So here's a rarity for this category: Each of these nominees are also in Best Picture nominated films. I don't think that's happened very often so far in my project. That means I'm expecting these to be some legit performances and for this to be a really competitive category. And the bonus is that I'll be almost finished with Best Picture when I'm done with this group. Nice.
1988 Best Supporting Actress
Geena Davis - The Accidental Tourist
Hmm, having just now watched this performance I'm wondering about a lot of things for this year. I'm wondering how close this vote was. Were all of the women within a few votes and Davis squeaked by with the win? Did Weaver getting double nominations in acting doom her in this category? I'm thinking about these things because Davis' performance and role is so odd that I'm amazed the Academy loved it enough for the win. Davis plays a very kooky divorced single mother who takes care of pets and runs into William Hurt. Davis' Muriel is extremely odd and it can rub off the wrong way at times. Sometimes she is warm and endearing and you see the appeal of her character but other times she's cold and aloof and awkward to the point of unease. The film itself is so odd and uneven that I don't think it helps out Davis at all. What she tries to create works at times but is sabotaged by the film more often. She has these quirks and eccentricities that can be cute and speaks in a matter of fact, almost non-sequitur type of way. I think when you watch this performance you are either going to love it or hate it without too much middle ground. I'm not sure I like it all that much and as I said in my Best Picture review, the film with some minor tweaks could easily become a horror film with Davis as this psychopath character. That's certainly not what is intended by Davis or the film at all so the performance doesn't quite work for me. People even described Davis' character as a creepy stalker and I'd say that term fits. An odd choice to say the least for the Academy.
Joan Cusack - Working Girl
This might be a short review, I'm not sure. Last time I reviewed Cusack for her nomination for In and Out, I wasn't too impressed with her. Mostly because the character didn't really do much at all. Well, same goes for her nomination here. Cusack plays the friend of Melanie Griffith and doesn't really do all that much. She provides some comedic relief and is actually quite funny at times. She also tells Griffith to forget her dream and to accept being a secretary which isn't very best friend-like at all. She tops it all off with some wildly huge hair and clown makeup that is terrible. That's the performance. I actually kinda like it, though it is very brief and most likely came along for the ride with the film. It doesn't need to be nominated but I guess I can let it slide. I'm sure there is something better out there but it's a likable enough role. I'm honestly trying to think of anything else to say about it but that really seems like that is all there is to say about it. You watch the film and see she's there to provide the slightest amount of support to Griffith and some decent comedy and that's it. Maybe being in Married to the Mob helped her out a little more? I don't know, the Academy will always surprise us with these kinds of nominations.
Frances McDormand - Mississippi Burning
I'm a big fan of McDormand's simply because she seems like such a smart lady and delivers really good performances while not looking like a typical Leading lady, plus she's super funny. Here, she plays a Supporting role as a wife of the local sheriff's deputy who is part of the KKK. She doesn't have too much screen time, but I do feel she makes the most of it. She plays the dutiful wife but you can tell there's an independent woman screaming to get out. Gene Hackman's character sees this as well and uses her to get to her husband. McDormand is obviously quite smart and she's also compassionate to the black folk but she's in a marriage to an asshole racist that doesn't allow her to be herself. McDormand plays the character with such restraint because she could easily play it as this woman who is very progressive in a conservative world wanting to break free and voice her opinions and all that. But she doesn't and is very timid about doing anything to upset the balance. She even gets beat to a pulp for talking to Hackman. It's a performance that is begging to explode but can't because of the time period. A woman marries a man really young and can't ever be herself because of fear of her husband and society. We don't know what happens to McDormand after these events but I'd like to think she moves on somewhere else and is able to become the woman she was meant to be. That is what McDormand brings to this character, a sense of wanting her to be something more. It might be brief and convenient for the story but at least she leaves you wanting more. It's not showy in the slightest which probably works against her but it might be a contender for my winner.
Michelle Pfeiffer - Dangerous Liaisons
Not going to lie, I'm kinda glad this will end my Pfeiffer reviews. None of her three nominations have been exceptionally amazing, though none of them were bad by any means. I enjoyed her mostly in The Fabulous Baker Boys and her performance in Love Field was pretty meh to me. In this film, she plays a frigid, morally uptight, religious woman who John Malkovich wants to bang as part of a sexual conquest dare/challenge. She's the weak link of the film performance-wise because Glenn Close and Malkovich are so good in their roles. Whenever the story turns to Pfeiffer it's like a letdown. I understand her role is to be standoffish and hesitant to converse with Malkovich's playboy, but Pfeiffer just comes off as unconvincing in every way. She's supposed to be beautiful but I don't see it. She is manipulated by Malkovich and becomes very emotional at times but all the tears and wailing and labored breathing just feel like an exercise in acting. And honestly, I was never interested in her character or understood why exactly Malkovich fell for her character other than to service the story. A lot of people called this a blank performance and I'd agree with that. We don't know what's going on deep inside Pfeiffer and I don't think Pfeiffer knew exactly what to do with her character. This feels more like Pfeiffer coming along for the ride than anything else, maybe also to capture her blossoming fame in the industry. A pretty basic performance.
Sigourney Weaver - Working Girl
The second of Sigourney's two nominations this year is like the cherry on top of the sundae or the dinner roll to go with the meat and potatoes meal. Weaver gets to play a bitch of a boss and plays it well. She is very convincing of being a total asshole and when we first meet her think that she's going to be this strong, independent woman that Griffith can lean on to make her break in the finance or whatever it is world. She is the strong, independent woman, it's just that she got to her position by being ruthless and aggressive. She's going to take no shit from anyone and she's going to do whatever she has to to get ahead and stay ahead. I think part of that is finding other strong women and milking them for ideas under the guise of mentoring them. Pretty smart and Weaver makes the character into a little more than just a one dimensional stock female character. The Academy must have really loved her this year, though, to nominate her for this and for her performance in Leading Actress. I think it comes with such a female oriented film getting lots of love and the goodwill it earned translating into lots of nominations for the actresses. I'm actually okay with that because I enjoyed the film and both Supporting nominees however small they might be. Weaver plays the villain but isn't too unrelatable and you see where she's coming from in order to make it in a man's world. It's a decent performance but certainly not one that is going to make you scream and shout for her to win. You recognize it's entertaining and maybe even a bit against type and you roll with it.
I was definitely confused by the winner of this category. It's an odd performance as I've stated over and over and I don't really know where I'd put her in the rankings. Cusack is last simply because her role is so slight even though it was funny and entertaining. Pfeiffer is next because there just wasn't much to the performance for me and she's the weakest part of the film. I'd bump Cusack ahead if she had more screen time. I guess Davis would fit in the middle because her performance was so up and down on whether I liked it or not, more towards the not side. Weaver is clearly having fun with her role which makes it entertaining for us. I like it so it comes in second. My clear winner is McDormand who made me want to see more from her character and to have her around more in the film. She's a little too smart for the character but that's part of the charm. She's just a really great actress even in a minor role like this. I'd say this is a middle of the road category, which I'll take.
Oscar Winner: Geena Davis - The Accidental Tourist
My Winner: Frances McDormand - Mississippi Burning
Sigourney Weaver
Geena Davis
Michelle Pfeiffer
Joan Cusack
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