I just want to say thank you to those wonderful people who put extended or director's cut versions of films online. Yes, I watch most of these films online in some way or another. But it's pretty awesome when you watch one and then look up info on it and see that the version you watch was the extended version with an extra 20 minutes and includes deleted scenes. There has been a couple times where that's been the case and I've remarked on it in my reviews. I'd rather watch those versions anyway if that's the director's true vision. Just saying. Haven't seen any of these ladies but very excited for them all!
1986 Best Actress
Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God
Obviously the first thing you have to consider about this performance and win is the deafness factor. There's a lot of Oscar trivia attached to this one win and nomination. Matlin is the youngest winner ever at 21. She won an Oscar in her film debut, which is super rare. She is the only deaf actress to win an acting award. This was the first major film that even starred a deaf actor in a leading role since 1926. Lots of interesting notes, for sure. But was this a case of the Academy rewarding her more for her condition instead of her actual performance? That was the one thing I really wanted to find out about for this year. I really liked Matlin's turn in The West Wing and knew she was a good actress from that show. I will say that the deafness factor helps her out in the performance because since it is a non-speaking role, she has to emote and convey a whole lot just from looks and body language. When we first meet her, she's kind of like this wild woman, very angry and brooding. I was worried that this would be a very broad performance and prone to big acting but eventually Matlin settles into the character as we learn more about her. She's angry, yes, but we understand where that anger comes from as she doesn't want to be made to speak because she wants others to learn to sign. She's also headstrong and stubborn which Matlin shows us to great effect. The film and story rushes into the relationship with her and Hurt, which is my one big gripe about the film. It doesn't get the chance to develop totally naturally and the story seems impatient with this part. But the chemistry between Hurt and Matlin is palpable and when you learn they were an item for a couple years after, it makes complete sense. And really the film hinges on believing them as a couple, so credit to Matlin for helping in that. I also think that the film changes Matlin from the bullish, tough girl in the beginning to a more accepting and open girl at the end a little too easily and quickly. These are things I think the film does wrong as maybe it needed a bit more development of the characters for me to really believe Matlin had changed from being so stubborn but Matlin does all she can with the material. The performance is good, no doubt, though I'm not sure I consider this a slam dunk in maybe some other years. It shows from time to time that this is her first film role and she's a little rough around the edges at points. But overall, this is a very good performance from Matlin and I was glad to see the nomination and win wasn't just about her being deaf. I'll have to see all the other performances to make sure she really should have been the winner.
Jane Fonda - The Morning After
Is it weird that I kinda really like this film on a purely 80s aesthetic and because it kinda sums up 80s films to me? Yeah, it's not that great of a film but it's entertaining on a basic level. Jane Fonda has big hair. Jeff Bridges is a hunky guy who helps her out. It's a thriller about Fonda waking up after a night of drinking with a dead guy in her bed. Then she has to figure out if she did it or if she's in danger....cue chintzy 80s thriller music! One of the things that impresses me the most about the film is that Fonda takes the time to super clean the apartment where she woke up and even cleans all the fingerprints she might have left behind. I like that a lot because it's attention to detail. Also, Fonda reminds me a whole lot of Jessica Lange and yes, I know they are different actresses and Fonda is her own woman but I think it's the aesthetic of the blonde hair, sunglasses, and the hair wrap. Just an observation. I also really like Fonda in Grace and Frankie on Netflix, she and Lily Tomlin are great together. I know this is me making a lot of non-sequitur type statements but this is an 80s thriller performance - you know what you're getting from it from the start. Fonda does elevate the material and performance by virtue of her being Jane Fonda and doing a little more than say a Michelle Pfeiffer might. Well, actually, Sidney Lumet (ya know, the guy who directed 12 Angry Men for his first film) kinda directs it as a throwback at times, especially with the music. The thriller part is also that Fonda isn't a crazy white bitch, but a woman being chased and pursued by nefarious peoples, the other side of the thriller coin. Fonda plays a pretty decent drunk, too, in everything I've seen her in so far, especially here where it matters to the story. It's nothing amazing and is pure 80s so if you enjoy those types of films, you'll enjoy this. But certainly not Fonda's best nominated work.
Sissy Spacek - Crimes of the Heart
Normally I try to make these reviews a bit longer than the Supporting ones because they are bigger performances. Not sure I'll have a whole hell of a lot to say for Spacek here. Spacek plays a woman who has shot her husband, so her other two sisters come home to deal with the crisis. It's one of those southern woman family films that throws a lot of well known actresses together and everyone loves seeing them all interact, which is totally the appeal here. It's Spacek and Jessica Lange and Dianne Keaton all having fun together, crying, laughing, getting emotional - the usual stuff. Spacek plays the younger sister, who as mentioned above, has shot her husband and is out of jail. She also was sleeping with a 15 year old black kid (why that gets completely glossed over, I don't know) which precipitated the shooting. It's scandalous but the film doesn't really care about that. It's more concerned about the family dynamics and the interactions between all the Oscar winning sisters than anything else. Spacek is a little bit crazy and plays it up for effect, though she doesn't go overboard. It teeters between comedy and the melodramatic so at least she keeps a handle on the character. It's regular Southern Gothic eccentric behavior. Spacek is good and her performance is somewhat fun, if not very bizarre in that she shoots her husband and bangs a 15 year old boy and no one seems to really care. She won a Golden Globe for this performance but I don't know what sets it apart exactly. Why her over Keaton or Lange? I think because she gets to play crazy and that's more interesting than Lange's ingenue or Keaton's mousy introvert. While it is kinda fun, it's not something that really grabs me and we've seen better versions of the crazy Southern woman before.
Kathleen Turner - Peggy Sue Got Married
This is a really fun and sweet film at it's heart. It also has a bunch of famous people at the very beginning of their careers. It features a fantastic Nic Cage doing a ridiculous voice in the 1960 scenes that just fits Cage's style perfectly. It also has Jim Carrey doing his thing, a young Joan Allen and Helen Hunt and is directed by Francis Ford Coppola (his daughter is just as bad here as she was in The Godfather Part III). Turner does a great job playing a woman in 1985 whose life is crumbling and headed for a mid life crisis. She's getting divorced from Cage who is a local big shot and goes to her high school reunion and faints. She wakes up back in 1960 knowing everything as if she were still in 1985 so that she can not make the same mistakes again. Of course the film is about whether or not she wants to make those same mistakes again or try and start a new life. Turner puts in work here and does a great job essentially carrying the film. I do feel she has it easy because the story makes her an adult in a teen's body/mind so those scenes are ones where she is super confident and not worried with life and very strong for a young girl back in that time. So while I do think Turner is pretty good, the story and script do a lot of work for her. But she brings a youthfulness to the 1960 scenes which makes the performance feel like not just a grown woman trying to do kid things, but instead a grown woman letting her old self take over. So I think that's what I like the most about the performance, is that she can make it seem like she's the grown up at times and make it look like she is the young woman at other times. This feels more like a nod to sentimentalism and the way things were than anything else. Turner won't blow you away but she is really effective in her role and very entertaining. I'm glad that the Academy nominated her so I could watch the film because it's this little small gem that is hidden in plain sight with all who are involved in it. Never going to win, but a decent Oscar watch.
Sigourney Weaver - Aliens
Yes, I did in fact watch Alien before watching this film. I had never actually watched Alien all the way through. I'd bet that I've seen that film a few times in various clips and knew exactly what happened in it. So it was nice to watch it start to finish finally. In that film, Weaver starts out as part of an ensemble cast and isn't really focused on until more towards the end when she's one of the last crew members alive. Before that she isn't anything amazing. By the end, she is showing off her leading lady potential and is able to carry the film easily and be a bad ass in the process. Aliens continues her story after being in hypersleep at the end of the first film and waking up way later than expected in this film. Now she is told that the planet they investigated in the first film is being terraformed by a colony and they have had issues contacting them and to go explore it looking for the xenomorph. Whereas the first film was a very intimate, contained horror film, this film is pure action film all the way. Sure, you can say it's got horror elements because of the xenomorphs but nah, it's an action film. But! That means this is the first female fronted action film to score a Best Actress nomination which is pretty cool. Weaver is great in this, honestly. I was a bit concerned that she would turn into the ultimate bad ass and just be a super heroine but she maintains a lot of her original characterization. She is concerned about those still on the planet and then worried about her own crew members when actually there. She's smart enough to deduce a lot of things going on like Burke the company man (Paul Reiser!) trying to get her impregnated by the alien to take home and sell. She's a very smart woman and she is very wary of everything going on and very much a bad ass when necessary. It's the ultimate female role, really, and Weaver does it a great service. She's really great in the film, that's really all you can say. I think it's interesting that you can compare this film to Avatar and find a ton of similarities, not the least of which is Weaver being involved. I was worried because at the beginning it follows that film's broad action adventure style before finally becoming more closed off when the gang goes to the planet and gets sealed in. The end is where Weaver truly shines because she does go all beast mode and it's not a schlocky mess, well not entirely. Weaver is pretty great and her only competition is Marlee Matlin so I'll have a big decision on who to vote for.
This is a tough one! I'll start at the bottom where Spacek is clearly the weakest of all of them here. I'm left wondering why her for that role. It's a weird one, for sure. Fonda is crazy in a purely distilled 80s film and I love it, even if it's a weak Fonda performance overall. She's fun but would this ever win? Of course not. Turner is fun also and does well with her almost dual role. The film itself kinda bumps up her performance to third. Kind of interchangeable with Fonda, really. The real battle is between Matlin, who is your typical kinda Oscar role and a decent winner, going against Weaver who would make for an awesome win. And don't let anyone tell you oh, it's just an action role so she would never win and shouldn't win because Oscar doesn't go for that. Well, Oscar could have chosen her easily here because she is very good in the role and is a very strong female performance. Ripley is an iconic character and having Weaver win an Oscar for that role wouldn't be that awful or far fetched. It's ludicrous and really stupid to dismiss it purely because it's an action film. Matlin looks good, too, because here's a deaf woman winning an Oscar which shows a lot of women and even men that they can overcome their disability and maybe even win an Oscar some day. It's a nice sentiment and both have their pros for winning. I prefer Weaver because I like the character overall but Matlin is good and a deserving winner, too. Tough choice. I choose Weaver because I like the precedent it sets for the Academy and maybe we see more roles like this if she wins. Matlin gets kudos but I'm not sad if she isn't a winner. A very interesting year for Best Actress!
Oscar Winner: Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God
My Winner: Sigourney Weaver - Aliens
Marlee Matlin
Kathleen Turner
Jane Fonda
Sissy Spacek
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