Supporting Actress 1987

So many Ann(e)s! Let's see which might reign supreme!

1987 Best Supporting Actress

Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck

Having watched everyone else in the category, I guess it makes sense that Dukakis came out the winner as her only real competition (for me anyway) was Anne Ramsey. Dukakis is in a well loved film and is less one note and more nuanced than Ramsey. Now before I get into the performance, I also wonder if the fact that her cousin Michael running for President had anything to do with her nomination/win. We know the Academy is pretty liberal and maybe they were voting for that connection as well? Something to think about at least. I was curious as to how I'd respond to Dukakis in this film. I'll admit I was expecting a very showy, loud, ethnic performance given what the film is about. She plays Cher's mother and is Italian but what I liked about Dukakis is that she is very subdued and graceful in the role. She plays it like a true matriarch who is satisfied with her kingdom. The underlying tension for her in the film is that her husband is cheating on her and she knows it. There's a great scene where she goes to a restaurant to eat dinner by herself and ends up talking with a man who is always bringing younger women to the place and getting into loud arguments with them. They talk and make a connection that seems more real than anything we see between her and her husband in a short amount of time. Dukakis stays dignified in the moment even when getting walked home by him and he asks to go inside with her. She values family more than instant gratification and it's a nice touching view into her character. Dukakis herself is charming and stately and very relatable like she's your own kin. She has one explosive moment where she yells at Cher but for the most part her performance is a quiet one which I respect. I do see why she was nominated and can understand her win for this type of performance. The Academy loved the film and loved her work in it. I'm still on the fence on if I'd take this or Ramsey and I'll have to really think about it to decide.

Norma Aleandro - Gaby: A True Story

This is a true story about Gaby. I had to watch this on Youtube and it was shit quality but I at least watched it. Should say all you need to know about the film that I could only find it on Youtube and not any of the streaming sites. It's another cerebral palsy film like My Left Foot that shows how someone overcomes their disability when someone nurtures and encourages them. This one is about Gabriela Brimmer who was a woman of European parents living in Mexico who was afflicted with cerebral palsy. Parents aren't sure what to do until Norma Aleandro's character becomes like a live-in nurse and recognizes the person behind the disability. She encourages Gaby and helps teach her and goes with her everywhere, even class. Gaby eventually goes on to college and becomes a respected author and advocate due in large part to Aleandro's nurturing. It's kind of your standard disability film stuff. Aleandro is good in the role as the nurse/helper. She's very caring and treats Gaby like her own daughter at times and Aleandro shows these emotions well enough in her performance. I'm certainly not going to say I was wowed or amazed by Aleandro, it simply gets the job done and sometimes that's good enough. I'm glad the Academy nominated something that's out of the box which I always complain about. The role is perfectly supporting and while it never had a chance to win, I'm okay with it being included here. It's not the best film or performance but you can respect it at least. Supporting is meant for nominations like this, especially if there's no major performance or consensus. Most people won't ever watch this anyway.

Anne Archer - Fatal Attraction

I wasn't too sure who Anne Archer was until I looked her up but she plays Michael Douglas' wife in this film. Now, here's the thing about Archer: she is super attractive when compared to Glenn Close in this film. I mean it's no question. So while the film is tense and crazy, I just couldn't buy that Douglas would spend a weekend with Close and cheat on his wife. I'm probably looking a little too deep into the attractiveness part but it just bugged me the whole film long. I get that Douglas has a moment of weakness when the "sexy" Close intrigues him and that is part of the point of the film, but still. For the first hour of the film, Archer plays the oblivious, dutiful wife. That's all she gets to do, play mother and wife. Not much to do besides look pretty. For the second hour, she starts to come alive finally. We start to get some resolution with the events that have been happening and Archer is told of Douglas' dalliance and expectedly loses it. It's a good scene that feels real and doesn't cross a line into the absurd territory. Then once she's told, Archer seems committed to keeping her family safe and does more in the final half hour than in the previous hour and a half. Then we have the big ending which obviously Archer has a big part of which is somewhat satisfying as long as you're rooting for the family and not against Douglas. It's a decent performance for a thriller and for what could have been a throw away role. Archer at least brings some honesty and realness to the role and that's admirable for this kind of film. Archer is good, if a little lacking, but not a totally awful nomination.

Anne Ramsey - Throw Momma from the Train

Oweeeeennnnnnn!!! This movie is so funny, but in a dark way almost like A Fish Called Wanda. It stars Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito (who also directed) as a teacher and student, respectively, who are to kill each others' problems. DeVito kills Crystal's ex-wife unbeknownst to him and then DeVito wants him to kill his momma. It's a quick film but is so entertaining. Ramsey is the eponymous Momma and she is like a monster. All she does is yell at DeVito in some way or another, usually shouting insults at him. I can't help but think Ramsey sounds like Cartman from South Park with her garbled speech and it makes her character so much more funny to me because of that. She scowls her way through the film and is just a menace to everyone and Ramsey is a hoot in the role. She plays up the terrible woman to perfection and makes her character unsympathetic yet hilarious at the same time. She's also got this hunchback that's barely seen but it just adds to the overall terribleness of the character. I challenge anyone to watch her performance and not get a kick out if it. This is the first one I watched for the category but this will be hard to beat because I love how funny she is. It might not be the pinnacle of acting but it is certainly very entertaining.

Ann Sothern - The Whales of August

The draw for this film is that you get to see Lillian Gish and Bette Davis in their last roles and get to see them again, period. This isn't a thing of beauty, though. It's very stiff with the acting and feels like it belongs on the Lifetime channel instead of at the Oscars. It's got a soft focus and minor story and this will only appeal to a certain viewer who may not even be around anymore. I say the acting is stiff but Davis and Gish are really good together and you can tell they are from another era with their acting styles. Sothern plays Tisha, a neighbor of the two leads who comes by to dish and gab with the ladies and is very jovial. She has better, quicker acting sense than the two leads, as to be expected, and therefore ends up looking pretty good when compared to basically everyone else in the film. She's in that one scene for a little bit but doesn't do anything profound. She's a loud neighbor who gossips and has nothing else with which to spend her time on. She then shows up at the end of the film bringing a house buyer by and is admonished by Gish. That's the extent of her performance. It's okay but nothing to write home about. I feel she was the nomination because the older folk of the Academy wanted to nominate it but couldn't get it into Best Actress. Sothern does nothing to stand out and probably shouldn't be in this group. It's just basic work that should go overlooked.


So the Battle of the Ann(e)'s wasn't much of a battle. Sothern probably doesn't deserve to be in this group and feels more like a veteran type nomination. Easy 5th. Aleandro is decent in a not that great film but I'm okay with her nomination. She is what this category is about, even if it's not that amazing. Archer is the middle because while she's enjoyable and elevates a nothing role, it's still not much of a performance just because of what the character is. I liked Dukakis and her almost stately performance. I see why the Academy went for her and I might too if not for Ramsey. I just really enjoyed Ramsey's performance. It might be one note but at least it's really entertaining. It's something I could come back to and not get sick of, I think. I just find it more enjoyable overall and that's what it comes down to for me. This is about what I expected from the category.

Oscar Winner: Olympia Dukakis - Moonstruck
My Winner:  Anne Ramsey - Throw Momma from the Train
Olympia Dukakis
Anne Archer
Norma Aleandro
Ann Sothern