Best Supporting Actor 1997

[bizarre]

I would have preferred to see Jamey Sheridan make the cut from The Ice Storm's supporting men.

[ITALIANO]

Robert Forster gets my vote - a beautifully executed performance and, of course, it's always nice when a forgotten veteran suddenly makes this kind of comeback with a truly interesting role - rather than just a showy role.

Of the four others, even Robin Williams probably isn't exactly bad - but it's such a predictable, safe role! (And Judd Hirsch had been better with a similar character in Ordinary People). Plus, his was such an obvious victory that this potentially interesting race soon became quite tiresome. Which is a pity, because it's not a terrible line-up.

Burt Reynolds was an icon of the 70s and as such brilliantly used in Boogie Nights - it's by far his most memorable performance (and movie), but I'm not sure that it's exactly Oscar-caliber work. And in that period Anthony Hopkins was nominated for anything, but he's actually good in the otherwise stolid Amistad.

As for Greg Kinnear, it's not just that he was a straight man playing a gay man - he played a bullied, victimised gay man, which is certainly a better cliche than, say, "suicidal gay man" or "crazy, serial-killer gay man", and unfortunately sometimes a realistic one - but still a bit of a cliche, and I never liked pity too much. We can call it now "the Karen Klein syndrome", and don't get me wrong - I, too, find this little old lady very sweet and am glad that she's now becoming very rich, but... I mean... I don't want to sound too cynical but... ok, I'll say it: what's the point of donating all this money to this (I repeat: very sweet) individual and never complain, and often approve, when your country massacres innocent people abroad, and, through death penalty, not-so-innocent people in the US?

[Greg]

Mister Tee mentions Robert Forster in Medium Cool. What really impressed me about that film is how it seamlessly brought fictional characters into a real-life event and had actors performing characters in scenes that were actual real-time documentary footage.

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wroteI'd also suggest someone nobody's mentioned: Tobey Maguire in The Ice Storm. Maybe some of you view him as lead.

No, he's supporting. I would cite him as a runner up. He's very good in The Ice Storm, a movie which at the time vanished mysteriously from the radar after a lot of hype. I was convinced upon its release that we were looking at if not Best Picture then nominations for Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, and two for Supporting Actress. I recall thinking Sigourney Weaver would win but I was hoping Christina Ricci would pull off a surprise victory. And then Weaver lost the Globe to Basinger and didn't make the cut at the Screen Actor's Guild, and James Schamus' WGA nomination couldn't fend off a surprising surge for The Sweet Hereafter at the Oscars and wow! Bupkiss!

It didn't do very well at the box office which I in part attribute to its simultaneous release with Boogie Nights, which makes decaying values look like the party of the year. But yes, Tobey Maguire would have been an excellent nominee and one I would prefer to everybody nominated save for Forster.

[Reza]

What a dull list of nominees. Voted for Williams.

My picks for 1997:

1. Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding
2. Kevin Spacey, L.A. Confidential
3. Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting
4. Greg Kinnear, As Good As It Gets
5. Burt Reynolds, Boogie Nights

The 6th Spot: Robert Forster, Jackie Brown

[Mister Tee]

I start off in solidarity with Sabin, thinking Kevin Spacey's Jack Vincennes was the class performance of the year, my easy pick. (I'm also in full agreement that Crowe/Pearce were clear leads in LA, Spacey no-doubt the supporter) I'd also suggest someone nobody's mentioned: Tobey Maguire in The Ice Storm. Maybe some of you view him as lead.

After that, though, I'm in wild disagreement with most here.

I never got what was supposed to be so impressive about Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights (apart from being surrounded by a decent movie, for once). I felt like he just walked through the film. (I, too, remember that Oscar clip, Sabin...but what struck me about it was how uneventful a scene it was: that he'd done so little in the film they couldn't even find a clip to make him look like he was doing anything) I'm greatly surprised so many of you see so much more.

Rupert Everett had got a great deal of press prior to the nominations, but it always struck me much of that came from the “I’m really gay, you know” press tour he’d conducted more or less in tandem with the film. Not to dismiss what was at that time a far more risky career move, but I think it gave him a cheering section somewhat in excess of the achievement of his performance…which was funny enough, but no moreso than Nathan Lane had been in Frankie and Johnny without getting a whiff of attention.

Anyway, the voters went instead for the gay character in the more “seriously-minded” movie, and here, again, I have to part company with many here. I know Greg Kinnear is now widely considered an interesting, idiosyncratic actor, but back then he was the wiseass off Talk Soup; perhaps that’s affecting my view of his work. But I never felt he achieved believability; he always struck me as an actor “playing gay”. I also (contra Sabin) found his segments the worst parts of the admittedly hit-and-miss As Good As It Gets. No vote from me.

Robert Forster was something of a hero for me based on Medium Cool, a movie I’d adored back in college. I was certainly happy to see him back in decent position after so many years floundering. But I’m just not that big a fan of Jackie Brown, which I find overlong and talky (like, honestly, a lot of Elmore Leonard – one of the few popular mystery writers of the era whose appeal eludes me).

I was convinced early on, well before SAG, that Robin Williams would be the year’s winner, mostly for the reasons Sabin cites: a solid if not extraordinary performance in a popular movie, given by a well-liked industry regular on his fourth nomination. Had there been anyone nominated I truly loved, I might have worked up a bit of resentment, but there wasn’t, so I was cool with how things turned out.

Given a vote myself, though, I’d have to choose Anthony Hopkins. This shouldn’t fool anyone into thinking I much cared for Amistad – a flat history pageant that’s one of Spielberg’s dullest films. But Hopkins brings his scenes fully to life in a way that I don’t see from any of the other nominees in this category. An unenthusiastic vote, but a vote nonetheless.

[rudeboy]

Voted for Forster's sweet, layered performance - one so touching it doesn't feel like it belongs in Tarantino's universe, and the easy class of this batch.

[Sabin]

It was Robin Williams’ time. It’s kind of amazing to think that the comedian had three prior Best Leading Actor nominations leading up to his eventual win for Good Will Hunting. He was in a movie that everybody liked, he was visible in several Hollywood productions that didn’t work that year, he was bearded, sensitive, and inspirational which the Academy seemingly likes him doing, he got a big speech about his wife and a big scene where he gets an abuse victim to deal with his pain. And he wasn’t up against anybody they felt like voting for. The only thing that Robin Williams didn’t have going for him was an Oscar-worthy performance. He’s good in the film, or rather he’s well-cast, but I doubt anybody thought he legitimately gave the best performance of the lot. They just wanted him to win and this was a fantastic opportunity.

Likewise for all the gruff that Burt Reynolds gets for how bad his career was before Boogie Nights and how bad his career would go onto to be afterwards, whose post-1997 oeuvre would you rather sit through right now? The bad Robin Williams movies or the bad Burt Reynolds movies? Whereas Robin Williams didn’t really know what to do with the validation and would go onto make some truly abhorrent film along with the obscure curio here and there, all Burt Reynolds learned was that he could make a fortune doing supporting roles. I think he’s very good in Boogie Nights and I certainly would have preferred to see him win than Williams. I remember even the clip they chose featured Reynolds watching his porn masterpiece and uttering “This is the film I want them to remember me for” with an impossible measure of gravity and lack of self-awareness. He was apparently miserable to work with on-set and fired his agent afterwards, but the film is pretty much unimaginable without his presence. But similar to Robin Williams, I want to see Burt Reynolds win for pretty much the same reasons. I don’t even think his is my favorite supporting performance in the film. John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman are more interesting in smaller roles.

It was going to be between those two for one reason: Rupert Everett wasn’t nominated. I remember having doubts that he would get in before Oscar morning due to his lack of a SAG nomination, but I was even more mystified at the lack of acknowledgement for Kevin Spacey’s Jack Vincennes. I’ve seen a couple of citations for Russell Crowe’s Bud White, and I find that absolutely boggling. This is not even a borderline case. The leads in L.A. Confidential are Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe, and that what was so thrilling about the film. It’s not Kevin Spacey’s story after a while, is it? It’s about two sides of the law (each represented by Crowe and Pearce) working together? I though that Spacey was sure-fire! And then the Golden Globes chose Everett, Hopkins, Kinnear, Reynolds, Williams…and Jon Voight from John Grisham’s The Rainmaker! I don’t remember anything that Voight did in that film. And then the Screen Actor’s Guild further confused the situation by honoring Hopkins, Kinnear, Reynolds, Williams, and Billy Connolly for Mrs. Brown. And likely Mark Addy would have gotten a wildcard vote or two considering how beloved The Full Monty proved to be. James L. Brooks not making the cut for Best Director wasn’t a huge surprise for me, but the fact that Peter “Who?” Cattaneo did is pretty shocking. Addy was that film’s heart and soul. Now we’ve got a race where Kevin Spacey isn’t just a probable industry-standard nominee. He probably came in eighth or ninth in the voting. Weird.

For me, it’s between the three who didn’t have a chance. In retrospect, it’s no surprise that, regardless of its DGA, PGA, and Golden Globe nominations, Amistad wasn’t getting nominated. It lacks the emotional center that all historical epics need to win awards. What Anthony Hopkins does at the end of the film is essentially make the case for the movie’s importance…even though we’ve barely seen him throughout the damn thing! But what an impression he makes. He’s a very fussy actor at times and this role suits his strengths quite a bit.

But I can’t choose him for the win. Nor can I choose Greg Kinnear. There are two excellent performances in As Good As It Gets. Kinnear’s, and Verdell the dog. Not in that order. Much was made about Rupert Everett’s sexually confident confidante to Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding losing a spot to Kinnear’s long-suffering sexless sad-sack, the kind of part that Neil Simon did decades prior. But he’s very good in the film, and he’s demonstrated an unusually strong and idiosyncratic career subsequently. I always enjoy watching him, and while As Good As It Gets suffers from leads that just aren’t prickly enough to offset the weakness in Brooks’ script (imagine Bill Murray and Holly Hunter!), Kinnear is the one who ups everyone’s game.

My vote goes to Robert Forster in Jackie Brown, my runner up choice for Best Supporting Actor for Quentin Tarantino’s most underrated film. Like Burt Reynolds and Robin Williams, he’s brilliantly cast. And the fact that you can never see him strain in his role doesn’t bother me a bit. What a beautiful character! Time has been very good to Jackie Brown, although not particularly to Robert Forster. I don’t know if I can work up enthusiasm for a nomination for his turn in The Descendants because he’s doing something so different than his costars that it upends every scene he’s in! But in Jackie Brown, he sparks with everybody in the phenomenal cast while doing something entirely different. While everyone gets to play Elmore Leonard characters, Forster walks away with the show by doing what? Playing a human being.

Best Supporting Actor
1. Kevin Spacey, L.A. Confidential
2. Robert Forster, Jackie Brown
3. Rupert Everett, My Best Friend's Wedding
4. Bruce Greenwood, The Sweet Hereafter
5. John C. Reilly, Boogie Nights

[bizarre]

I think Robert Forster's performance is the most restrained and human thing to come out of any Tarantino film. He's one of those actors that can do a lot while appearing to do almost nothing at all. He gets my vote.

Kinnear is a lovely, warm presence. His searching performance here is the best he's given, shame it is in such a trifle of a film.

Reynolds is solid and a strong presence, acting as the glue for the narrative although I feel like he doesn't actually do too much to develop his character's history.

Williams has intensity but there's something very specific this role needed in order to not contribute to the film's overall hamhanded to-the-rafters tenor, and he didn't find it.

I haven't seen Hopkins.

[FilmFan720]

Of these nominees, Burt Reynolds is the only one I would nominate. Jack Horner looms over that entire film thanks to the power and charisma that Reynolds gives the character, playing the sleaziness with a real honesty and heart that not everyone in the film brings to the table.

Of the other four, Robin Williams and Anthony Hopkins are fine in what they do but neither is very interesting. Greg Kinnear does some of his best work, and gets the only really rounded character in a mess of a film, but I have a hard time giving that film credit for much of anything. I need to revisit Jackie Brown...I haven't seen it since it opened, and remember liking Forester but not giving him much thought. I do remember DeNiro being hysterical, though.

As for the also-rans, this is a year immensely stronger than the nomination list would suggest. John Glover's dual role in the otherwise middle-road adaptation of Love! Valour! Compassion! would be my winner, followed by Eugene Levy's brilliant "class clown" dentist in Waiting for Guffman. Rupert Everett will be no doubt mentioned various times here, while Mark Addy brings so much heart and soul to The Full Monty. With Burt Reynolds, they are my five.

And that is not even mentioning Tom Wilkinson in The Full Monty, Victor Garber in Titanic, Phillip Baker Hall in Boogie Nights, or Fred Williard and Bob Balaban in Waiting for Guffman.

[The Original BJ]

A decent enough list, given the options, if not a stellar one. My preferred alternate would be Kevin Spacey, the best of a great cast in L.A. Confidential.

My least favorite is Anthony Hopkins, though it's fairly easy to see why he got the nomination. Hugely respected actor playing a president with a moving, eleven o'clock hour courtroom monologue. The actor is solid enough, but I find Amistad, though well-meaning, sort of a dreary movie, and Hopkins's work isn't nearly exciting enough to choose.

I recall there was some brouhaha at the time that Greg Kinnear (a straight actor playing a victimized gay) was nominated, while Rupert Everett (a gay actor playing a full-of-life gay) was excluded. But if we're to compare these two roles, I think the Academy made the right choice. This isn't to say that Everett wasn't very funny in My Best Friend's Wedding; I just think Kinnear's role has a lot more colors. The actor is charming and witty when dealing with Jack Nicholson's annoyances, heartbreaking after his assault, and possessing a very kind spirit even to those who would be cruel towards him. Kinnear is, overall, a good actor, though this was the one time I think he was genuinely memorable.

It's really easy to see why Robin Williams won -- he was a comedian gone dramatic on his fourth nomination in a very popular Best Picture nominee. And, as if his profile weren't enough, the performance was very solid. Sometimes Williams's dramatic work has suffered from a problem that plagues a lot of comedians -- it's comatose, and lacking the energetic quality that characterizes their more successful comic work. But here I thought Williams was anything but lazy, creating a full-bodied portrait of a man in pain who needs to figure out his own life as much as his patient does. Williams's scenes with Damon are the heart of Good Will Hunting, and the actors work quite well together. I have no objection to his win.

But I like the other two nominees better. Jackie Brown isn't Quentin Tarantino's best film, but it's certainly his deepest, most emotionally resonant work. And most of that is due to the relationship between Robert Forster and Pam Grier in the film. I understand Forster was something of a from-nowhere nominee, and I'm very pleased he made the cut. His character's affection for Jackie is really lovely, and in the end, very poignant. This is exactly the kind of performance it's nice to see nominated in the supporting categories -- a memorable turn by a hard-working vet in a role that's slightly tangential to the main narrative, but hugely important emotionally.

But I cast my vote for Burt Reynolds. He's not an actor I've found all that notable -- either before or since Boogie Nights -- but here he's just perfect. The more I work in show business, the more I appreciate how well Reynolds captures a very specific show biz type -- the creator who thinks that the product he's peddling is far more meaningful and significant than it actually is. He's not JUST arrogant and self-absorbed -- though he certainly is that -- but also full of genuine love for the work he's doing and the people he is doing it with. Reynolds captures all these sides of the man in a witty, moving performance. The man may not have many true acting triumphs, but I think he deserves the prize for this one.

[Big Magilla]

This was not one of Oscar's better group of nominees.

If anyone deserved an Oscar nomination for Amistad it ws Djimon Hounsou's beleagured slave, not Anthony Hopkins' bewiskered John Quincy Adams.

If Jackie Brown had been directed by say, John Singleton or Bryan Singer instead of wunderkind Quentin Tarantino, it probably would have come and gone with little notice of Robert Forster's perfromance.

I would have given those slots to Rupert Everett in My Best Fiend's Wedding and rising star Russell crowe in L.A. Confidential.

Greg Kinnear was terrific as Jack Nicholson's foil in As Good As It Gets and richly desrving of a nomination, but not quite strong enough for the win.

Robin Williams was excellent as the shrink in Good Will Hunting although his win was probably more attributable to the popularity of the film as well as his personal popualrity and the general dislike of Burt Reynolds.

Reynolds has never been one of my favorite actors, but his performnce in Boogie Nights was light-years beyond what I would have thought him capable of. He was my choice at the time, and still is.

[mlrg]

Burt Reynolds - Boogie Nights

[ksrymy]

This is a pretty strong lineup then again most of the nineties were strong in this category.

The only nominee I would leave off would be Anthony Hopkins. This is his only nomination for which I have not voted.

Robin Williams is excellent in Good Will Hunting and has some wonderful line readings. I think we all knew he was going to win going into Oscar night with Reynolds' Golden Globe being his only lifesaver. But still, I cannot vote for him. He was long overdue for an Oscar, this is true, and I guess they saw that his appeal and move quality could not last forever so they awarded it to him at the right time. The role is just a bit too sentimental for my taste though.

But this is odd because I absolutely loved Robert Forster here. I think Jackie Brown is one of Tarantino's best. It's his most overlooked and most underrated. It's also the only film he directed that isn't an original screenplay (unless you count the other Inglouious Basterds film no one heard about until after the 2009 film came out). Forster is sentiment incarnate in this film and he works surprisingly well with Pam Grier. His desperate attempts to ingratiate himself into Jackie's life are heartbreaking. His lip-synching to the Delfonics "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" is a beautiful scene filled with nuance. Forster's face alone was made for acting. We can see every twitch, every emotion, everything in his eyes and leathery cheeks. His scene with Samuel L. Jackson at the end is wonderful too. We realize slowly, along with Max Cherry, that he is a hundred time more capable of pulling this off than we expected. He's one of Tarantino's best written characters in a cast full of them.

But I also really love Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets. This was James L. Brook's last great film. While Jack Nicholson obviously owns the film, Kinnear does some powerful stuff. The utter despair in his face during the home invasion and especially when confronting Nicholson's character is jarring. He provides a much-needed balance between Melvin's OCD and Carol's emotional instability. His acerbic conversations with Nicholson are wonderfully contrasted with his naturalistic conversations with Hunt.

But I also think Burt Reynolds has never been better than in Boogie Nights. An actor who has never been taken seriously landing a huge dramatic role and excelling with it is just a marvelous experience in itself. Whether is be Anderson's work or Reynolds' hidden talent, he makes Jack Horner a mesmerizing character. Sometimes I can't help but think that the 'stache landed him the role too. That moustache was made for porn. But Jack Horner is caring. He is more of a father figure than we could have ever expected. He's able to make a pre-2000s Mark Wahlberg a good actor in their scenes together (notably in their first scene in the dishwasher's room).

So I am at an impasse here.

Have the three ever been better?

Forster: I think he should have been nominated for his brief time in The Descendants, but better than here? No.
Kinnear: He was pretty alright in Little Miss Sunshine, but better than here? No.
Reynolds: No. Just no.

I vote Forster for the most human performance in any Tarantino film.

My picks
_______________________
1) Kevin Spacey - L.A. Confidential
2) Robert Forster - Jackie Brown
3) Burt Reynolds - Boogie Nights
4) Greg Kinnear - As Good As It Gets
5) Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting

6) Victor Garber - Titanic