Best Supporting Actor 1999

1998 through 2007

Best Supporting Actor 1999

Michael Caine - The Cider House Rules
2
5%
Michael Clarke Duncan - The Green Mile
2
5%
Tom Cruise - Magnolia
6
16%
Jude Law - The Talented Mr. Ripley
17
45%
Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
11
29%
 
Total votes: 38

Mister Tee
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1999

Post by Mister Tee »

American Beauty was the heavyweight winner on the year, yet its supporting players -- Wes Bentley here, Thora Birch and Mena Suvari on the female side -- barely figured in consideration. This leads me to a late-arriving insight on the actors' branch: they don't much go for young adults. We've seen, in the past two years, omissions of Andrew Garfield (in his 20s, but playing a college student) and Shailene Woodley, and we drew ominous conclusions from them...presuming it spelled doom for their films. But, while neither film won best picture, each won a key screenplay award, and Social Network also took the keystone editing prize. And, here in 1999, American Beauty had close to a sweep (by non-period standards), yet suffered the same omissions. So, maybe we've been over-complicating it. Voters are quite willing to go for child performances (always in support, whatever the size of the role), as we see with Osment here, Ronan, Breslin and Steinfeld to follow. But adolescents/young adults...not so much. Rinko Kikuchi is the only one I can come up with, offhand...Kate Hudson if you stretch, and she had a big push, including the Golden Globe. Maybe the voters don't consider these people fully actors yet.

As for other omissions: I'll never understand the enthusiasm for Christopher Plummer; it's the rare time the Oscars made more sense than critics' groups. My prime addition would be Brad Pitt, for his then best-of-career performance in Fight Club.

Michael Clarke Duncan's nomination, like the one for his film, seemed the product of a campaign that continued even after the movie fizzled (and, largely, of casting, with his size doing most of the work).

As we discussed in another thread months back: Paul Thomas Anderson exploited the essential inauthenticity of Tom Cruise's persona to make his phony character work for the film. I dispute that this is in any way constitutes a memorable performance. In fact, I specifically think Cruise failed in that bedside conversation with his father, and it's obvious Anderson felt the same: he cut away at the key moment, when Cruise should have been peaking, and the only reason I can think of is, Cruise's failure to rise to the occasion must have been obvious.

If Damien were here, Michael Caine would have had at least one vote, since I know Damien adored the performance. I wasn't wild about the Cider House Rules' sentimentalization of Irving, but I thought Caine's work was the strongest in the film. An unavoidable issue, however: Caine's accent really came and went, detracting from an overall nice piece of work.

Haley Joel Osment gave one of the more memorable child performances of recent years, and, since he followed it up with another impressive one two years later in A.I., you can't just assume his director was responsible. But there are reasons to resist voting for him: the category fraud (lead, for sure), and a general difficulty with voting for tots.

So, sticking with adults, I, too, opt for Jude Law. The Talented Mr. Ripley got mostly mistreated by voters -- it was better than pretty much the whole best picture slate -- but it did manage five nominations, most prominent among them Mr. Law's breakthrough. I'd say Law's subsequent career falls into the "disappointment" slot, but here he exudes magnetism and acting ability, and is easily the best of the five contenders.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 1999

Post by Big Magilla »

Christopher Plummer should have been nominated and won for The Insider[/i. I've always attributed his lack of a nod to Mike Wallace's very public dislike of his impersonation of him.

Anther acor I though to be a sure bet at a nomination was Wes Bentley as the brooding teenager in American Beauty.

I appreciated the artistry of all involved in The Cider House Rules but I didn't much care for it. I initially htought his nomination was make up for his being ignored for Little Voice the year before, but the win made it clear he was more popular than I thought.

Michael Clarke Duncan does okay with an underwritten role in The Green Mile, but it's not Oscar worthy.

Haley Joel Osment is unforgettable as the kid in The Sixth Sense although it is a co-lead. Nevertheless I supported his nod in the supporting category.

Tom Cruise showed a different side of himself in Magnolia and was nominated as much for his audacity as for his performance, but the nomination seemed enugh.

The best of the nominated lot, though, was Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley. He getds my vote by default, but he gets it nonetheless.
ksrymy
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Best Supporting Actor 1999

Post by ksrymy »

Maybe if Christopher Plummer won here like he deserved then his mediocre performance would haven given way to a better nominee/winner this last ceremony.

Other than that, this selection isn't really bad. I'd keep three of the nominees. The other nominee I'd throw in would be John Malkovich. It's a wonderful meta role that is very well done. And who doesn't die laughing when the thought of "Malkovich, Maaalkovich" is sung by John in a brown dress on a piano with that famous leg swing or an unexpectedly huge-breasted Malkovich in a pink cocktail dress? Here's the clip to refresh your mind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Fuxkinhug

I never quite understood the circlejerk around Michael Caine's performance. Was it because he was an abortion doctor? Was is because the Academy thinks he's a two-Oscar actor (which he is but not for this performance)? Was it because he was really the only established actor nominated? Who knows? Wilbur Larch is a great character, but I see nothing in Caine's playing him that is Oscar-worthy.

I really love The Green Mile. That statement only applies to the book(s) though. I did not think it was possible to make this movie unnecessarily longer than it needed to be. It happened here. The acting was superb though and Michael Clarke Duncan is almost too-perfectly cast as John Coffey, but I feel that's exactly what got him his nomination. He is the exact build as John Coffey, he gets to cry a lot, and has a perfect smile for those scenes opposite the crying. The nomination seems almost a stunt to me.

Now these last three gentlemen are supreme.

Osment is very, very good here. I assume some will argue that he is lead, but I hold that he is supporting. Osment has to work a lot with his voice here. His face, I've noticed, is very emotionless. It only ever holds one shape, but how he is able to get so much emotion out of Cole blows my mind. Maybe it's because it's one of the best child performances we've seen, maybe it's because we hadn't seen anything as affecting. It's a wonderful performance and I'll think about voting for him here.

I'll also consider voting for Tom Cruise who is a-one as the misogynistic inspirational speaker. The only thing stopping me from awarding him is his haircut in that film. Lord have mercy, it was terrible. But Tom's big-grinned persona worked to full advantage here. It's funny that this role is almost exactly what Cruise would become in real life. At first glance, I questioned if he earned his role simply because he got all the fun speeches in the film. It seemed kind of a ripoff. But then I saw his tender last moments in the film with his father and the nomination seemed fully recognized to me. This was the surefire role that would get Cruise his Oscar especially after the hoopla for him not winning after Born on the Fourth of July. The Globes seem to love Cruise much more than the Academy. Alas, it's a wonderful performance I will consider here.

Lastly, my third consideration would be Jude Law. I really enjoy The Talented Mr. Ripley. I think Dickie is a wonderful character and the standout in the extraordinary cast. I give special note to his last scene in the boat with Damon. What an incredible bit of dialogue. We didn't really know much about Jude Law at the time and did not know his cocky persona in the film would be what he plays in almost everything after (I Heart Huckabees is the first thing that comes to mind). The bathtub scene also comes to mind and how we see Dickie subtly realize that Ripley is very much gay.

Who will I vote for?

Christopher Plummer.

Not a nominee?

I think it'll be a fairly consistent race between a few nominees.

I'll vote for Law.

My nominees
_______________________
1) Christopher Plummer - The Insider
2) Jude Law - The Talented Mr. Ripley
3) Haley Joel Osment - The Sixth Sense
4) Tom Cruise - Magnolia
5) John Malkovich - Being John Malkovich

6) Philip Seymour Hoffman - Magnolia
Last edited by ksrymy on Sun Jul 01, 2012 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
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