It feels kinda weird coming back to 1999 after doing a couple of the most current years. It's like I lost my momentum in going backwards and trying to remember the trends and who has been nominated recently has slipped my mind. I'll have to settle in and get back on track starting with this category!
1999 Best Supporting Actress
Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted
This is back when Angelina was the weird goth chick doing a lot of things for shock value and to get attention. Her real life persona matches the character she portrays in this film, Lisa, and it probably helps her performance honestly. It's not too far fetched to see Angelina as Lisa or vice versa so she at least has the believability factor going for her. Lisa is a mentally unstable woman who has been in a psychiatric ward for eight years and is always causing problems and escaping the hospital. You should be able to tell from that brief description that Lisa is pretty wild and she absolutely is. She is the main source of drama for the film because Lisa speaks her mind, antagonizing everyone she meets and trying to corrupt anyone that looks weak to her. It's an easy performance to do because all Angelina has to do is act crazy and there is no taking it too far for this character so Jolie can overact to her heart's content. This is the loud, brash, bombastic performance I would expect from Jolie in a role like this. I can't decide if that's inherently a good or bad thing but what I was expecting was what I got. Angelina was wildly praised and obviously rewarded for this performance but I can't help but wonder if it's because it stands out against the rest of the film or because they were really into her as a celebrity at the time. It's easily the most interesting and compelling of the performances in this category because it is so electric, so maybe that's why it was the winner. I'm on the fence about whether or not I like it, but it's easy to see why it won over the Academy.
Toni Collette - The Sixth Sense
When I was remembering this film and thinking about this performance, I didn't really remember much at all about Collette and what exactly she did. I knew she was Osment's mother but I was trying very hard to remember if she did anything else besides the well known scene in the car. Unfortunately, that's about all she does in The Sixth Sense. She plays the anguished mother role well enough, but there's not much else to the performance. The car scene I mentioned is her Oscar moment, so to speak, but I don't think that one scene is enough to vault her into the Oscar discussion. She was terrific in that scene where Osment finally tells her he sees ghosts and relays the message from Collette's mother to her. It's real emotional work and very touching without being too insincere or hammy. It's a tremendous scene as I've said three times now but I don't think it alone warrants an Oscar nomination. I feel like she was swept in on the strength of The Sixth Sense which really was a cultural phenomenon back then and got a ton of attention and awards play. I know that sometimes these supporting categories have these nominations that piggy back on whatever film is getting the most love at the time of the nominations and usually it's fine and representative of the film as a whole, but you also have Haley Joel Osment nominated, as well. There's not much else I can say about her performance because there's not much else to it, honestly. It's not bad, but I just don't know if it's enough for her to be included here.
Catherine Keener - Being John Malkovich
This is one indescribably interesting film from the depths of the mind of Charlie Kaufman, who is exceedingly brilliant. He creates world's you never knew you wanted to explore. This film takes us into the mind of John Malkovich by way of a forgotten door behind a filing cabinet in an office located on the 7th and a half floor of a building. It get's crazier from there and one of the inhabitants of this world is Catherine Keener's Maxine, an office worker that becomes the love interest of everybody in the film. Maxine is an unfiltered, sexpot who becomes the sexy ingenue of Cusack's character and then his wife and then John Malkovich. During this part of the film, Keener is very one note for much of her performance since all she gets to do is play the bitchy, beautiful woman. Sure, she's interesting because Kaufman's writing is interesting but there's no depth to her character yet. Eventually she involves seemingly everyone in the film with her sex appeal and begins to do a little more heavy lifting in the story. Keener's performance blossoms towards the end, but not like some beautiful flower - more like a flowering weed. She's all over the place and I kinda grew tired of her character's schtick after awhile. Keener is able to show fleeting moments of her ability to do more than just be an asshole hot chick, but they are just fleeting. I can't get to annoyed or upset with the performance because it fits into Kaufman's world remarkably well. We don't really need Keener's character to have a ton of depth but it would have been nice. I feel like this might have been a reward for the whole film because it is such an interesting story.
Samantha Morton - Sweet and Lowdown
Well the Academy certainly has it's types, huh? Morton doesn't speak a word in this performance and though that sounds gimmicky (and it kinda is) it actually works really flipping well here. I had no idea what to expect from this performance and I certainly wasn't expecting a mute role from Morton in this Woody Allen film, but damn does it work! It's a really old school, Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Marx Bros-esque type of performance and I mean that with all sincerity and conviction. I read that she didn't know who Harpo was but then studied the movies of the time and man, did she nail the facial expressions and physical comedy elements. The way she can look at a person with her whole body frozen gives off more emotion than some actresses can while overacting. It's also amazing because you actually have to pay attention to her or else you'll miss the comedic effect of what she's doing. In many scenes, Sean Penn dominates because he's talking a mile a minute like any Woody Allen male lead but if you watch Morton she's nailing every comedic timing moment like she was transported from the 1920s. It's a ton of fun to watch and kudos to Allen for dreaming up this character because once the film goes on to the third act and focuses on Uma Thurman, you almost immediately want Morton and her expressions back on the screen. I also like that her silence let's Penn's character keep talking until the truth comes out, which I find especially humorous. I know it's been well documented that Allen creates great female characters for his films and his list of nominated performances bears that out, but I wasn't expecting much and I got a really enjoyable performance out of it.
Chloe Sevigny - Boys Don't Cry
It can be awkward trying to start off a review. Sometimes I'm not sure of what to say or how exactly to say it. Sometimes I have too much to say and I don't know where to start first. And sometimes I just don't feel strongly one way or another about a performance so I don't know how to start it off. This is almost a mixture of all those which I know makes little sense. I liked Sevigny's performance in this film as the love interest of Hilary Swank's Brandon. I found her to be perfectly supporting, playing the supportive girlfriend/lover in a way that didn't make me dislike her at all and made me start to realize, yeah she's a decent person after all. She trots into the film as this edgy, seductive chick who seems really independent and cool and just very sure of herself. Then she catches the eye of Swank and begins to reciprocate the interest. I feel two things about this performance: that it was voted in alongside Swank who was a powerhouse and that Sevigny stands in for the audience as the accepting, loving figure of Brandon. Getting swept in isn't a knock, especially when strong performances carry other supporting roles with them. It catches the eye of the viewer who then notice the others acting in the same space. The moral compass type role also seems to get voted in a lot and that's okay. Sevigny's Lana loves Brandon for who he is as a person and how he makes her feel. That's an important takeaway obviously, and it makes Sevigny's capable performance stand out even more. Even though she's kind of this white trash, trailer park mess she is still able to transcend what is expected of her from society and her surroundings and find the good in a person that the area/people/time find to be disgusting. That's not to inflate how good the performance is or anything, Sevigny is more than fine here, but she doesn't take over any of the scenes, especially with Swank dominating things. She's just a decent pick for a supporting nomination in a film that needs more awareness and a topic that is all the more relevant in today's world. I'm sure this was a bit more of a statement back in 1999 and I'm fine with Sevigny being here.
Hey, a Best Supporting Actress category that doesn't suck! And is actually pretty good, top to bottom! Imagine that! It's always awesome when this category surprises me and I'm glad that this is a very good group of women. I'd say my 5th spot goes to Collette just because there's not enough performance there unfortunately and she would be followed by Keener who just kind of annoyed me at the end of the film even though she wasn't bad at all. Just a preference, really. Sevigny is in the middle spot because she gives a very solid supporting performance that I enjoyed. Now the tough decision for this group was who is my top pick? Angelina has the more showy, loud, brash role and she does a great job with it. Morton has to act, and act convincingly and without overdoing it, in a role that has no dialogue at all. I want to say for the record that I am okay with Jolie's win and I understand why it did win. But I think I'm leaning just a bit towards Morton for doing so well with her mute performance, something I wasn't expecting to like at all. She made it a fun and interesting one, too, so my pick for 1999 is Morton. Maybe after a while I might lean a bit more for Jolie but right now it's Morton. This was a pretty good year.
Oscar Winner: Angelina Jolie - Girl, Interrupted
My Winner: Samantha Morton - Sweet and Lowdown
Angelina Jolie
Chloe Sevigny
Catherine Keener
Toni Collette
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