Unrecognized Genius & the Academy Awards V
Best Actor: 1993
Nominees: Daniel Day-Lewis (IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER), Laurence Fishburne (WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT), Tom Hanks (PHILADELPHIA), Anthony Hopkins (THE REMAINS OF THE DAY), Liam Neeson (SCHINDLER’S LIST)
None of the nominees are a surprise, although the selection of Day-Lewis for In the Name of the Father instead of The Age of Innocence is a bit of curveball. Hopkins was still in his “imperial period” and his work in The Remains of the Day remains especially subtle and exquisite. Less subtle, and rightfully so, is Laurence Fishburne’s fiery portrayal of Ike Turner. As to Tom Hanks and Liam Neeson, both give operatic lead performances in two of the biggest (and best) films of the year.
But 1993, like the year before it (which I wrote about here), was uncommonly rich in wide-ranging male performances, and here are some examples the Academy chose to ignore:
Sean Astin, RUDY
Few actors can portray stubbornness with more humility than Sean Astin and make no mistake: his Rudy is one stubborn S.O.B. In lesser hands, his character would have come across as cloying or exasperating, but when the entirety of the Fightin’ Irish football squad line up for his sake outside their coach’s office, it’s utterly believable; given Sean Astin’s noble performance, we would have done the same.
Alec Baldwin, MALICE
Malice may be a traffic jam of stalled plot points but Alec Baldwin’s full-throated performance as an egotistical surgeon is one for the ages. Yes, there is his lauded “I am God” monologue (right up there with his “Coffee is for closers” monologue from Glengarry Glen Ross a year earlier) but Baldwin offers up more than just the usual leers and sneers, especially in the vulnerable depths of the film’s third act.
Kenneth Branagh, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
There’s nothing like beholding a Great Actor at play in his element, and such is the case for Kenneth Branagh here, quipping some of Shakespeare’s cleverest verse as the self-possessed Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Add to that the pleasure of watching Branagh spar with another Great Actor in her element, then-wife Emma Thompson, and you have a garden of earthly delights.
Jeff Bridges, FEARLESS
Acting loud is easy. All you have to do is emote until you’ve swallowed all the scenery. But acting quiet takes craft and experience and Jeff Bridges has a nearly endless supply of both. His role here, as the preternaturally calm survivor of a plane crash, is certainly his most contemplative character since Starman; we are forced to come to him, rather than the other way around, and so we can’t help but engage with Bridges’s performance on a rational and emotional and, ultimately, human level.
Kevin Costner, A PERFECT WORLD
Cast against type, Kevin Costner really is a revelation here as an escaped convict with a penchant for violence. He has scenes where he’s quite convincingly sinister, which make the more tender scenes with his eight-year-old co-star, played by T.J. Lowther, even stronger in contrast, especially since Costner keeps playing his character rather than the scene.
Robert DeNiro, MAD DOG AND GLORY
Also playing against type, Robert DeNiro is deeply affecting here as Wayne “Mad Dog” Dobie, a timid crime scene photographer who locks horns with mob boss Frank Milo (Bill Murray, also also playing against type). Look at how lived-in and genuine his relationships with his few friends feel and how genuinely awkward his relationship with Uma Thurman’s Glory is. DeNiro, one of the showiest actors of his generation, is rarely showy here, and the result is one of his best performances.
Michael Douglas, FALLING DOWN
If the mass of (white) men lead lives of quiet desperation, what happens when they snap? Falling Down offers one answer to this question, and it is exemplified by Michael Douglas’s juggernaut of a performance. In the 80s, Douglas struggled with the balance of being a movie star versus being an actor, but here he tosses vanity to the wind in his portrayal of an Angry (White) Male. We may not like his character (at all), but Douglas compels us to watch him.
John Goodman, MATINEE
John Goodman delights here as Lawrence Woolsey, a B-movie showman par excellence. Sure, his Woolsey is, for the most part, a manipulative tool, but we never take his antics too seriously and that’s due to Goodman’s winking performance. He is even able to sell the character arc that Woolsey undergoes in the end, but of course he can. After all, John Goodman is a movie showman par excellence.
Kevin Kline, DAVE
Kevin Kline wisely avoids making either the avuncular title character or President Mitchell, the elitist snob Dave later pretends to be, an easy caricature. These are two distinct, three-dimensional men, utterly distinguishable, and they have to be for the film to work (and oh, it works wonders). When Dave is President Mitchell, it is clear to us that he is playing someone else and we smile at the farce of it all, blissfully forgetting that there is someone else, Kevin Kline, who is playing him.
Bill Murray, GROUNDHOG DAY
Sometimes an actor is so perfect for a role that it seems as if it were written for him. In the case of Bill Murray and Groundhog Day, this actually was the case…sort of. During the film’s storied, often contentious production, Murray worked closely with screenwriter Danny Rubin to rewrite each scene to his specific talents and sensibilities. On the one hand, this helped to create an irreparable riff between Murray and director Harold Ramis; on the other hand, this helped to create one of the finest comedic performances of all time.
David Thewlis, NAKED
David Thewlis was named Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his magnetic portrayal of genius/wastrel Johnny and it’s not hard to see why. The character lives and breathes in a way that few do, lives and breathes as if he had been plucked out of a documentary and shoved into a work of fiction. Some of this magic is attributable to Mike Leigh’s process (more on that later) but ultimately, it is the actor who serves as the vessel for the character, and David Thewis in Naked is unsinkable.
Robin Williams, MRS. DOUBTFIRE
If there is a definitive Robin Williams performance, this may be it. Here, the great actor gets to showcase the skills that made him so indelible, from his vocal caricaturing to his madcap riffing to his ease with children to his subtle dramatic work. It’s all here in Mrs. Doubtfire, immortalized, for the benefit of generations to come. How lucky they will be when they discover Robin Williams; how lucky we were to have him.