Best Supporting Actress 2001

[nightwingnova]

Tough choosing between Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren. Neither has that much to do, but they do splendidly well with what they had.

Smith exquisitely plays the comic relief of uptight, witty English lady that she does so frequently. A gem, even if it is one we see often in one form or another.

Mirren, on the other hand, gets her long-suffering, ultra-reliable head servant just right. You can feel the hurt in her performance.

[ksrymy]

Honestly, I could fill this entire list with Gosford ladies. How Altman managed to get everyone he did is magical.

But this obviously goes to Maggie Smith who pays homage to the Ouspenskayas and Olivers of the '30s as well as Helen Hayes in the '50s.

Helen Mirren has Viola Davis status with me here. They each had extremely minimal screentime yet each manages to create a fullblown character in it, but Mirren is nowhere near the standout in her movie. The same goes for Davis in Doubt in which Amy Adams is leagues better.

But neither of these lovely ladies deserves the Oscar.

Kelly Macdonald does as Mary in Gosford Park. Macdonald has such a beautiful naivete in her character that she's utterly believable (which she has successfully segued into her Margaret in Boardwalk Empire, a favorite of mine). Her timidity is never forced and she's integral to the plot. She easily gets my personal Oscar this year.

1. Kelly Macdonald - Gosford Park
2. Gwyenth Paltrow - The Royal Tenenbaums
3. Maggie Smith - Gosford Park
4. Emily Watson - Gosford Park
5. Anjelica Huston - The Royal Tenenbaums

6. Laura Elena Harring - Mulholland Dr.

[bizarre]

I saw all of these films a long time ago, but I'll give this a shot.

1. Helen Mirren
2. Maggie Smith
3. Kate Winslet
4. Jennifer Connelly
5. Marisa Tomei

I'm not one who believes that Tomei's win was a fluke - I thought she was very funny - but here I found her attempts at dry family drama brittle, strained and unconvincing. It is as if Tomei the actress knew she had something to prove - she tried too hard and the results were awkward.

I don't remember Connelly's film too well, but I recall that she was... passable? I've always liked her, she has a closed quality as an actor that can come off as soulful if the character is not probed too deeply. But she's a limited talent, which I think is exposed by the scope of this large (albeit ordinary) role.

Kate Winslet's free spirits have developed a smug edge lately. It remains the only character she's proven herself able to play well, however, and she was probably in her prime here, joyful and fresh-faced and innocently treacherous. I'm not sure it was enough for a nomination, though.

Maggie Smith is very funny, but she's Maggie Smith here. That's all - I'd like this performance more had she not given the same one in every other film or TV appearance she made from the mid-90s onwards.

Helen Mirren's performance is a dull gem here. From the beginning of her arc things as simple as her bearing hint at deeper troubles in her character's backstory and catch the eye from the edges of the frame. It is a wonderful piece of sustained tension that eventually pays off in a truly wrenching scene. That said, hers isn't even my favourite performance from the film.

My nominees:
1. Bae Doona, in "Take Care of My Cat"
2. Claudie Blakley, in "Gosford Park"
3. Annie Girardot, in "The Piano Teacher"
4. Parker Posey, in "Josie and the Pussycats"
5. Angelina Phillips, in "Series 7: The Contenders"

[Hustler]

Voted for Maggie Smith here for her terrific performance. Connelly was not the right choice that year.

[Big Magilla]

Maybe some kind soul will come along and vote for Maggie Smith even though they prefer Helen Mirren in order to even out Harry's error.

[HarryGoldfarb]

It's not like Jennifer Connelly was any bad in ABM, but there were some better performances that year, including those of her co-nominees and some others from non-nominees. Frances O'Connor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelica Huston, Emily Watson and Carrie Anne Moss (Memento) delivered way better performances than Connelly's. Her win makes no sense even though it was quite expected back in those days.

Kate Winslet is usually mesmerizing but in this specific film I didn't find her nowhere near her best works. She definitely has been better. As Mister Tee said is hard to find a time where she was the no brainer choice. In my opinion, that time might have been in 1995 with her Sense and Sensibility nod. But not this year... Maybe it has something to do with me disliking this film so much.

Helen Mirren has one more vote than she is supposed to have. Voted for her as a mistake... Her subtle work was... well, too subtle. I, unlike many in here, prefer her supporting turn in The Madness of King George rather than in Gosford Park.

I was amazed (and happy) when I saw Marisa Tomei getting all that attention for her performance in In the Bedroom. I am one of the few defenders of her 92 victory. Though I recognize Davis should have been the deserving winner I have never thought she deserved all the backlash she got after her win. And I, for that matter, enjoy her very much in My Cousin Vinny, a personal guilty-pleasure. Here in In the Bedroom she made one of those delicious come back, validating herself as a serious performer. Of course the character (the written part) helped her a lot (but that is the case with every performance, right?): charismatic and all... but her final scenes, with her having very little dialogue are very powerful in my opinion. She made a big impression on me as I could recall every scene she was in after I left the theater...

But then... there was Gosford Park and Maggie Smith... Smith whom I loved since the first time I saw A Room with a View as a teenager... Smith whom I worship in California Suite... and Smith, one of the greatest living actresses making a tiny juicy part bigger than it really was. One liner, yes... she could have done it in her sleep, yes... but is that a bad thing? I don't think so... she gets my enthusiastic vote (well, she would have wasn't I so distracted! 2nd time this happens to me!)

And another thought: for some (stupid?) reason, I think Hollywood or maybe movies in general needs legends. We have very few modern legends... Our times have created very few living legends: Bigelow has her place in Hollywood history.... Spielberg in 93 lived one of those moments when you know history was being written. Washington with her 2nd award (deserved or not, and for the right reasons or not), and maybe Swank winning her 2nd award so close to her first one... Scorsese didn't need his award to be a legend but that was a nice moment. But I so do think Streep not only deserved the award in 2008 for Doubt, but also that would have been a good thing to the Academy itself. Had Christie won for Away from Her, that would have been a classic moment as well had Keaton won for her wonderful comedic turn in Something´s Gotta Give. And I am not talking about giving an award JUST for sympathetic reasons, just because someone is overdue or for the nostalgia factor... neither for the "career achievement" thing. These were some cases when an established performer actually had one of the unquestionable best performances of the year (ala Nicholson in 1997). So, Maggie Smith 3rd Oscar should had occured. If someone deserves a 3rd Oscar, well.. I wouldn't complain if it is given to this amazing actress. Would she have another shot?

By the mid of that year show I was actually deppressed with so many bad choices. But when McKellen and Smith came up to the stage to present Cirque du Soleil performance prior to the visual effects award, both just having lost in their categories, that was too much. What an agregated value would that shot have had if both of them would have won in their categories!



Edited By HarryGoldfarb on 1290977924

[rudeboy]

Voted for Mirren. I'm stunned to see Damien compare it to her hardly-there work in King George. There is great albeit subtle acting throughout her performance. Often in the background of scenes, but keep your eyes on her, watch her body language and she's working at the top of her game.

Have sadly yet to see Last Orders... you guys have convinced me to finally chase it down.

[Eric]

...so I end up casting a vote for the woman who has quietly gone from an Oscar joke to one of our best supporting actresses. I think Marisa Tomei is splendid in In the Bedroom -- tender in her early romantic scenes, emotionally distraught once her husband comes to call, devastating on the witness stand, hopelessly conflicted during the "I didn't lie" scene with Wilkinson, and painfully embarrassed as she bears the brunt of Sissy Spacek's backhand. I think Tomei has the most interesting character of this bunch -- certainly the most emotionally resonant -- and her work really knocked me out at the time. Today, after considering Smith and Mirren, I still pick Tomei.

Co-sign all of this. I quite hated In the Bedroom, but thought Tomei and Nick Stahl were both magnificent in it (both, to my taste, superior to Spacek and Wilkinson). In this field, I'm siding with Tomei, though both the Gosford Park nominees are fine, too.



Edited By Eric on 1290885400

[dws1982]

Voted for Mirren. Gosford Park is one of the most rewatchable movies of all time for me, and her performance through her earlier scenes is even better with knowledge of what happens at the end. I did vote for her in the Best Actress 2006 thread, but she's an actress who would deserve two Oscars, I think.

I'll agree, though, that her performance in Last Orders is even better, and probably her greatest ever film performance. (And her big scene at the end packs an even bigger punch than her big scene at the end of Gosford Park.) I"ll put that at the top of my 2002 Supporting Actresses, based on its New York release date.

For 2001:
1- Kerry Washington, Our Song
2- Frances O'Connor, A.I. Artificial Intelligence
3- Helen Mirren, Gosford Park
4- Scarlett Johansson, Ghost World
5- Anjelica Huston, The Royal Tenenbaums



Edited By dws1982 on 1290876930

[The Original BJ]

I'd thought this field mostly locked up by mid-December, until the mortifying SAG nominations, when several candidates I'd thought fairly strong were excluded for some really weak nominees in bad movies. Thankfully, sanity was mostly restored on Oscar nomination morning...

...though not on Oscar night. Jennifer Connelly can indeed be a very good actress -- she was quite powerful in Requiem for a Dream the year prior, and would go on to do impressive work in House of Sand and Fog -- but she was utterly undistinguished here. Looking back, it's very strange she was seen as a total shoo-in all season long for a such a boring role.

There seem to be a fairly wide range of opinions on Winslet's Iris work, and I think I fall somewhere in the middle. In my book, this was definitely not a default nomination -- she was vibrant and touching in her role, most especially in the "You are my world" monologue near the end of the film. But nor do I think she was as challenged or electrifying as she is in some of her very best roles, and she's not really in the running for me here.

I think both Gosford Park ladies are absolutely wonderful. Maggie Smith of course has the funniest role in the film, and she tosses off those one-liners with absolute effortless joy. (My fave: "Green. Such a tricky color.") And I liked Helen Mirren even better. Yes, watching the film the first time you knew a big scene had to be coming. But watching the film a second time, once you know how everyone is related, the subtleties in Mirren's work become even more apparent, and her performance even more powerful. I could happily vote for either woman...but they are both stellar leading ladies, and have been deservedly rewarded with Best Actress trophies, and their performances here are smallish and not really revelatory...

...so I end up casting a vote for the woman who has quietly gone from an Oscar joke to one of our best supporting actresses. I think Marisa Tomei is splendid in In the Bedroom -- tender in her early romantic scenes, emotionally distraught once her husband comes to call, devastating on the witness stand, hopelessly conflicted during the "I didn't lie" scene with Wilkinson, and painfully embarrassed as she bears the brunt of Sissy Spacek's backhand. I think Tomei has the most interesting character of this bunch -- certainly the most emotionally resonant -- and her work really knocked me out at the time. Today, after considering Smith and Mirren, I still pick Tomei.

[Mister Tee]

Put me in the club with those thinking Emily Watson could have been cited for Gosford Park as well. Not many interesting alternates beyond her.

Jennifer Connelly is drably efficient in an uninteresting role in a wildly overrated movie. She was considerably better two years later in her unnominated House of Sand and Fog appearance.

Marisa Tomei's work in In the Bedroom was enough to expunge the long-running embarrassment of her '92 win, but nothing more than that.

For much of Gosford Park, Helen Mirren had so little of note to do that one intuitively knew a big scene had to be coming. Arrive it did, with its powerful "I'm the perfect servant" punchline...but, even with that, I don't think Mirren was such a standout as to win top critics' prizes to the degree she did. I have to feel she was being partly honored for her even-better work in Last Orders, even though only the LA Critics had officially seen it as an '01 release.

It'd be easy to vote for Maggie Smith here, for her wonderfully funny performance. It's a Maggie Smith part par excellence -- I remember writing here at the time that giving her a line like "I don't have a snobbish bone in my body" was like pitching underhand to Barry Bonds. (Update that to Albert Pujols today) Just because a role is so clearly in a performer's wheelhouse is no reason to deny him or her honors for it.

But I end up doing that in a higher cause, as this is where I vote for Kate Winslet, for a role I think very much in HER wheelhouse. From very early on, Winlset cultivated a series of often charismatic extroverts -- starting in Heavenly Creatures, exploding fully in Jude, reaching some sort of zenith in Eternal Sunshine. This take-command persona fit neatly with the young Iris Murdoch, who essentially bulldozed a man into sharing a life with her. Winslet is so vivid in these early-life scenes that Dench's descent into bewilderment is that much more painful to behold.

Like Academy members, I can't locate the perfect spot to honor Kate Winslet -- though I admire most of her nominated work, there's no been no time to date I thought she was head and shoulders above the pack, including here. This, however, is the closest she's come to date, and, lacking any other overwhelming choice, I opt for her here.

[Eric]

This is the rare year in which I may have been convinced to vote for the old-timer making a comeback ... had Ann Miller been nominated.

Ronit Elkabetz, Late Marriage
Janeane Garafalo, Wet Hot American Summer
Anjelica Houston, The Royal Tenenbaums
Frances O'Connor, A.I.
Gwenyth Paltrow, Shallow Hal

[Reza]

I am so happy to see that Mirren is taking the lead so far and that others here also got her performance. Yes she truly nails that one devastating scene.

[Kova]

This group was a marked improvement on the previous year. All are deserving as nominees.

My personal pick was Kerry Armstrong for Lantana.

From this field, the first out is Tomei. On the plus side, she manages to make her character both sympathetic and a bit maddening--a pretty neat trick. But the performance is very workmanlike--you can always see the wheels turning.

Next out is Connelly. There's nothing wrong with her performance, but she insists on playing the role within her limited range. She's always great at playing Jennifer Connelly, but can't always do much more than act sad and wounded.

Smith is delightful in Gosford Park, but she could play this part in her sleep.

As much as Iris bored me to tears, Winslet is its one bright spot. She is positively radiant--so much so that I might have preferred that the filmmakers took the risk of slopping on some old-age makeup so that she could play the older Iris as well. Maybe the film would not have been so leaden.

But Mirren gets my vote. She has quite a bit of screen time, but only one meaty scene. She nails it. I can still recall her line readings, devastating in their subtlety. I was really hoping she would pull off an upset...at least she won the SAG.

[ITALIANO]

I don't remember much about A Beautiful Mind. It's possible that Connelly was adequate in it, but hers wasn't a challenging role and the movie itself didn't deserve any Oscar.

Unlike others here, I think that Judi Dench is at her best in Iris. Winslet's "portrait of the artist as a young woman" is appropriately radiant - as Winslet often is - and even quite compatible with the same character in its old, terminally sick version. But there's not much more than this.

Tomei is good but I liked her even more in The Wrestler, and I will probably vote for her finally on her third nomination.

Gosford Park is a very well acted movie. Emily Watson should have been at least nominated, but the Academy chose Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith over her. Smith has more to do, and does it brilliantly; Mirren's role is shorter, more subtle, but by the end very effective. It's not an easy choice - both are, after all, among the greatest living actress in the English-speaking world - but right now(on another day it could be different) my instinct says Mirren.