Best Supporting Actor 2010

[FilmFan720]

Wow, what a tight race we have here.

Christian Bale is not an actor I have ever much cared for, but I was surprised at how charismatic he was in The Fighter. It was a side of him I hadn't really seen before. Unfortunately, I thought every moment of the performance still rang false (as much of his work does) and was disappointed to see everyone fall for his schtick.

Jeremy Renner is fine in The Town, but there was nothing that made him stick out over the rest of the ensemble to me. The same goes for John Hawkes, and actor I really like but who is more memorable in a similar position the next year.

Geoffrey Rush is an actor that I, like everyone else, can run very hot and cold on. When I finally caught up with The King's Speech, though, I was shocked at how charming, collected and honest he was. It is a lovely performance (probably the best thing in the film) and he is my happy also-ran.

Mark Ruffalo, though, is always an actor who is natural and charming, and never more so than in The Kids Are All Right. He is the anti-Christian Bale, and while I was glad to see him finally get the recognition, I wish he had won here so bad. This is the kind of award-worthy work that never gets cited, mostly because it looks so easy and is in reality the hardest kind of acting there is. He gets my enthusiastic vote.

Among my also rans are two performances no one else seems to cite: John Hurt's vulgar gangster in 44 Inch Chest and Nigel LIndsay in the hilarious and underseen Four Lions.

My five:
1. John Hurt, 44 Inch Chest
2. Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
3. Nigel Lindsay, Four Lions
4. Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
5. Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

[mlrg]

voted for Rush

[Cinemanolis]

My Top5

1. Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go
2. Michael Fassbender - Fish Tank
3. Mark Ruffalo - The Kids are Alright
4. Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
5. Christian Bale - The Fighter

[Mister Tee]

The very scattered voting reflects my own mind-set. For once, I don't really look askance at any of the nominees -- but, then, I'm not over the moon about any one, either. In fact, had he been deservedly nominated, I might well have chosen Andrew Garfield as winner...though that would partly have been for his double-barrelled effectiveness, in not only The Social Network but also Never Let Me Go.

My first elimination would be Jeremy Renner, who wasn't bad in The Town, but seems to have secured this nod mainly as afterglow from his Hurt Locker breakthrough. Of course, it's possible his screw-loose portrayal would have seemed fresher had it not followed the previous year's effort. As it is, it felt like he was slipping into a crazy-man niche, and I found him the least interesting of the five nominees.

As nearly everyone has said, Geoffrey Rush's work in The King's Speech was blessedly less ostentatious than most of his previously nominated work. I'm of course lukewarm on the film in general, but I agree the Firth/Rush scenes are the core of it, and his mention is deserved. A win, though, would be more than I could support.

I was a great fan of Winter's Bone -- far more than I ever imagined I would be -- but I can't say John Hawkes' performance jumped out at me the way Jennifer Lawrence's did, and I was surprised at how popular a booster-project he became as awards season got underway. I think he's certainly good in the role, but I found his Martha Marcy Svengali more compelling (and by all reports, his upcoming film is more impressive still). So let's mark this down as a solid introduction for a previously unknown actor, but hold for another time on granting him the prize.

Mark Ruffalo has been around for over a decade, working steadily, yet somehow getting little awards recognition, and I think the reason is, he makes it look so damn easy. He's a completely unaffected, utterly believable actor who never shows the kind of strain that is often singled out as great acting. The Kids Are All Right offers him a solid, sympathetic but complex role, and he's completely up to the job. I strongly consider him here.

But, in the end, I'm going with one of those sort of performances Ruffalo will probably never give -- the very showy work of Christian Bale in The Fighter. Literally from the first moment he appeared in The Fighter, it was clear Bale was doing one of those character impersonations that is attention-getting as all hell and that, if it doesn't work, will make the actor look a laughing-stock. I seem to remember some here thinking Bale fell into that trap, and failed...but I thought he kept himself (just barely) this side of the edge that separates the effective from the too-much (or maybe it just felt that way because Melissa Leo, alongside him, plunged right into the abyss). It's a close call -- in another mood the day I saw the film, I might have rejected Bale's theatricality. But in real time the performance worked for me on a grand scale, and I give him my vote in this tightly matched race.

[The Original BJ]

I'm really glad we're spreading the wealth here. One of the things that annoyed me about the 2010 acting winners -- despite liking all four performances -- was that the lineup seemed a total fait accompli despite strong competition in every category. I saw no reason for the acting races to be so predictable this year.

Andrew Garfield is the most egregious omission -- I think you can chalk that exclusion up to the fact that awards bodies just don't like to reward young men the same way they do young women. Of the ineligible, I thought LA winner Niels Arestrup in A Prophet was also memorable.

Jeremy Renner's livewire brings some excitingly off-kilter energy to The Town. But I think that film's ensemble, in general, was solid across the board, and I think his selection over and above the rest of his costars was mostly due to afterglow love from The Hurt Locker.

Geoffrey Rush can be a hamola, but he also can be a very good actor when he reins in some of his scenery-chewing tendencies, as he did in The King's Speech. I think most of the pleasure in this movie -- an overrated one, to be sure -- comes from the chemistry between Rush and Firth, and the excitement of watching these two actors work so easily together. But I view Rush's category placement a bit like Michael Sheen's in The Queen -- I wouldn't consider it an outrage to place him in support, but I also think the movie is structured pretty equally around both players that I'd argue a lead placement would be more appropriate. And I don't think Rush's work is so exciting that I wanted him to win a second Oscar for it.

I don't actually recall John Hawkes getting much attention when Winter's Bone opened in the summer -- most of the buzz centered around Jennifer Lawrence. But I think his late-breaking candidacy was a pleasant surprise. Hawkes has a tricky character to play -- we aren't exactly sure if he's a friend or foe to Lawrence's character, or even some combination of both, and the actor really keeps us guessing about his intentions until the end. Given the competition, he doesn't get my vote, but I was happy he scored this mention, and he certainly seems to have used it as a springboard to greater opportunities.

But my vote is a toss-up between the remaining two candidates.

In the summer of 2010, a friend of mine who'd worked on The Fighter told me that Christian Bale would win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor this year. And on paper, his role seemed like the kind of character that would undoubtedly appeal to awards voters, almost irrespective of the quality of the performance. But I think what Bale accomplishes is pretty special, and I feel the actor was rewarded for far more than his physical transformation. His character is both supremely annoying as well as oddly endearing, and I always like it when an actor can make the audience sympathize with his character without begging for affection or softening his character's rough edges. Dicky is a great showcase role, and Bale absolutely makes the most of it -- I was perfectly happy to cheer for his Oscar win.

But I cast my vote for Mark Ruffalo, an actor who is always able to accomplish so much while making it look so effortless. At the end of The Kids Are All Right, I remember feeling sad that Ruffalo's character didn't get much resolution, even while understanding why the central family's story no longer needed to include him. And I think Ruffalo's performance is a key factor in creating this tension -- he's been so appealing and genial all along, we sympathize with his banishment, but he's also clueless and irresponsible enough that we don't at all let him off the hook for his errors. Ruffalo delivers a well-rounded performance full of a lot of interesting layers, and he gets my vote.

[bizarre]

This may have just been my perspective, but the only locks before the announcement appeared to be Bale and Rush. I was predicting Hawkes (although his nomination was considered a surprise) as well as Jeremy Renner and the shockingly snubbed Andrew Garfield who was replaced by Mark Ruffalo. I never bought Renner or Ruffalo as the sure-things they were trumpeted as.

Of the nominees, I've only seen Hawkes, and was underwhelmed. Didn't buy the "presence" and that performance hinged on it.

A strange category in a year with a very small pool of contenders. We had the final fivesome, Garfield who was no doubt very close to a nomination, and then... who? Closest was probably Sam Rockwell for Conviction, and he was completely ignored by the precursors. There were murmurs regarding two other Social Network boys - Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake - as well as Matt Damon (True Grit), Bill Murray (Get Low), Ed Harris (The Way Back) and Harrison Ford (Morning Glory), but none of these went anywhere.

My Top 5 - but I've hardly seen anything:
1. Ben Mendelsohn - Animal Kingdom
2. Miles Teller - Rabbit Hole
3. Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
4. Dan Byrd - Easy A
5. Jackie Earle Haley - Shutter Island

[Jim20]

Hawkes' rich, charismatic turn floored me, and I was delighted that Ruffalo, who'd been churning out such naturalistic work for years without calling attention to himself, finally got his due.

Spread the love and go with Hawkes.

I agree with you about John Hawkes. He's been a consistently good actor for the last 10 years. His performance last year in Martha Marcy May Marlene scared the daylights out of me. It might have been simply the subject matter, but Hawkes' calmness and caculation shook me.

[Jim20]

My 2010 Shouldabeen line-up.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
**Christian Bale, The Fighter**
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Ben Mendelsohn, Animal Kingdom
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

[mayukh]

Hawkes' rich, charismatic turn floored me, and I was delighted that Ruffalo, who'd been churning out such naturalistic work for years without calling attention to himself, finally got his due.

Spread the love and go with Hawkes.

[Big Magilla]

Substitute Andrew Garfield in The Social Network for John Hawkes in Winter's Bone and this was the category I most agreed with this year, thugh for a while I had championed Sam Rockwell in Conviction over Jeremy Renner in The Town.

Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right; Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speechand Christian Bale in The Fighterwere all co-leads in their films, but they also supported the main characters so they were legitimately nominated in the corect category with Bale an easy winner in my book.

[Sabin]

Which raises the question in my mind of whether or not Christian Bale is really a co-lead in The Fighter. I certainly don’t feel like the film specifically favors Micky’s arc substantially more than Dicky’s. It appears that I already made up my mind on the Best Actor thread when I opted not to include Bale. Were I to do up my list today, I would rank him second behind Eisenberg. He’s a very strange actor whose vocal mannerisms make him very difficult to cast, and physically divorcing his face from his voice in the Batman movies has been a very mixed bag. But in The Fighter, he is used to great effect as a meth addict. He’s not my choice but far from an undeserving choice.

But yeah, ksrymy is right. I’m going for John Hawkes. As a fan of the sunken-eyed actor for quite some time, this was the kind of stunning about face that I was waiting for. Winter’s Bone was my date for this prom and every moment that Hawkes was a high-water mark. I didn’t have much of a hope he would be nominated when the film premiered in the summer. I remember the night before the Golden Globes, I had predicted that the nominees would be Christian Bale, Geoffrey Rush, and all three major ensemble male actors from The Social Network, Garfield, Hammer, and Timberlake. When it came down to Garfield, I had a hunch he would miss out on the SAG nom and then the Oscar. I knew that Michael Douglas was the result of star-fuckery and human interest.

These were the two standouts for me, but the rest of the lineup is pretty solid. Better than solid. One of them is more gracious a costar than usual and the other two elevate the shortcomings in their respective narratives. Of the latter, I’m referring of course to Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner. The former is a wonderful actor who has long deserved Oscar’s attention, and as I’ve epically ranted on this Board, I found his character trajectory strangely unsympathetic for how charming his character is throughout. A bit jarring. But that shouldn’t much detract from how good Mark Ruffalo is in The Kids Are All Right. Or Shutter Island. He’s pretty much great every year, and this is all a bit thankless compared to his great work in You Can Count on Me. Whereas Mark Ruffalo’s lovely energy ungraciously upends the film, Jeremy Renner (like Ben Foster in 3:10 to Yuma) does one of those sleight of hand tricks where he takes an uninteresting stock character and invests him with the kind of personality that makes you want to follow him to a different movie. The problem with Ben Affleck’s The Town is Ben Affleck, whose superstar image makes the ending feel like Nicholas Sparks’ The Town. But until then, it’s more than reasonably engaging. And every scene with Renner – especially his final one! – is evidence of the off-kilter personality that has come to define Ben Affleck’s incredibly successful directorial ventures.

I never really bought into the hype that Geoffrey Rush could possibly upset Christian Bale. When Rush dials down his hamminess, he tends to come across as smug. He mostly avoids that in The King’s Speech, a film that he served as producer. He’s very gracious in trusting his characters’ innate kindness would play better subdued opposite Firth, but while it’s certainly what’s best for the very modest film, it all ties into my main problem – I don’t think anything in The King’s Speech really deserves an Oscar.

Best Supporting Actor
1. John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
2. Christian Bale, The Fighter
3. Ewan McGregor, I Love You Philip Morris
4. Bin Wong, Mother
5. Armie Hammer, The Social Network

[Reza]

My picks for 2010:

1. Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
2. Niels Arestrup, The Prophet
3. Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
4. John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
5. Pierce Brosnan, The Ghost Writer

The 6th Spot: Jeremy Renner, The Town

[ksrymy]

A fairly solid lineup with only John Hawkes not in contention for me even though I'm pretty sure Sabin will wholeheartedly disagree with me on this.

I'd consider Mark Ruffalo but there are two better choices when it boils down to it.

Those two choices are Aaron Eckhart in Rabbit Hole, who may actually be lead (but who knows what he was), and the shockingly-shunted Andrew Garfield for The Social Network/Never Let Me Go. Eckhart excels in his role and plays very well off Kidman. It's absolutely unbelievable that Garfield did not get a nomination. He was the good-looking, sympathetic character in one of the year's best films and was sympathetic and good-looking in another one of the year's best films. Both roles were amazing although his work with David Fincher is much better. In a sea of self-righteous assholes, his Eduardo Saverin is the breath of fresh air the film needs to become complete. He hits all the right notes.

Jeremy Renner is great in Ben Affleck's film that falls short of being good. Renner is what holds the film up and I'd like to see him in more roles like this one.

Geoffrey Rush was who I predicted before I saw The Fighter and with a role like Lionel Logue how can you not be nominated? He's a modern-day Annie Sullivan and Rush has always excelled in his craft and been in favor with the Academy. His genteel calmness plays well off Firth's angry prince in denial. He's very, very funny too.

But Christian Bale deserves this like no one else. We've seen him transform from buff to skeleton to macho man before, but this transformation may be the most rewarding for him and for us. I had zero idea Christian Bale could be a legitimate actor. All his roles previous to Dicky Eklund left me bored, but here he inhabits an angry hophead and makes him very sympathetic and funny at times. The two scenes where he jumps out of the drughouse window are terribly funny. Bale incorporates the ever-ready jumping and juking of a boxing match into his mannerisms. At times, we cannot tell if he is high or just enthusiastic. His accent never rings false and this performance is a glorious thing to witness. A deserved winner.

My picks
______________________
1. Christian Bale - The Fighter
2. Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
3. Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
4. Jeremy Renner - The Town
5. Aaron Eckhart - Rabbit Hole

6. Mark Ruffalo - The Kids Are All Right
7. Armie Hammer - The Social Network
8. Ewan McGregor - I Love You Phillip Morris
9. Pierce Brosnan - The Ghost Writer
10. Bill Murray - Get Low