAWLESS is also relentlessly violent and entirely unapologetic about the whole thing. As Jack escalates his brothers’ bootlegging operation in the face of mounting corruption amongst the police, a war is waged and it isn’t a pretty one. The question becomes what is anyone actually fighting for though. Every character, save for Jack once he gets a taste of success, is cold and dispassionate. When they pick up their guns, no one has any concern for human life, be that their own or any one else’s. There is rarely ever a moment of joy on any one face and this rampant lifelessness leaves the impression that all of this violence is simply unnecessary. As a result, LAWLESS is left rather listless.

124. Prometheus

124. (08 Jun) Prometheus (2012, Ridley Scott)* 38

Certainly the most disappointing science fiction prequel since The Phantom Menace, this is infinitely more inept than that film. Failing to establish any characters to the point where it becomes downright comical when we're meant to feel for them as they perish one by one, it's impossible to get caught up in a moment of Prometheus. Reliant on special effects, this lamely undercooked spin on creationism is neither thought-provoking nor entertaining. The criminal underuse of Charlize Theron is perhaps most crushing of all.

MILDRED PIERCE

MILDRED PIERCE
Written by Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond
Directed by Todd Haynes
Starring Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce and Evan Rachel Wood

There are some dream projects that just make me shiver with an almost lustful anticipation. HBO’s 5-part miniseries, MILDRED PIERCE, is definitely one of these projects. James M. Cain’s 1941 novel of the same name has been interpreted on film before (in 1945, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Crawford in the title role) but never has it been given this kind of honour. Directed by Todd Haynes, one of today’s most fascinating filmmakers, and starring the inimitable Kate Winslet as the 1930’s heroine, MILDRED PIERCE pays homage to Cain’s work by allowing it the time to breathe and settle into the subtle and sumptuous epic that it was always meant to be.

Mildred is a mother first, no matter how trying it is for her to fill the role. When we meet her, she is baking pies to bring in a little extra cash, now that her cheating husband (Brian F. O’Byrne) is no longer bringing home what he used to when business was booming. Shortly thereafter, she kicks him out and decides to take control of her life for her daughters, Ray and Veda (Quinn McColgan and Morgan Turner). With the classes crumbling all over Los Angeles, Mildred is desperate to maintain a certain lifestyle for her girls but to accomplish this, she must go through one obstacle after another. And some of them are pretty devastating! It is Mildred’s determination and resolve that define her though and soon she is achieving great success amidst her emotional turmoil. And it is Winslet’s extraordinary ability to oscillate almost imperceptibly between her internal and her external emotional expression that makes Mildred so captivating. You never know where she will go and what she will do next but you always know that she will be fighting fearlessly no matter what. It’s inspiring.

The MILDRED PIERCE cast is rounded out by Guy Pearce as Mildred’s playboy boyfriend, Melissa Leo as her best friend and Evan Rachel Wood as her mortal enemy, the grown version of her daughter, Veda. The mother/daughter conflict seems almost secondary at first but as it builds, and it does so with great insight and delicacy thanks to the tender hand of Todd Haynes, it becomes apparent that this relationship is the central one in Mildred’s life. It drives her to succeed at all costs but also tears her down to absolutely nothing all too often. To an outsider, many of Mildred’s actions might seem selfish but to those who know her, Mildred’s motivation is almost always for other people and more often than not, for Veda. It is a testament to Hayne’s talent as both a filmmaker and a writer that we actually come to know Mildred well enough to know this about her.