Supporting Actress 2002

By name, it's a pretty good group. 4 of the 5 have eventually won an Oscar or three. So my hope is that I'll finally get a strong group of Supporting Actresses to watch!

2002 Best Supporting Actress

Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago

Whenever I think about Chicago as an Oscar movie, I never really think of it as having Oscar winning performances. Yet Zeta-Jones won for her Velma Kelly character and won pretty easily. I will say that out of all the Chicago nominated performances, Zeta-Jones is the one that I like the most and think has the most meat on the bones so to speak. CZJ does everything better than Zellweger in a lesser role. She sings, dances, acts, and just looks better than her counterpart. I feel like she brings a bit more clout to the movie and to the role, even though Zellweger was the darling at the time. Her song and dance routines are just plain better and ooze sex appeal, which she has in spades. I like to think that the audience is drawn more to her abilities than the rest of the cast and that translated into the voters, as well. Her win is a nod to the cast of Chicago. Especially because the roles between her and Zellweger are incredibly similar. Rewarding both would have been redundant and CZJ was clearly the better choice. I still feel a little lukewarm about the win but I think that just mirrors my thoughts on Chicago as a whole.

Kathy Bates - About Schmidt

I was getting worried as the film went along and Kathy Bates hadn't shown up yet. It's not until over an hour in that she finally does and my big worry with that is that we are getting a nomination based off reputation or as a veteran nod to a performance that doesn't really deserve it because it's so small and/or has not much weight behind it. We've seen that before on this blog and I know it will happen again, probably soon. But at least this performance is good enough to warrant a nomination, I think. It's kind of what has become a typical Alexander Payne role. There seems to be at least one person in his films that is unfiltered. Someone that says or does things that are out of the ordinary for what you think they should be. Bates' character is the mother of the groom that Nicholson's daughter is marrying and she is kind of a free spirit. She gets naked with Nicholson in a hot tub and says whatever comes to mind and is an overall comfortable in her skin type of person. I see the appeal for Oscar voters as it adds comedy to the film and is sort of brave for an actress that's older and bigger to get naked on camera. It's easy to be attracted to those roles because we don't see them that often in movies. The other thing is that Bates doesn't play the character over the top at all. It's a very human portrayal. Yes, it's funny and absurd but not in an out place way and it never veers into caricature. That's one of the things I like about Alexander Payne's film is that they are grounded and real but can still poke fun and be absurd at times. As far as a Supporting Actress nomination for this performance, I'm totally okay with it. It serves the story well and doesn't take you out of the film at all. It's a performance where you look at the list go yeah, that belongs and keep moving.

Julianne Moore - The Hours

This performance almost feels like a co-lead. Or is it tri-lead? I'm pretty sure Moore has more screen time than Kidman who won Best Actress and about the same amount of time as Streep who was touted as possibly being nominated for Best Actress as well. It's all a kind of confusing mish mash that accurately describes the Oscar races. Lots of category fraud and should they nominate this actress for this movie or that movie based on chances and backroom dealings. No doubt Streep's nomination for Adaptation. was done to get Kidman her Oscar and Moore was placed here due to already being in the Best Actress race for a different movie. All these machinations are supremely intriguing. So how was Moore's performance here? She's a gifted actress and she delivers a delicate, reserved woman who isn't comfortable living the housewife life and feels suffocated.  Moore is teetering on the verge of a breakdown the entire time but never actually falls off balance. It's as if you can see her battling her inner demons every time she is on screen, like she's tip-toeing through a minefield. I think it's wonderful acting by Moore and highlighted just how talented she truly is. It's obvious that it would be too long before she finally won an Oscar herself, which she did in 2015.

Queen Latifah - Chicago

I firmly believe that Queen Latifah is nominated here purely because of the hype for Chicago because her role is exceptionally thin. Latifah plays Mama who is a prisoner with the other ladies of the movie but essentially runs the prisoners and helps facilitate meetings and whatnot. There's not exactly a lot to work with there but Latifah does a good enough job with the material she's given. She is definitely a competent actress and the nomination is the reward but there is just not enough there to really shine with. She has one song and dance number that she completely owns and I'd say she is the best singer of the whole movie, which given her singing background makes sense. She should be the best. And really that's about all there is to her role. I would have liked to see a lot more from her. That character could have easily been developed more and had a lot more depth to her. But Chicago was never overly concerned with characterization instead choosing to focus on the song and dance numbers and appeal to the musical sensibilities of a bygone era. Or at least to cash in on the musical craze that seemed to sprout up at that time. Queen Latifah was unfortunately short changed in her chance to show off more.

Meryl Streep - Adaptation.

Oscar had their choice of Meryl Streep nominations this year along with her work in The Hours. It's not really an Oscar race unless Streep is included, right? Personally, I prefer her performance in this film as opposed to the other one. This performance just has a lot more going for it and the film is way better to boot. In Adaptation. Streep plays a journalist who writes an article and later adapts it into a book about a Florida man who hunted orchids illegally. The film is way more meta than that description makes it out to be and is surreal as can be and just the perfect mix of weird and awesome. Streep's character at first is portrayed as the straight woman to everyone else's crazy, off the wall antics. So at first it seems like we are going to get the typical Streep playing Streep performance, an actor that feels to familiar. But she eventually falls off the deep end as well and really lets loose with a fun take on her character. The film itself is a lot of fun to watch and the actors are all on top of their game and you can tell they are just relishing their roles. I feel like we get just a little bit of a different Streep at the end of this one. Maybe that's because in the beginning it seems like oh, we'll just a get a boring portrayal from her while everyone else get's to act all crazy but it works. Is it her best performance? Of course not. Is it fun to watch (even more so than her work in The Hours)? Absolutely. Am I mad it was nominated? Nope, it's a perfectly adequate inclusion.


Hey look at that! A Supporting Actress group that doesn't have a bad nominee among it at all! It's a miracle! And well overdue. I've been waiting for a good group for what seems like forever and I'm glad that I finally got it. Now is there a performance in here that will stand the test of time and be remembered as a classic? No. But they are all good performances and are kinda what supporting performances should be in a way. Since nothing really stands out to me, I'll go ahead and go with the Academy on this one. CZJ is a fine win, I guess. I'd say Bates and Streep are easily interchangeable depending on when I've last seen their films. Then Moore who is in a pretty dull film and is very intense throughout followed by Queen Latifah who didn't get as much to work with as the others. All in all, a pretty good success for the blog and hopefully we can find a group in this category that all just blow me away instead of just being merely good.

Oscar Winner: Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
My Winner:  Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago
Kathy Bates
Meryl Streep
Julianne Moore
Queen Latifah