It's been taking a bit longer for me to watch and review movies than I initially thought, but some of that is due to being busy. Once I watch a few and get in the groove I start knocking out the categories pretty quickly. Bear with me. Part of doing the most recent years first allows me to automatically know which movies/performances I think are going to be tough to make it through. I'm excited for when I start getting into years I don't exactly know much about the movies/performances so I keep a fresh perspective.
2009 Best Actress
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Ugh, how did Sandra Bullock win an Oscar? Seriously. I honestly do not understand the love and accolades she got for this role. Her southern accent is terrible, the acting is better suited for a TV movie, and her character is too perfect and can seemingly do no wrong. The performance suffers in that it feels like Bullock merely played dress up and acted in cliches. When she's interacting with her high society friends, she doesn't even pretend that she likes them and it's hard to imagine they are actually friends. It's as if there's a big neon sign over her head that says "Hate these ladies!" There's no subtlety (and by now you should know I LOVE subtlety in my acting haha) and Bullock just lumbers through the movie and we're only left with the impression that her character is so badass, strong, and independent that there's no room for anything else. Which is why this win boggles my mind. It teeters on the brink of being a Lifetime movie performance and a caricature of sorts, truly a misstep for the Academy.
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
"I don't understand why this performance was nominated. Again, all I can think of is that the Academy is rewarding her past (this is her 4th nomination)..." I wrote this about Annette Bening in the following year's Best Actress category and it could honestly be said of Mirren in this performance as well. In the beginning of this film, Mirren's character was feisty and boisterously voicing her unfavorable opinion of her husband's (Leo Tolstoy) political movement/ideology. I really thought she was going to continue being the voice of reason and the opposing force in this movie but sadly her character fell victim to a terrible script and lost its way. Mirren eventually lacks any direction and becomes a farce as Tolstoy's wife. She cries a lot, rolls around on the ground, and basically becomes such a melodramatic and unlikable character that the movie overall loses any impact it possibly could have had. The fact that Mirren felt no need to take the character in the obvious direction of the strong, matronly way she initially was going in solidifies this as an undeserved nomination.
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Mulligan is clearly a good actress and I hope to see her in better movies down the line. In An Education, she plays a young, naive schoolgirl who thinks she's smarter and more mature than she really is. She becomes enamored with and seduced by an older man before realizing that life isn't quite that easy. I left out some of the details so as not to ruin the film, but the actual plot is pretty preposterous and certainly doesn't allow Mulligan to give as good of a performance as she could. Her character is one of the saving graces of the film, however, with her layered and compelling performance. Throughout the film, you believe that Mulligan is actually 16 (she was 22) and you become emotionally involved in her character when you see the moments she remains a giggling schoolgirl followed by trying to remain the worldly mature adult she thinks she is. These different sides of hers would be hard to balance and remain believable on both levels but Mulligan is able to transition between the two without losing any sort of grasp on her character. It's unfortunate that the other characters in the movie are more or less one-sided so that Mulligan appears more mature, because it would have been much more compelling if Mulligan faced her anxieties of the future instead of being coddled by the supposed grown ups around her. Despite all of this, Mulligan is able to pull off a good performance in an otherwise disappointing movie.
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
At first, I was worried about where this performance would go and if it would go anywhere. The character of Precious initially comes off as one without any real emotion or seemingly any real personality. Everything is delivered deadpan and her demeanor is one of pure moroseness. Part of me wondered if there was any actual acting going on because I could easily see Sidibe being this downtrodden, depressed, gloomy girl (even though that's not the case at all since she has a bubbly personality in real life) and it certainly didn't seem like any real acting was taking place. But as the film went on, it was quite evident that there was a lot more to Precious and Sidibe was giving us glimpses of the true character hidden beneath that stony exterior. When she finally stands up to her mother or when she's opening up to her teacher and classmates about her life, we really get to see why Sidibe was nominated and it's fun to watch.
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
There's an old debate about whether imitation is acting or not. To me, it is because whether it's good or bad that just means it's good or bad acting. Streep is the darling of the Academy (this being her 16th! nomination) but unlike some others, most of her roles are deservedly nominated. In this film, Streep offers more than just an imitation, she embodies Julia and infuses the character with her own soul to create a mix that is distinctly her own version of the culinary icon. She nails the look, the voice, the body movements and even the flippant, buoyant personality. She plays the few serious moments well without being too serious, which is how you'd think Julia Child would react. The character of Julia Child is something that would be easy to overdo and I think if the character were in the hands of someone else that's probably what we would have seen, but Streep is able to effectively balance the inherent loudness and ebullience of the character with relative ease. That's what makes this performance so much fun to watch.
I can't really say that this is a strong group by any means, especially with Bullock winning. I think that the Academy got it wrong again and this will be one of those performances we look back on in a few years and wonder why it won. Streep was Streep and you can't say much about her besides that. She's consistently good. Sidibe and Mulligan gave good performances, although I don't think we'll see Sidibe challenge for another award again. Mirren and Bullock were in some terrible movies and gave some very lackluster performances on top of it. Makes 2010 look even better, in my opinion.
Oscar Winner: Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
My Winner: Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia
Carey Mulligan
Gabourey Sidibe
Helen Mirren
Sandra Bullock
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