It will be good to revisit some of these performances that I've seen already since it's been a long time. I'm eager to get this year over with and get into the 80s.
1990 Best Supporting Actress
Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
Whoopi won and I'm happy about that. I'm also kinda happy it was because of this film, which I adore. Yep, this is probably a makeup win for her 1985 Best Actress loss but that's okay. The Academy has a rich history of that and Whoopi is one of the few black actresses to be rewarded so I'm frankly okay with the win. I actually like her character in the film, though, so it's not all terrible. She is a pretend psychic who scams people out of money but one day starts hearing Swayze make fun of her ridiculous efforts. She then buys in to her fate and earnestly go along with Swayze and the plan he has to warn his girl. Whoopi is essentially the comic relief and she is pretty funny in her role. She's incredibly likable and a person/character you wish would be on screen the entire time. She's not overbearing or obnoxious and her comedy is light which makes a big difference. I like her because though reluctant, she understands her importance into the lives of Swayze and Demi Moore. I think she portrays the character admirably and we get much needed energy from her. I know some people criticize the win and nomination but how can you do that with this category? Whoopi plays the part sincerely and for that I love the character. Hate on this one all you want, but I'll defend it forever. Whoopi is deserving and I'm glad she has an Oscar.
Annette Bening - The Grifters
I had heard this was a pretty good film but I wasn't really a fan of it. Bening is here as the IT actress, same as Julia Roberts being nominated in Lead Actress. She was hot at the time and the Academy loved her and so she gets nominated. Her role is the lover of John Cusack's character and a grifter just like him, though in the more feminine of ways. She uses her body and innocent, coy behavior to get out of paying rent or really just trying to get whatever she wants. The thing about her performance is that you know deep down Bening is actually pretty smart and is using her intellect to play people and get what she wants but uses the dumb, ditzy blonde routine to achieve that. I'm not really a Bening fan, honestly, and even her being naked a lot in this film doesn't do much for me. I get that the performance has a little bit of depth to it, but it really does just boil down to her being the hot actress. And I'm unsure if I prefer Bening or Anjelica Huston since both motivate me similarly which is to say not much. This is an okay performance that just doesn't do a whole lot for me but might do more for you if you're a big Bening fan. I wish there was more I could say but that's really all I got.
Lorraine Bracco - Goodfellas
Bracco plays the long suffering wife role and does a pretty good job with the role overall. It's a tough position for her to be in as really the only major female performance in the film. Lesser actresses would have crumbled under the weight of that responsibility but Bracco holds her own against all the big, bad gangsters. While the film doesn't give her that many chances to really shine, Bracco makes the most of her screen time and delivers something that is a lot better than just a stale gangster wife character. She's ballsy at times, standing up to Ray Liotta's Henry Hill and not just playing a pushover. But Bracco also shows her vulnerable side, too, like in the scene where she holds a gun to Liotta's face. That scene shows both her ballsy attitude and vulnerability in a striking manner. The fact that Bracco could even display those two sides or get to show them at all is a testament to her acting ability. A lot of times, the supporting wife role would just be a one note performance. Bracco thankfully isn't. Though she doesn't completely stand out in the film among all those fiery male performances, she does a better job than to be expected. The best thing about the performance is that she makes you remember there are actual non-disposable female characters in this film. It's a solid, decent performance from Bracco though I wish she had more to do within the film.
Diane Ladd - Wild at Heart
I was pretty apprehensive about this going in. The Laura Dern-Diane Ladd picture in 91 turned out to be shit. This was the first iteration the year before so I was obviously worried. But this also starred Nicolas Cage and was directed by David Lynch, who I know makes highly interesting films. And holy shit is this film fucking nuts! To describe it, it doesn't sound so crazy. Cage and Dern are lovers and Dern's mother, Ladd, doesn't want them together so she hires guys to kill Cage. But the execution of it all is just completely over the top, excessive, wildness. Ladd herself doesn't do a whole lot. She doesn't like Cage because he rejected her advances and hires men to kill him and interacts with those men in various ways, seducing and arguing with them. Then by the end she's in like a psychotic episode or something. It's certifiably nuts but it's a ton of fun. I like Ladd's performance a hell of a lot more than the one in 1991 because she gets to overact and have it be fun and not out of place within the scope of the film. So while I wouldn't champion this for the win, I like her inclusion because it gave me a film I would have never watched that I enjoyed immensely. And this nomination is really more for the film itself, I think, than it is purely for Ladd. Sure, the Academy could have been looking to reward her solely, but I think it kills two birds with one stone here. I would urge everyone to go watch this film and just experience it. It might not be the winner, but you'll have a pretty good time with it.
Mary McDonnell - Dances with Wolves
This is a very tough role. So I've got to hand it to McDonnell a little bit for taking it on and not doing a horrible job. You may remember that I wasn't a huge fan of her other nomination a couple years after this one, so I was wary of what exactly I was going to watch since all I remembered is she was the love interest of Kevin Costner. The role is tough because McDonnell plays a white woman who was raised by the Lakota Sioux but has to speak most of her lines in the Lakota language and act in a way that's not as easy as just being white. She has to be a woman raised by Indians without being a caricature and without giving and overblown performance. I feel like McDonnell succeeds in giving the character and material the respect it deserves and plays it as well as she can. We first meet her when she is wailing about a death and I thought Oh no, I hope that's not all she does in this role but she settled down eventually and didn't end up a joke in the film. The main thing I can't stand is her hair which I have no idea why it's so wildly unkempt, as if to make her stand out as being more savage-like? I didn't understand it and felt it stuck out too much in a negative way. Now, McDonnell is mainly a love interest for Costner and that shows as she doesn't have much to do besides be with him and help teach him the Lakota language. Their love story isn't all that interesting to me as much as how she came to live with the Indians and her life while growing up and her place in that society. There could have been a lot of meat on this bone but the performance is a little thin. McDonnell does a good job of keeping this from becoming a really bad performance based on the subject matter. It could have been a disaster, instead it's a decent performance in a really tough role that could have been more fleshed out and developed.
This category ended up being a lot better than I really expected and I'm glad for that. If Bening is my weak link, it's not a bad year really. I just wasn't a fan of her and maybe if I watched it again later on it might work but for now it doesn't. McDonnell saves what could have been a really bad performance from being a disaster and making it something somewhat interesting. Bracco is the only female character in her film and I suspect a lot of people might vote for her simply to vote for the film itself but she's the only woman character in the film and I wish she would have been showcased a little more. Ladd is batshit crazy in an all out nuts film and I love the hell out of the performance even if it's not everyone's first or second choice. I just enjoyed purely for the entertainment aspect and sometimes that's all it's about. Whoopi ends up being my winner and I agree with the Academy even if it were a make up win. Crazy to think that this was only the second time a black woman won an acting Oscar up to that point. Whoopi deserved it, though, and it made for a good category.
Oscar Winner: Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
My Winner: Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
Diane Ladd
Lorraine Bracco
Mary McDonnell
Annette Bening
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