I have gone back from time to time and read over my early reviews and I feel like I've really matured in my writing and in my understanding and appreciation of film. There are some films I'd love to review again because I simply never gave them the chance they deserved when I first started out. I do feel like I'm giving every new film I watch a legit chance so it's contained to my first few years. One day I might revisit all of those when I'm done here but that might just be 2023!
1985 Best Actor
William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman
He has quite the introduction to the world in this film and it is certainly very memorable. We first see him in his prison cell in what looks to be a nightgown and as he slinks around and tells fellow prisoner Raul Julia (who is fantastic, by the way) of this old Nazi film he loves in a very effeminate voice. It's really quite a difficult character to pull off because Hurt has to make his character seem natural and avoid any awful stereotypes and exaggerations. Hurt excels at making his character believable and even somewhat sympathetic, though we know as an audience from the beginning that their is an ulterior motive behind his work which becomes clear later on in the film. It's also impressive a bit because Hurt's Luis Molina is in prison because he molested a kid from what I understand and yet we still feel for Hurt. Although, the more I read up on the film, it seems the pedophile thing was made up by the corrupt police simply because Hurt's character is a flamboyant gay man in Brazil (I think). The real greatness to the performance is the interaction between Hurt and Julia who spend the majority of time together on screen in their prison cell. The two together are a clash of cultures as Julia is a rebel member of some anti-government group - a political prisoner - and Hurt is of course the gay pedophile. The two have amazing chemistry as Hurt prods at the quiet, serious Julia so that he will open to him. They are what make the film worth watching at least once. You also get kinda wrapped up in the movies that Hurt describes for Julia and get a sense of just how much a showman Molina (and Hurt, by association) truly is. It does come close to Hurt chewing the scenery but he strikes the right balance for the antics of his character and you never feel like you're watching a ridiculous acting display. It's easy to see why this kicked off three straight Best Actor nominations for Hurt and why he won for his first one here. It's a tremendous performance from Hurt in a difficult role that he makes look so easy.
Harrison Ford - Witness
This is an easy nomination to explain. Yeah, it's Harrison Ford and you would think he has a couple Oscar nominations but no, this is his one and only nomination to date (and let's be real - ever). But this was the culmination of being in so many critically acclaimed and monster box office films. Ford is and was back then a Hollywood movie star in the purest sense. After this film, he would continue to be a star with some really great action films and more dramatic films. But this was the Academy finally saying yes, you are box office magic and we love you so here's an Oscar nomination for a film we also really love to the tune of eight Oscar nominations. And it's okay! Because Ford is a great actor and can you see him not having a nomination somewhere in his career? It just feels right and this seems like a good enough role for him to earn it on even if we can all point to his other more iconic roles as reasons to reward him. Here he plays a Philadelphia cop who responds to a murder and turns out an Amish boy saw who did it and implicates another Philly police officer in the murder. Ford gets into a brief shootout with the guy and then goes into Amish country to hide out and protect the young boy. He then confronts those responsible. It's basic thriller/crime drama stuff but if you're going to choose an actor for that, might as well be Ford. It's entertaining and the performance is fine enough but obviously this was never winning an Oscar. That's okay because a nomination doesn't have to always win. This is perfectly Harrison Ford stuff and I'm glad the Academy at least rewarded him once.
James Garner - Murphy's Romance
There's not really a negative thing you can say about this performance. That doesn't mean it's brilliant or an all-timer, mind you, just that's it's extremely enjoyable. I know Garner as a guy who was in Westerns and more notably, The Rockford Files. He's got a soothing voice that reminds me of Keith Carradine and he has the old school Hollywood good looks to match. In the film, he plays the titular Murphy who is a local store owner who takes a liking to Sally Field and is a guy who can pretty much do a little of everything. Obviously, the film is about a romance and Garner and Field have great chemistry powered by Field being so direct and Garner being very witty. That's what Garner's performance is all about: the wit and the charm. He doles out one liners and advice like they are the same thing. He's very funny and seems like a real good guy. You can say this is a career nomination and you'd be right, but this is definitely the career nomination I would prefer. An entertaining, enjoyable performance that highlights why the actor is so special. Again, Garner isn't amazing in the Oscar sense. But you realize he's kind of an awesome older guy in the film who is suave and cool and badass and charming and totally going to bang Sally Field. Even when her ex-husband shows back up he just continues being awesome. Honestly, watching him in this performance makes me want to watch his TV shows and other films. He seems like such a cool actor and gives a good career performance.
Jack Nicholson - Prizzi's Honor
I'm going to be really honest: this is probably the worst Jack Nicholson performance I've seen of his that others consider to be a good performance. I just don't get this nomination at all besides it just being a stature nomination. I don't much care for the film which is mostly boring to me even though the parts are better than the sum. Nicholson isn't bad really, it's just his performance isn't interesting in the slightest. The whole film has this weird comedic tone that isn't actually very funny and the performances themselves don't come off as funny even though it feels like Nicholson is trying to do things to be funny. So nothing he does lands with any effect and it just feels so blah. It's an uninspired performance for what should be something fun. He plays a hitman who falls for a lady hitman and they marry and then things happen with his mafia family and the two are contracted to kill each other. It should be darkly funny and provide a lot of entertaining and maybe even some serious, dramatic moments. But there is no moment where Nicholson really shines. He makes a plea towards the end to save his wife but it's not that memorable. I've seen people say this is good for a mafia film but even that angle is a little lacking, mostly because the interplay of the family and the hitmen should be more interesting and funny. It's one of the few films that seems to be lauded that I was thoroughly bored by and one of the few Nicholson performances that wasn't very entertaining. I don't understand the love and I don't like when the Academy props up a boring film or performance based off who directed it or starred in it. No way Nicholson should have been nominated for this.
Jon Voight - Runaway Train
This is a curious nomination and really speaks to my theory that if you've won an Oscar before, they won't hesitate to nominate you again no matter what. This isn't the typical Best Actor nomination type of material. Voight plays a bad prisoner who has been welded (welded!) into his cell and is finally getting out due to a court case. He gets out and promptly escapes with Eric Roberts' dopey ass and they eventually get onto a train that has no brakes and is flying down the Alaskan wilderness rails. It's an action adventure role that is portrayed with an over the top sensibility. Voight has like this New Yawk accent which of course makes him tough and gets injured a few times until it is convenient enough to stop him. Voight brings an intensity to the role it probably doesn't really deserve as we understand him to be the alpha male from the opening scenes. He's always dogging Roberts because he tagged along when he didn't want to so that relationship is at first one of annoyance. But it of course becomes one of respect by the end. So yeah, the film deals in cliches and that's okay because you're here to watch Voight and Roberts on a runaway train. That's kind of why I'm surprised this was nominated for both of them for a basic action adventure thriller. The film tells us how to respond to Voight, as well. He's a sympathetic figure because he's been welded off but is he a bad criminal? Is he actually a good dude? Is he a misunderstood guy? It's all over the place, though Voight tries his best to make his character interesting. And it's obvious that Voight is supposed to represent these different things but it's all muddled in the end. He is simply effective at being a fugitive on a train with a muddied history. Sometimes you don't need to dig too deep into these nominations and just accept that watching a criminal on a train in Alaska is enough.
A very entertaining Best Actor field. Surprisingly, the one I dislike the most is Jack Nicholson - didn't see that coming. But he's just not all that good and it's oddly dark but not funny. The whole film is off and Nicholson is part of the reason why. The rest of the gang is extremely entertaining. Voight is hammy fun in a film that's ridiculous but awesome. I don't know why it was nominated but I'm glad I got to watch it. Garner is just a cool old dude romancing Sally Field. Nothing amazing with his performance, it's just enjoyable. Harrison Ford is Harrison Ford. He does his usual thing in his film and it's fun to watch. Pure escapism. Hurt is the standout, though. While the others in this category are just movie star type roles, Hurt is actually a dramatic, Oscar-type performance. It's really tremendous and is a great first nomination of three in a row for Hurt. He's the easy and obvious winner this year. All in all a great, entertaining category.
Oscar Winner: William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman
My Winner: William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman
Harrison Ford
James Garner
Jon Voight
Jack Nicholson
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