Best Actor 2002

[Uri]

This is what I wrote in real time, and I find it still valid:

1 - Adrien Brody – transcendent.
2 - Daniel Day Lewis – having fun playing a character having fun playing a character.
3 - Michael Caine – after all these years, there is no vanity left.
4 - Jack Nicholson – after all these years, there’s nothing left but vanity.
5 - Nicolas Cage – on sale – two one-note performances for the price of one, and still he did the movie justice.

Wish had been nominated: Sam Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind).

And in retrospect I'll keep my top three on the list and add Rockwell and Edward Norton for The 25th Hour.

[bizarre]

I've seen Cage, Nicholson and Brody - Brody wins by default.

I won't vote though as I haven't seen this lineup's most beloved performance.

1. Leonardo DiCaprio / Catch Me If You Can
2. Timothy Spall / All or Nothing
3. Federico Luppi / Common Ground
4. Olivier Gourmet / The Son
5. Vincent Cassel / Irréversible

[ksrymy]

This is a very toss-up year and one of the strongest overall years in Academy history.

First off my ballot is Jack Nicholson. I love you, Jack, but everyone here is better.

Next off, Nicolas Cage. I was actually very impressed with Cage and the way he was able to capture Kaufman and Kaufman. His internal monologues were paced perfectly, his hesitancy was spot-on, and even the way he sweats seemed perfect, but, alas, Brody, Caine, and Day-Lewis are better.

This is where it gets difficult. Brody was very strong and his Szpilman is heartbreaking. Day-Lewis was very strong and his Cutting was intense and charismatic. Caine was very strong and his Fowler (much like Wilkinson's Fowler in the previous year) was very nuanced and great. Brody's bearded, quiet responses to the soldier who approaches him in the church while he is playing is his highlight. The "I don't give a tuppenny fuck about your mortal conundrum, you meat-head shitsack" speech is Day-Lewis' best moment. Breaking down crying in the bathroom stall is Caine's best moment. This is probably the hardest choice I've made in all these Best Actor races (and it's funny coming directly after such an easy year like 2001). Brody won the Oscar. Caine won a few critics' awards. Day-Lewis won pretty much everything else.

But what it comes down to is this: Day-Lewis had the easiest role of these three being a charismatic villain. Brody played a Holocaust victim which is sure Oscar bait. Caine had a role that the Academy surely would have overlooked had Caine not secured the London Critics', Seattle Critics', and San Francisco Critics' so close to nomination time. He had the most difficult role to play and, much like Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters, he was able to play off of Brendan Fraser like a professional (with what limited talent Fraser brought to the screen). Caine had the hardest job and he pulled it off most magnificently. He gets my vote.