Best Supporting Actor 2001

1998 through 2007

Best Supporting Actor 2001

Jim Broadbent - Iris
9
24%
Ethan Hawke - Training Day
5
13%
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
10
26%
Ian McKellen - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
13
34%
Jon Voight - Ali
1
3%
 
Total votes: 38

Bog
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Bog »

The Original BJ wrote: Sadly, this was the beginning of a three-year run of unforgivable snubs for indie guys in this category.
Quaid and Sarsgaard, I presume...not to ruin any surprises upcoming.
The Original BJ
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by The Original BJ »

Ghost World had a huge effect on my fifteen-year-old self; my choice for best of the year in this category would be Steve Buscemi for his absolutely lovely and funny work. I was absolutely heartbroken when he was omitted from this lineup. Sadly, this was the beginning of a three-year run of unforgivable snubs for indie guys in this category.

I'd also cite Tony Shalhoub's scene-stealing lawyer in The Man Who Wasn't There as worthy of mention as well.

In the context of Buscemi's snub, I really hated Jon Voight's nomination. He appeared in Ali for, what, all of ten minutes? His performance consisted of pretty much an affected accent underneath a major makeup job. I'm young enough that I couldn't really tell you whether or not Voight "captured" the real Howard Cosell, but I don't really care either. A pointless nomination.

I went into Training Day based on the Best Actor buzz for Denzel Washington, and while watching it I thought, hey, Ethan Hawke is pretty good too -- the gun in the bathroom scene, especially, was memorable, but so's the scene in which Washington forces him to smoke. Hawke effectively portrays his character's gradual disillusionment with his boss's tactics in a performance that's a nice complement to Washington's showboating. All of that said...until Hawke showed up at SAG, I didn't even remotely consider him as even a possibility for a nomination, mostly because, DUH! Not supporting! Looking back, Hawke's nod was in some ways the beginning of our current anything-goes era of almost annual category fraud. A solid performance, but not enough a standout for me to reject the category fraud and pick him over the other three guys, all of whom I like.

Ian McKellen brings great wit and humanity to the role of Gandalf in Rings -- I think he's splendid, and would have been perfectly happy to see him win, especially after his Gods and Monster's loss. I think McKellen is one of the reasons Rings is such an emotionally affecting epic, because the actor grounds the fantasy in something very real -- the scene when it appears his character dies has such poignancy because McKellen has made such a warm and wise impression throughout the earlier portion of the film. And yet, I'm not bothered that he lost, mainly for the Alec Guinness/Star Wars reason -- the film and the character aren't first and foremost an acting showcase.

I think Jim Broadbent was nominated for the right film and in the right category. Certainly he was fun in Moulin Rouge, but I prefer his Iris performance, which operated at a far more human level. I love the "You wrote novels...wonderful novels" scene, when you can just see his heart breaking over the fact that his wife can't remember even her most fundamental accomplishments anymore. And on the lead/supporting debate, I think he COULD have been promoted as a lead...but he was gone from ALL of the flashback Winslet/Bonneville scenes (not an insignificant part of the movie), and a number of the contemporary sequences were more solidly focused on Dench. Using Mister Tee's logic, would I vote for him for Best Actor (in a bountiful year for the category), or would I think the part weren't large enough when stacked up against the competition? Probably the latter. Oh...and I think he and Bonneville both do a SPLENDID job of making their performances feel like the same character at different ages, not an easy thing to do. His semi-surprising win on Oscar night made for a perfectly pleasing moment.

But I'm going to go with Ben Kingsley. It's rare that Mister Tee and I land on the complete opposite ends of the spectrum around here, but I guess on Sir Ben we'll just have to disagree. I think he's a very fine actor, and I find his Sexy Beast work just electric, a blast of volcanic energy that blazes on-screen. It's rare for a screen villain role to be so lacking in humor -- usually these types of characters are played with some wit and playfulness -- but Kingsley's intense coldness brought its own form of amusement to the proceedings. The actor is so focused, his character so perpetually irritated, that scenes like Don Logan getting kicked off the plane after refusing to put out his cigarette come off as darkly humorous regardless. I guess I don't see just a lot of loud yelling here -- to me, this is a case of an actor committing intensely to his role and completely owning his movie. On the whole, I was fairly mixed on Sexy Beast as a movie, but Kingsley was a real standout and gets my vote.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Cinemanolis »

I voted for Kingsley

my top5

Hugh Bonneville - Iris *
Jim Broadbent - Iris
Billy Crudup - Charlotte Grey
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Jude Law - A.I.

I actually liked Hugh Bonneville more than Broadbent in Iris.
Sabin
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Sabin »

Big Magilla wrote:
Sabin wrote:
Who are the five people who voted for McKellan?
They are not required to reveal themselves.
I know. :)
Last edited by Sabin on Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"How's the despair?"
Bruce_Lavigne
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Bruce_Lavigne »

Broadbent definitely gives a touching, award-caliber performance, but he's a lead, and in a film I don't much care for.

I don't see how anyone could argue that either of the Oscar-nominated Training Day actors was a supporting player. Washington may have been the "star," in the truer sense of the word, but Hawke was certainly playing the story's protagonist -- and not in such a special way that I can see anything nomination-worthy about him.

I was stunned by the outstanding job Voight and Ali's makeup team did transforming him, physically and vocally, into Howard Cosell. In fact, not until he received the nomination did I realize that Jon Voight had been the actor playing Cosell. Unfortunately, I didn't think whoever that actor was did anything particularly noteworthy outside of the impression, either watching the movie or after the nominations.

I'll echo Sabin's sentiments on McKellen -- a lovely, lived-in performance, in a role that probably could have been solidly played with just presence, in a film that I adore. The way in which he makes Gandalf a very specific person, when playing him as just A Wise Wizard probably would have been perfectly acceptable, deserves kudos, and even if I think Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen deliver better performances in Fellowship, I have no problem with his nomination.

But I'm voting for Kingsley. He's definitely had more complex roles than his relatively one-note part in Sexy Beast, but I don't think he's invested many of them with this kind of power and magnetic energy. It's certainly not a quiet or subtle role, but a fascinating, full-bodied performance nonetheless, and gets my vote easily.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Big Magilla »

Sabin wrote:Who are the five people who voted for McKellan.
They are not required to reveal themselves.

I thought McKellen and Kingsley were the only two who deserved nominations for their performances, though neither were all that great. Non-nominees Steve Buscemi in Ghost World and Brian Cox in L.I.E. were my top picks this year.

Ethan Hawke didn't impress me in Training Day and more than Denzel Wshington did. Jon Voight made Howard Cosell "speaking of sports" look almost human in Ali, but it was still odd casting.

Even though I didn't particualrly care for Moulin Rouge! I thought Broadbent should have been nominated for his lively rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" if for nothing else in the film. His devoted husband in Iris was that film's best performance but the film was such a depressing downer I can't really vote for his performance.

Between McKellen and Kingsley, I have to go with McKellen making it 6 and a two-way tie with Broadbent for the win. Now all we need is someone to vote for Sir Ben to make it a 3-way tie.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Mister Tee »

Steve Buscemi's cantankerous loner was easly the most moving work of the year, and his omission -- after the Globe nomination -- was really a crusher. I think it remains very hard for Oscar neophytes to get on the ballot for films otherwise unconnected to the main races. Obviously it can happen (as for Amy Ryan in '07), but you're always vulnerable to actors connected to best picture contenders (McKellen), lead acting nominees (Voight, Broadbent, Hawke), or previous nominees/winners (Kingsley).

I also endorse the missing Tony Shalhoub and Brian Cox, and would further throw in Jude Law's Gigolo Joe in A.I. All would be superior to most of the actual nominees.

Jon Voight isn't quite an embarrassment, but he's yet another in the recent string of nominees who seem to be doing impressions rather than giving performances.

Ian McKellen became the populist favorite after his win at SAG. I was heartsick as anyone over McKellen's lead loss in '98, but giving him a make-up for something so trivial as this is not how I like to see the game played.

Ethan Hawke is indeed at least co-lead in Training Day, and may be more fully authenitic than Washington throughout. But he doesn't have a very demonstrative part, and is only along for the ride.

I guess I'm part of Sabin's small brigade (I seen to recall Sonic was, as well): I actively hated Ben Kingsley's performance. It was all unmodulated barking, boring as bat-shit. I'm not overall much a fan of Mr. Sir Ben's acting -- I find him cold as ice -- and was relieved he wasn't much considered for the win here.

The general dreariness of this list of nominees had one silver lining: it opened the way for Jim Broadbent, by far the best of the five, to win despite his film's commercially anemic performance. Broadbent was no doubt helped by his sudden ubiquity that year, in Bridget Jones and Mouln Rouge. But I think the Academy singled out his most deserving performance. His devotion, his utter attunedness to his wife's needs were beautiful to behold -- touching without slopping over into sentimentality. For me, he's the only choice here.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Reza »

Voted for Broadbent.

My picks for 2001:

1. Steve Buscemi, Ghost World
2. Jim Broadbent, Iris
3. Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast
4. Ian McKellan, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. Ian McShane, Sexy Beast

The 6th Spot: Ethan Hawke, Training Day
Sabin
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Sabin »

Aside from the fact that zero people piped in and it's a three-way run-off, no. He's my second behind Hawke. I mean, I have a problem with anybody being wrong!
"How's the despair?"
koook160
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by koook160 »

Sabin wrote:Who are the five people who voted for McKellan.
I did. Problem?
Sabin
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Sabin »

Who are the five people who voted for McKellan.
"How's the despair?"
mlrg
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by mlrg »

Jim Broadbent - Iris
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by ITALIANO »

Iris may not be a masterpiece, but Jim Broadbent's warm, tender performance is by far the best in this rather undistinguished group. (And of course much better than the one he gave in Moulin Rouge).

None of the others deserved even just a nomination - let alone the prize itself. Ethan Hawke doesn't actually do anything wrong in Training Day, and he's never been a bad actor... but his isn't an "Oscar" role. Ben Kingsley's is what one can conventionally call an "Oscar" role - but then both his movie and his acting left me cold - definitely not scared, which I guess was the point of the whole thing.

Voight and McKellen are absolutely forgettable.

What a disappointing line-up.
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by Precious Doll »

Great work from Kingsley McKellan with respectable work from Broadbent (even better in Moulin Rouge) and Voight. I voted for Kingsley but as he is in my 2000 line-up he is not amongst my choices from 2001.

My choices:

1. Steve Buscemi for Ghost World
2. Brian Cox for L.I.E.
3. Bob Hoskins for Last Orders
4. Timothy Spall for Intimacy
5. William Wise for In the Bedroom
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FilmFan720
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Re: Best Supporting Actor 2001

Post by FilmFan720 »

I think Jim Broadbent gives the best performance on this list, hands down. He is so gentle and warm through the film, yet you can see that frustration boiling over exactly when you need it. As someone who has witnessed family members in his exact situation, he gets everything about that performance down perfectly. For me, the only problem with the nomination here is that he is really a lead in the film. His relationship with Dench is the centerpiece of the film, and he really goes through the transformation of the film more than she does.

That said, these other four performances are so boring that I have to vote for Broadbent (who I understand is borderline lead-supporting). These are all actors who I like a lot, but nothing about any of their work here excites me in the least.

And what wondrous choices the Academy overlooked this year. People have already mentioned Steve Buscemi in Ghost World and Jim Broadbent in Moulin Rouge. I will throw into the rink Tony Shalhoub in The Man Who Wasn't There, a big performance that is hilarious none the less, Emilio Echevarria in Amores Perros and Ian Holm in Lord of the Rings, the heart and soul of that first film. All five of those films are lively, bold and honest in a way that Voight, Kingsley, McKellen and Hawke aren't.

My five:
1. Steve Buscemi, Ghost World
2. Tony Shalhoub, The Man Who Wasn’t There
3. Emilio Echevarria, Amores Perros
4. Jim Broadbent, Moulin Rouge
5. Ian Holm, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
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