The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1988

1988

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist
I liked and admired Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist. Although I saw the dedication and her commitment to her character, somehow she never really won me over completely, which is extremely unusual for me with a performance by Siggy. She shows the passion and the development of her character wonderfully, she doesn't go too much over the top, except for some scenes. And her scenes with the gorillas are just thrilling. 

4. Jodie Foster in The Accused
Jodie Foster gives a very good and intense performance as Sarah Tobias. Although she's much less effective the second time around, her strength is occasionally captivating and she leaves a lasting impression in the end. Jodie minimises the scenery chewing and her acting is never too much in your face. And her courtroom scene is one of the best acted scenes of Jodie's career. Memorable, strong work.

3. Melanie Griffith in Working Girl

I don't care if it's fashionable or not, I love Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. I sympathized with her and felt for her character throughout the movie, no matter if she was hoovering topless or changing her look or interacting with her men. I laughed with her, got sad with her and I just always wanted her to get to the top. I loved Melanie's clear, almost naive emotions, her optimism, her glowing, funny, joyous personality.

2. Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark
Meryl Streep gives an excellent performance as Lindy Chamberlain. Although I'm not as enthusiastic about her in this film as so many others, I can perfectly see why they fell in love with this performance. It's compelling, complex, multi-layered and very-very effective. Some may accuse Meryl of being too calculating and planned, but to me this is one of her most natural and emotional performances, she's a real force on the screen and always a thrill to hear and look at.

1. Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons
Amazing or fantastic or career-best doesn't even begin to describe how brilliant Great Glenn is as Marquise de Merteuil. Each and every movement and word of hers is so great that I just keep marvelling. Naturally, the Academy refused to acknowledge this earth-shattering performance with an Oscar win and yet that tells something about the Academy itself instead of Great Glenn who's simply electrifying. A true masterclass in acting, which makes me think if I should call Great Glenn Brilliant Glenn or Greatest Glenn from now on.

So I can proudly announce

that the winner is...

Glenn Close 

in 

Dangerous Liaisons

Glorious Great Glenn

Final thoughts: A truly interesting, wonderfully rich year, the best comeback I can imagine. :) It was the last review for Siggy and more sadly, Great Glenn (for the time being, I hope) and I'm so glad that they've both come out triumphant at least once (I'm a bit sad that I didn't leave Aliens last for Siggy). The real surprise was Melanie whom I liked way more than last time. I'm glad about her nod though it might seem weird that she got nominated instead of some very-very acclaimed performances (I guess you're very surprised by how much I liked her). But I don't really mind that she got nominated. Jodie Foster was Oscar's choice and I'm kind of baffled by her win, especially with hindsight. She went on to win another Oscar, while Great Glenn and Siggy remained Oscarless. And then there's Meryl who has a renaissance among bloggers with her Lindy Chamberlain performance. I suppose that review was the most anticipated and exciting. I don't think that anyone was surprised by my thoughts on Great Glenn and her subsequent (to me no-brainer) win. :)))

Omissions (never seen Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer but planning to):

• Jamie Lee Curtis in A Fish Called Wanda
• Carmen Maura in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

The next year:

• It will be a surprise; I don't know yet. :) It starts on 15th July.  

What do you think? Any thoughts on your mind?

Melanie Griffith in Working Girl

Melanie Griffith got her only Oscar nomination to date for playing Tess McGill, a secretary who's determined to make it in the business world in a very unorthodox way in Mike Nichols' Best Picture nominated movie, Working Girl. Griffith was considered a front-runner for the prize, though I don't believe that she ever was a serious threat for the win, especially considering her lightweight role and movie. I guess Sigourney might have gotten ahead of her (along with Jodie and Great Glenn), but I really don't know. Her family's Hollywood connections might have helped a bit.

I'm astonished to say this, but I actually loved Working Girl for the second time. I was especially stunned, considering the fact that I didn't use to be a big fan of it. However, now I see what it is: a lovely, extremely entertaining product of pop culture. I'm not sure if it really deserved Best Picture and Director, but I'm just glad it received those nods. Also, I'm extremely disappointed that Siggy lost the Oscar: it was such a great opportunity to reward her. And I'm saying this despite one fact: that my actual vote in Supporting Actress would go to Working Girl, but to a different actress (though I go back and forth between her and Siggy and I love Michelle as well). Yep, I'm on the really uncrowded and unpopular Joan Cusack bandwagon right now: my goodness, that woman just rocks in her tiny part and overshadows the rest of her cast in a blink. I'd love to go on and on how much I loved her but I constantly remind myself that this review should be about Melanie, not Joan. :-) If you're interested, I'll tell you why as soon as I get back. 

Whatever happened to Melanie Griffith? I was just going to say it's time to go to television, Melanie, I can see that she already has a pilot coming up. Let's just hope that it brings her back to conversation since I'm really interested how she's working as a middle-aged actress. I guess an Emmy and another Golden Globe could give some boost to her career. Although I cannot say many other movies of hers beside Working Girl, I'm really rooting for her career. 

Melanie's nomination for Working Girl is one of the most unpopular and hated nominations ever given out. Many fail to see how she was nominated over the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis, Susan Sarandon or Michelle Pfeiffer (for Married to the Mob). True, but is this the reason why people dislike her so actively here? Partly, in my opinion. Personally, I can clearly see why I used to hate her here: when I watched her movie on tv years and years ago, I got used to her dubbed voice, where the actress sounded like a purr of a cat. And I loved that voice, of course. Compared to that, Melanie sounded like a tortured, not a pampered cat. However, this time I knew what to expect and I wasn't annoyed by her at all. In fact, nowadays I prefer this voice to this character, it just fits her more. Tess should be clumsy and unlucky, why should she have an awesome voice?

That being said, I don't think the Hungarian dubbing came to picture to many others who hate Melanie here. I suppose this is a mystery I'm never going to solve. Let me just say: I absolutely love Melanie's Tess McGill. From the first moment to the last, I liked this woman, cared about her, rooted for her. You know, I just wanted what Tess wanted: I wanted her to be succesful. And I refuse to feel guilt about this opinion of mine. In fact, I kind of feel like I'm a member of a very cool and elite club who really get this performance.

I suppose my whole attitude towards Melanie is identical with my feelings for her movie. I don't think it's a masterpiece of any kind, it just relaxes me and makes me feel good, even for that short period of time I'm watching her. I think you just have to know exactly what to expect from her and you can't be disappointed. Don't expect a very emotional, layered portrayal of a woman who's struggling in the business world. There's no real suffering going on there and Melanie doesn't try to dig really deep into her character. While there are some similarities between the two ladies, her transformation is quite far from what we can see from Julie Walters in Educating Rita. Working Girl's and Melanie's main goal was entertaining and no matter what people can talk into this film, it's nothing more than great fun. Neither is Melanie's performance.

Still, I liked the development in Tess' character. As I said, it's not a significant transformation, but I was still very much impressed by the fact that Melanie showed that Tess starts to resemble the likes of Siggy Weaver's character, while also remaining a simple girl from Staten Island as she can never really change. Although Joan Cusack steals the scene where this is stated, Melanie's pretty good on her own right.

She might be weak at delivering some of the lines or doesn't make them as strong as they could have been, but being clumsy might have just fit this character quite well. In fact, being a bit weak made this character even more realistic and brought her even closer to the audience. This way, even the occasional mistakes turn into something fun.

And no, you can't really ignore the fact how much the audience gets close to this woman, simply because she's so cute. That topless hoovering scene is so lovely despite lasting for like 3 seconds. These kinds of ordinary moments make this performance so special to me. It gives joy to an ordinary person because they can think 'Wow, it's like watching myself.' Some might look down on that, but sometimes you just have to loose yourself while watching a movie and leave your prejudices behind, very much like in the case of Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins. Although I wouldn't really put Melanie on the same level, every once in a while, I had the same feeling (minus the bitterness).

I don't care if it's fashionable or not, I love Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. I sympathized with her and felt for her character throughout the movie, no matter if she was hoovering topless or changing her look or interacting with her men. I laughed with her, got sad with her and I just always wanted her to get to the top. I loved Melanie's clear, almost naive emotions, her optimism, her glowing, funny, joyous personality. A thrill for the dreamers and the naives who think they can get that office at the top. If you're willing to leave your cynicism behind, you'll love her. Pure feel-good fun.

What do you think? :) Surprised, huh? :-) 

The Next Year

1988

So the nominees were:

• Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons
• Jodie Foster in The Accused
• Melanie Griffith in Working Girl
• Meryl Streep in A Cry in the Dark
• Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist

Continuing a Streepathon celebrating Meryl's third, a year with three previous winners of mine and two ladies I haven't yet reviewed. Great Glenn seems to be the odds-on favorite to win here but let's see if I'll jump on the Meryl bandwagon like many of my fellow bloggers or pick someone else. :)

What do you think? Who's your pick? What's your prediction for my ranking? :)

Looking Back: Working Girl

(dir. Mike Nichols, 1988)

I've spent years trying to locate this movie and watch it.  No, I admit that it's not the hardest movie to find, but I could just never get a hold of it on Netflix or the library or whatever.  And finally it appeared on Instant Queue and my long wait was finally over (merely by saying "Honey, Harrison Ford is in it," I convinced my fiancée to sit down and watch it with me).

It's the late 1980s and hotheaded-yet-business-savvy Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is struggling to be more than just a peace of meat in the fast-paced world of New York business.  After calling her boss (a thin Oliver Platt) a pimp, she's relocated to the office of shrewd, shoulder-pad wearing Katharine Parker (played brilliantly by Sigourney Weaver).  Weaver at first seems to be a kind boss, and in fact if I didn't know she was supposed to turn out evil, that slow section of the film would have been devoid of tension.  But it was just waiting for Weaver to do something bad or act like a witch, which she finally does after being betrayed by McGill.  When Katharine breaks her leg skiing, our secretary cum Wall Street virtuoso takes over her office and begins to set in motion a brilliant business acquisition (originally her idea) which Katharine had tried to deflate and secretly steal.  Oh, and along the way she falls in love with Jack Trainer, a sleepwalking Harrison Ford.

You always hear Working Girl references as being very, very 80s in both fashion and design.  After watching the whole thing, I'm less shocked and more flabbergasted that it was so beloved at the 1988 Academy Awards. I hardly find anything to dislike about a film that's nominated for some kind of Oscar; I may not love every film nominated, but I can at least appreciate why some people like it, but about this film, I have nothing good to say.

Well, Weaver was good.  But the buck stops there. Oh, and the song "Let the River Run" by Carly Simon.  There was one particularly good scene at the beginning of the film, where Griffith is set up with a trashy businessman perfectly played by an ageless Kevin Spacey.

"You SLUT!"

How this was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and three acting races is a little beyond me. Griffith seemed like she was lost without a paddle the entire time, and not just because she was a woman in a man's world but because she was put in the precarious potion of having to act.  Maybe it was partially due to Kevin Wade's comically atrocious dialog, but Griffith's emotional range never rose above mildly irked.  Whenever something huge or stressful would happen in the character's life, all Griffith could muster was a banal "Okay" or "Snake" before hanging up the phone or calmly turning around.  I rarely say this, but it really felt as though she was merely...saying lines the whole time, and trying to remember them halfway through saying them.

Joan Cusack and Harrison Ford were both criminally underused and hardly present.  Ford's allotted one good scene, and after that the rest of his character and thereby his performance are nothing short of predictable. Cusack could have had a juicy part, but really is only able to shine in one scene that takes place about halfway into the film; after that, she basically disappears and Griffith's full lingerie set becomes her new sidekick.

The most painful part for me, though, was that no one changed in the film.  No character has an arch, there's very little evolution.  At the beginning, McGill was tough-headed and business-minded, and at the end she still is, but the only difference is people's perception of her.  Ford's character certainly doesn't change, since he's never painted as anything close to the other Wall Street snakes in the film, so when he has a heart of gold at the end there's no big reveal there (he doesn't even sleep with Griffith the night the drunkenly meet and she sleeps over).  Cusack's Cyn isn't carefully imagined enough by the screenwriter to even have a change, so the only thing that evolves on her is the amount of eyeliner and hairspray she uses.  Not even Weaver could manage an arch; witch at the beginning and witch at the end.  This, I think, is why I couldn't care about any character...they were just all so flat and boring.  This movie was about a working girl, but it's a movie that needs a lot of work to get through.  The costumes are the highlights.  GRADE: D-


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