LeapBackBlog 2012 Film Awards – Part 2: Supporting Performances

Film in 2012 may not have been quite as strong overall as 2011, but right at the top there were a lot of good and very entertaining films. 2012 also featured many wonderful performances, particularly among men (many great performances that would have made my lists in past years were sadly left off). The LeapBackBlog Film Awards are comprised of what I think were the best and most interesting films, the strongest performances (taking into consideration who the actor is and what else they have done), the narrative style that drew me in (best directing), and exquisite craftsmanship (best technical achievements). But really, these are lists of my favorites from the year.

Part 1: Technical Achievements

Part 3: Directors

Part 4: Leading Performances

Part 5: Films

Amy Adams – The Master

Playing Peggy, Amy Adams at first seems to be a quiet doting wife to Lancaster Dodd, kind and gentle, but as the film progresses it becomes clear that she is really the one with the control and power behind The Cause. Adams’s work in The Master is therefore sort of misleading. She does not seem to have much dramatic work, and yet is a commanding presence in many of the scenes (most of which she is just sitting and watching – it is only near the end of the film where is vocally asserts her true authority). And thus, her performance is a key component to the film. It is one of the year’s more difficult subtle performances (and best).

Javier Bardem – Skyfall

Villains seem to make up a lot of 2012’s best supporting work, and Javier Bardem’s Silva in Skyfall is maybe the best of the lot. James Bond villains have always been amplified and sort of comically evil (and we love them for that reason). Bardem captures the essence of the typical Bond villain but also does something new. Silva actually makes Bond uncomfortable (as well as the audience to some extent), because he is much more than Bond’s equal. He is a real threat to Bond, more so than any villain in the franchise’s history. The performance is completely magnetic – the scene in which Bond and Silva first meet is among the year’s best.

Alison Brie – The Five-Year Engagement

Alison Brie is hysterical in The Five-Year Engagement playing the sister (Suzie) of one of the film’s leads (Violet). Along with Chris Pratt (who is also killer in support), she delivers much of the film’s funniest moments (as the leads are given most of the drama). Brie is particularly fantastic giving a speech at her sister’s engagement part, on the verge of tears, and giving her sister a pep talk later in the film in an Elmo voice (maybe the film’s best scene). Comedy is always overlooked, but Brie just radiates too brightly to be ignored.

Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained

Django Unchained is full of great and fun performances. Jamie Foxx is at his best in the lead as Django and Christoph Waltz (who very easily could have made this list, and would have in most years) is top-notch in support. But, it is Leonardo DiCaprio who shines the brightest. He is thoroughly insane as Calvin Candie, a cruel plantation owner. While Waltz is funny and engaging, DiCaprio is forcibly dynamic as he seemingly by sheer will takes over every scene commanding the attention of the audience (and the other characters). He is the focus of all his scenes. Villains often have the latitude to go big with their performances, and DiCaprio goes huge. He is an absolute blast to watch.

Tom Hardy – The Dark Knight Rises

Tom Hardy had the impossible task of following Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. The role is also particularly challenging as Hardy’s face is almost altogether obstructed by a mask. Yet, he is brilliant. Using his body language and the way he moves, along with his menacing eyes, Hardy constructs Batman’s most brutal foe. Bane also very much lives in the gypsy voice that Hardy gives him – his line delivery (though, it does take some getting used to – but it does become easily understandable eventually) is playful and authoritative, an odd combination but it completely works. Every scene that Hardy is in is a pleasure to watch. He certainly lives up to Ledger’s Joker.

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

After seeing The Dark Knight Rises, Anne Hathaway seemed destined to make this list for her fantastic work as Selina Kyle (essentially giving the definitive performance as the character). However, her work in Les Miserables as Fantine is even better. She is heartbreaking, leaving every viewer emotionally touched. Her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream is magnificent, perfectly capturing the dismal low that Fantine finds herself in, having lost everything. The viewer forgets that they are watching an actress and a performance. It is probably the best performance of the year (at least in support).

Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work in The Master is among his best. As Lancaster Dodd, the man at the head of The Cause, he has a wonderful duality to his performance. He is completely infatuated with himself and utterly oozing with confidence, and yet he also seems completely lost and alone, shackled in solitude by the farce he has created around himself. Whenever Hoffman is on screen, he demands the attention of the audience, as the center of it all – and the audience completely obliges him as they cannot look away. His work is just too compelling. The scenes between Hoffman and lead Joaquin Phoenix are especially electric.

Ezra Miller – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Following up on his brilliant work in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Ezra Miller turns in another phenomenal performance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower as Patrick. Miller has so much energy and intensity in the film that he pulls the audience’s attention towards him in every scene (which is the mark of truly great work – the viewer cannot look away). Patrick burns almost too brightly, that when he gets low there almost seems to be a lull or void, and Miller is able to capture these darker emotions of sadness and loneness incredibly well. While 2012 was full of great supporting work by male actors, Miller might just turn in the year’s best performance in the category (a performance that has been shamefully overlooked).

Kelly Reilly – Flight

Flight has a number of wonderful supporting performances in it – namely from John Goodman, James Badge Dale, and Kelly Reilly – however, it is Reilly that serves as the film’s heart playing Nicole, a vital role given Whip’s fall (the film’s lead character). Her work in the film needed to be strong, as she allows the audience to get behind Whip, even despite himself and his vices, because she believes in him and is behind him. Reilly is also a ray of hope in Whip’s life as she too is an addict, but a recovering one who is determined to start her life anew. As good as Denzel Washington is in Flight, the film would just not be the same emotionally without Reilly’s excellent supporting work.

Emma Watson – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Emma Watson grew up before the eyes of cinemagoers playing Hermione Granger for over a decade in the Harry Potter franchise. Starting as a newcomer to acting, she got better with each film devolving into one of Hollywood’s great young stars (her work in the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 is especially strong). In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Watson has the difficult role of playing both the ‘dream girl’ and a well-drawn realistic character as Sam, and she pulls it off beautifully. She wins the audience and Charlie over with her charms, but is not without flaws and struggles – once again presenting young women with a female character they can relate to and care about (when Hollywood seldom offers good female characters).

The Five-Year Engagement (2012) – Review

Review: The Five-Year Engagement is a different kind of romantic comedy, as it tries to present much more authentic characters and situations while also commenting on the expectations of couples who have grown up with the myth precipitated by typical romantic comedies. In its humor, it is both grounded and absurd (sometimes at the same time). The film is about Tom and Violet, a couple who gets engaged but life keeps getting in the way of them actually getting married and (as the title suggests), their engagement is dragged out, with each questioning whether they really are right for each other and should get married. Writer-star Jason Segel and writer-director Nicholas Stoller have structured the film in a much different fashion than almost any other in the genre, allowing the characters to be fleshed out much more than the genre usually has time for. While there is a loose overarching three act structure, Stoller and Segel present the film in a more episodic manner detailing the evolution of Tom and Violet’s relationship at different points in time – the happiness and love, but also the frustration and anxiety. The structure goes in the face of everything the audience typically expects from a romantic comedy, which is usually mapped out so specifically that the viewer knows what to expect with each plot point before even watching the film. This is not the case at all with The Five-Year Engagement (I honestly did not know if they would stay together or not, which is amazing given how overly predictable rom-coms are). In fact, the film begins where most romantic comedies end – with two people deciding they are perfect for each other, utterly in love and want to be together forever. It tells the story of what happens after that – sometimes happy, sometimes sad, a little messy, and a lot of work. Stoller and Segel do a wonderful job with the principal characters (they reportedly revamped each character with the actor set to play them, once cast), as they feel much more authentic and their drama more real than anything viewers typically see in the genre. They are very relatable and the viewer cares about them as a result. This authenticity is the most charming aspect (and maybe the best part) of the film, as it is so refreshing, charting the challenge and chaos that is life and love. In many ways, the film is also looking at the myth that romantic comedies have championed pertaining to relationships and finding ‘true love’, pulling it down and retorting with a much more accurate and unveiled account of what relationships are like. But, this is a romantic comedy all the same after all, and as such is still infused with those zany somewhat over-the-top sequences, goofy supporting characters and a few other genre mainstays that the genre has always demanded (especially in the third act) – and really these genre conventions are to an extent part of the fun and appeal. Overall, however, the film breathes new life into a genre that has perpetually turned out generic and abject emotionally staged and false narratives for some time now (with the odd great film – like Stoller and Segel’s last rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Humor wise, this film is funny, but odd. The narrative is mostly driven by dramatic and emotional moments, and characters that are struggling. However, this is a comedy, and thus is inundated with gags, many of which are very funny. The best humor in the film generates from the situations and characters organically, while the stuff, while still mostly funny, that does not work quite as well is of a more absurdist nature (and I say absurdist because this is a film steeped in reality and yet there are a few moments that are built around jokes that seem out there, like the dinner between Tom, Violet and Violet’s sister and her husband in which they are eating deer, using deer-bone utensils – it is almost like an absurdist dramatization of how Tom feels, as he is very unhappy at the point the scene takes place in the narrative, yet happening in reality). Whether using somewhat inane humor as a projection of internal torment juxtaposed to the reality the film mostly features was a narrative choice or not is unknown, but these gags sort of stick out as they seem to not be quite in the right film, though (again) they are still funny, and even maybe work a little. As a comedy, the film is very funny mixing crude humor (both sight gags and situational comedy) with typical joke areas found in the genre. Like most Judd Apatow productions, The Five-Year Engagement both has heart and R-rated humor. And like many of his produced films, it goes beyond the typical overly generic genre dynamics and presents a fresh take (in this case in terms of presenting real characters and drama).

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel have now made three films together (four, if you count Get Him to the Greek, which Segel co-produced and wrote songs for but was not too creatively involved in), the other two being Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Muppets. They make a good team, especially with their romantic comedies bringing a great sense of humor and relatable characters. I look forward to their next entry in the genre. Composer Michael Andrews scores the film well, matching the light and more dramatic tones. Cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe’s work is fairly standard for the genre, but that being said this is one of the better shot and visually beautiful films within the genre. Julie Berghoff’s production design is great, and she seems to have some fun with the juxtaposition of San Francisco and Ann Arbor as well. The evolution of the set design accentuates where the characters are in the narrative. As with most romantic comedies, much of this film’s success comes down to its characters and performances. Among the actors with small bit parts, Jacki Weaver, Lauren Weedman, Mindy Kaling, Randall Park, and Chris Parnell stand out. Rhys Ifans and Dakota Johnson are also good in supporting roles. However, Chris Pratt and Alison Brie almost steal (if not do steal) the film. Pratt, playing a more aware version of his Parks and Recreation character, has a lot of funny stuff; and Brie is brilliant as Violet’s impulsive and emotionally eruptive sister (she has some of the best stuff in the film – from her toast at the engagement party to her Elmo and Cookie Monster talk with Violet). Jason Segel has his character down pat – a lovable nice, sometimes awkward guy who seemingly could not be mean even if he tried. Here, Segel has a lot of emotional drama to play and does so very well, while still making the audience laugh. Emily Blunt is as good at comedy as she is at drama. In this film she gets to do some of both, and is fantastic on both accounts.

Summary & score: The Five-Year Engagement is a romantic comedy that dares to be different and authentic in its portrayal of love and life. 8/10