LeapBackBlog 2013 Film Awards – Part 2: Supporting Performances

Film in 2013 was fantastic. We saw tons of wonderful performances, powerfully emotional dramas, hysterical comedies, gripping thrillers, big and entertaining blockbusters, and grand technical achievements. This year was particularly difficult in narrowing down my choices for my favorite films, performances, directors, and technical accomplishments. For example, I loved Amy Acker in Much Ado About Nothing and Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis, but neither quite made the list, and the same can be said for David O. Russell’s wonderful directing in American Hustle or Hoyte Van Hoytema’s sublime cinematography in Her (both just missing out on the list, when they would have made it in most other years). And, there are a number of good films that did not make the list either (and a few I have not yet seen). As it stands, the LeapBackBlog Film Awards are made up, through difficult deliberation, of the films that entertained me and grabbed me as something special, the performances that engaged me, and the craftsmanship that delighted me. These are my favorites of 2013.

Part 1: Technical Achievements

Part 3: Directors

Part 4: Leading Performances

Part 5: Films

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

While Rush is a great sports drama, it is a narrative that is dependent on its characters and their performances. Daniel Bruhl is exceptional as Niki Lauda, a cerebral driver who wins his races by understanding what makes his car superior (and what he can do to it to make it superior) and how to approach each race and track. Bruhl completely loses himself in the performance and role. Lauda is not necessarily a likable character, but Bruhl brings a great charisma to the character, which allows the audience to get behind him. They can see his talent and the confidence he has in himself, and that is infectious. With Rush and the character of Lauda, Bruhl finally has a performance that will serve as a breakthrough for him (which is very deserving for such a talented actor).

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

American Hustle has a lot of fun with its actors, allowing them to play dress up in a sense, and Bradley Cooper goes all in (with a perm and Saturday Night Fever-like wardrobe choices). But what makes his performance as FBI agent Richie DiMaso so compelling is the intense nervous energy that he exudes. Cooper’s DiMaso has grand plans and wide eyes. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, making all the right moves, when really he is in way over his head. Getting back to his intense energy in the role, what makes it so gripping is that the viewer never really knows where it is going to lead. Cooper is a complete wildcard, much like Jennifer Lawrence’s brilliant performance. That kind of work is just so dynamic because it is never boring.

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Michael Fassbender gives what I think is 2013’s best supporting performances by an actor in 12 Years a Slave as the ruthless slave master Epps. Fassbender carries such an intense and intimidating presence in the film that the viewer cannot help but feel small, weak, and scared. He is utterly evil and vile. And yet, Fassbender brings so much depth and humanity to the character. The audience can see that there is weakness in his character and that he struggles with his vices, striving to be a better man, only to be pulled down over and over by a deplorable cruelty that he cannot shake. He is a man who is ashamed and afraid, lashing out to try to hide these truths. It would be easy to just dismiss Epps as an evil man if not for the clear inner-pain that rules his life. He may even be sympathetic (if we even dare think that) – though his actions are unforgivable, making for a complex and compelling performance. Fassbender is also very good in The Counselor (what is probably 2013’s most overlooked and misunderstood film).

Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World

Choosing Tom Hiddleston in Thor: The Dark World is very unconventional, especially in such a strong year for performances and films, I know, but the man is just so joyously wonderful as Loki. Hiddleston especially gets to have fun with the character in The Dark World, playing a whole range of emotions. He is tortured with envy over the place his brother holds and full of scorn for his adopted father, and yet also has almost unconditional love for his adoptive mother. All this is kept tightly inside, while he just takes a gleeful joy in being a villain and trickster. He revels in it. And so too does the viewer. Hiddleston has created Marvel’s greatest cinematic villain and one of the best in film history (a history that has seen a couple of brilliant and game changing performances in recent years), and his work as Loki in this is his best so far.

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street is an insane exercise in excess, moral corruption, and greed. But, it sure is fun. The actors are given license to go big with their performances, and the whole narrative and world in which these characters exist is so over the top that they all feel firmly rooted in the reality of the narrative. Jonah Hill is clearly having a blast with his character Donnie, a man with seemingly no morals or boundaries. He is just so antagonistic and a complete asshole, and yet completely compelling and entertaining. It is maybe Hill’s best work to date. Margot Robbie is also fantastic in support in the film. Hill had a good 2013, starring in This Is the End as well, playing a very douchy version of himself.

Scarlett Johansson – her

Scarlett Johansson has one of 2013’s most difficult roles, playing the voice of Samantha in Her – an operating system who is self-aware and wants to experience all that is life, including love. What makes the role so difficult is that Samantha is essentially an inanimate object, shown only as an iPod-like device or computer screen. Johansson has to do everything solely with her voice. And to this, she is excellent.  As far as anyone is concerned, watching the film, she is alive. She feels just as vital and real as any of the other characters (which includes wonderful supporting work from Amy Adams and Rooney Mara as well; on a side note, Mara had a great 2013 with phenomenal work in Her, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, and Side Effects). Johansson is also very good in the 2013 romantic comedy Don Jon.

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Jennifer Lawrence is a whirlwind in American Hustle. She plays Rosalyn Rosenfeld (the wife of con man Irving). Lawrence mines her scenes for every bit of fun with her charismatic and attention seeking performance. She absolutely commands the screen whenever she is in a scene, playing against other wonderful actors giving great performances. It is not subtle at all, but neither is the film. She walks a very interesting line between all-consuming and done right frightening. It may be the best performance of the film, and is certainly among the year’s best. The scene in which she sings Live and Let Die is one of 2013’s most entertaining cinematic moments. Lawrence is also very good as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

Carey Mulligan – Inside Llewyn Davis

Carey Mulligan does not have a lot of screen time in Inside Llewyn Davis, but her character Jean sure leaves an impact. Her chemistry with Oscar Isaac (who is also brilliant in the film, and barely missed making the Leading Performance list this year, which is overcrowded with great work) is electric. Their shared scenes jump off the screen. Mulligan does a fantastic job channeling all her pent up rage towards Isaac’s Llewyn Davis. Yet she does something more, something that makes the performance special, she does not just show hatred and rage, but there is a playfulness and maybe even a secret glee to her attitude towards Davis. Yes she is incredibly frustrated with him, but it seems to come from a very caring place (something that is kept hidden away). Mulligan is very good at layering her performances, and this is one of her best.

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Without question Lupita Nyong’o’s tragic and heart-wrenching performance as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave is 2013’s greatest breakthrough acting achievement. She plays Patsey so delicately, yet with some defiance in her. However, her mental anguish is so severe that she only wishes for death. She is a flower desperately reaching for the sun, the thing that seems the most natural and right to her, but is constantly stymied through the terror of a dark cloud that hovers above her. In a film that features many of this year’s strongest performances, Nyong’o is able to distinguish herself and standout as a star (and in a film that marks her feature debut). She delivers profound work; it certainly seems like her future is very bright.

June Squibb – Nebraska

Nebraska is a film that succeeds on its great performances, notably from Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and June Squibb. She plays Woody Grant’s wife Kate, a strong-willed lady who is a bit fed up with Grant’s shenanigans. Squibb’s lively performance completely holds its own against the other great work in the film, and in many ways even might steal the film. She is a delight whenever she is onscreen. It is surprising that a woman of eighty-four would give one of 2013’s best breakthrough performances, but that is exactly what Squibb has done.

Nebraska (2013) – Review

Review: Nebraska is a funny and heartfelt drama about a father and son. The film follows Woody Grant, an elderly man who has lost a bit of his mental capabilities, and his son David, who has just come out of a long-term relationship and is feeling vulnerable. Woody believes that he has won a million dollars and needs to go to Lincoln, Nebraska (900 some odd miles away from his home in Billings, Montana) to collect. It is a fantasy, but Woody truly believes it with every fiber of his being. David decides to give his father at least a few more days of happiness – of something to live for – and indulges his fantasy by taking him on a road trip to Lincoln, first stopping by his hometown of Hawthorne.

Director Alexander Payne has always been really good at finding humor in characters that feel overtly sad, and this is again true in Nebraska. Woody is seemingly content with his life and probably does not think about much anyway when he is first introduced. He is just confused by a sweepstakes letter he has received and thinks he has won the money. It is David who really comes across as the sadder of the two characters initially. David has a dead-end job, lives in a small apartment, and has just lost a girl who he was probably only with for companionship. He feels alone. David also has grudge against his father, something that has lingered since he was very young. He thinks his father is just a lousy drunk who lets people walk all over him. In a way, David is afraid of becoming like his father, which is why he resents him – but at the same time, David has a good heart and decides to help his father to make him happy, and probably to have some companionship when things seem a little bleak.

Payne takes these rather sad sack characters and presents them to the audience in both a very relatable and humorous manner. Despite Woody and David’s seeming ineptitude, the viewer can see themselves in the characters as well – as fears like loneliness and one’s legacy are universal. And yet, the viewer can just as easily laugh at these characters too. Payne presents them (and really the whole world of the film) as people that time has forgotten in a sense. This becomes especially true once Woody and David get to Hawthorne, a small rundown farming town. These characters just feel so foreign pitted against our modern world of hustle, bustle, and technology driven everything. They come off amusing because they feel so out of place (even though they fit perfectly in their surroundings).

For the first two acts of Nebraska, the film feels like a character piece, as David comes to better understand his father by seeing where he grew up and the people he was amongst. In a way it is revelatory for him. He had always sort of viewed his father as a drunken loser, but this road trip has revealed him as so much more – a man who was deeply affected by his service in the Korean War and a man who is generous to a fault. Payne uses all this to really set up a fantastic third act in which everything the film has been building towards pays-off in a very satisfying manner. Before the film finds its charm and warmth in the third act, one might even call it a satire (if they did not know Payne’s dramatic style), especially when juxtaposed to the modern social experience. But the film captures such sincerity in the third act that it is hard not to smile.

However, as good as the third act is, and as funny and touching as the film gets, a lot of the good is ultimately underwhelming because Payne does not structure the narrative efficiently enough when a story such as this needed to be much tighter. The pacing is very slow, especially in the first half of the film. Payne does do a good job with the characters, but to some extent loses the audience due to the narrative being overly long – with really the comedy being the film’s saving grace in keeping the audience engaged until the narrative really gets going in the second half.

Nebraska is dramatically compelling, as David’s relationship with his father is very relatable. Plus, Payne employs a sweet and comical tone to what otherwise might have been a depressing narrative. These elements make the film one of the better small dramedies of the year, but again the poor pacing and overall narrative structure hold it back a lot.

Technical, aesthetic & acting achievements: Alexander Payne has established himself among the elite filmmakers in America’s independent cinema. He is the master of the dramedy with films like Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants, and now Nebraska. After maybe the biggest hit of his career with The Descendants, it seemed like a brave choice to make such a small drama, in black & white no less, but Nebraska feels very much aligned with his overall persona as a filmmaker and seems to elevate above its small(er) budget and relatively lesser known (and completely unknown) actors.

Composer Mark Orton delivers a score that seems to perfectly fit the laidback and somewhat goofy time-forgotten tone of the film. It works really well. Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael provides photography that with the work of production designer J. Dennis Washington grounds the film very much in reality. Nebraska visually feels a bit like a documentary, as if the film crew just accompanied these people on their journey. Having lived in Montana for a year, the great open spaces that Papamichael captures really speaks to the feel of the region, which becomes in its own way a character in the film as well. The locations set the mood, and this is thanks to the good work from Papamichael and Washington.

Payne directs his actors to give very naturalistic performances, again playing into the film feeling a bit like a documentary. Stacy Keach shows up as Woody’s old partner Ed Pegram and Keach plays right into his strength as an actor: being a bully. Bob Odenkirk is good in a small role as David’s more successful brother Ross. What Odenkirk does so well despite limited screen time is give his character an undercurrent of sadness, like not everything is as good as it might appear from the outside. June Squibb plays Woody’s spirited wife and almost steals the film. She is fantastically lively and commands the screen. Will Forte gives the best performance of his career so far as David (a role most seem to classify as supporting, but it feels much more like the film’s lead). Like many comedians before him, he does a good job with the comedy masking underlying sadness. But what really stands out about Forte’s performance is his inner strength and warmth. Bruce Dern is great as Woody, completely becoming the character. He is so good at balancing a character who is just sort of lost (in life and mentally) and a man who is looking for his life to mean something as he faces death. He is touching and very funny.

Summary & score: Nebraska is a good little dramedy that succeeds on the strength of its father-son relationship narrative. 7/10