The names on this list are all strong actors and it made for a pretty great awards season for this category. The race was ultimately between Malek and Bale, with Cooper starting strong but fading early on. Viggo and Dafoe were glad to be there and probably very deserving, too. But obviously Malek came out on top and it's one of those wins I've questioned. I haven't seen it yet, but I wonder if it truly deserved to win. I guess I'll have to watch to find out.
2018 Best Actor
Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
I don't want to talk bad about Rami, but I was way less than enthused about this film. Okay, I really disliked it overall. This is not a Best Picture quality film. It's a film that produces a Best Actor winner, sure, but not an Editing win and a Picture nomination. I can't wrap my head around those things but we are here for Malek. I like Rami! I think he's such a talented actor and I enjoy his TV work and was actually happy that a young man like him won. But having watched his performance, I have my complaints. I did not like the first part of this film at all. There was nothing redeemable about it. Malek is uncomfortable as Freddie Mercury and the fake teeth are front and center. It's like watching someone be super uncomfortable with new braces or false teeth or something. Constant attention is drawn to his teeth and we don't need that, since we see it already. So Malek is hamstrung by that in the beginning, not to mention the direction and editing and story and dialogue all suck hard in the first half. It just does and there is nothing Malek can do to combat that. But the film does start to have more for Freddie to do even though we don't get to learn as much as we want about his personal life. Okay, he bangs a chick and eventually marries her. I know Freddie to be gay and this big hero of gay rights, died of AIDS, all that. Why the hell was this part of his life that most people probably didn't realize/know just brushed aside? That's what I mean by hamstrung. Rami is dealing with that kind of thing throughout the film. Rami/Freddie doesn't really get to shine until the middle of the film when we see him doing songs and then eventually exploring his sexuality. This film needed to explore all of that way more in depth and continue with it. This is the Cliff Notes version of Queen and Freddie Mercury. Now, Malek does a great job lip syncing, which I do have a problem with. I don't like lip syncing but I know no one is going to match Freddie Mercury even if they tried for years. Malek matches Mercury's energy to a T. And as the movie goes on Mercury and Malek become way more synonymous. I feel like there needed to be way more editing or re-shoots for the first hour or so because it didn't really gel. But by gods, Malek is perfect in the Live Aid scenes. Just absolutely perfect. He ramps up the intensity and dances and prances and sings and plays piano just like Freddie does and you can tell that was a focus of all his energy. I just wish that energy would have been applied equally to the rest of the performance and film because I know both could be better. I'm not a fan of this win based off of the performance, but I'll keep an open mind in case no one else supplants Malek.
Christian Bale - Vice
This is one of those transformative type of roles and that's exactly what Bale excels at. He's done it his whole career with gaining a ton of muscle for the Batman roles to losing a ton of weight for The Machinist or The Fighter to getting fat for American Hustle or this film. Bale is one of those actors who has no problem going method and becoming and embodying whoever the character he is portraying. It's impressive and has given us some of the best acting of his generation. Bale was the only other serious contender for the win here and even though Malek swept everything, I was rooting for Bale on Oscar night because I think he is such an amazing actor. I feel he deserves a Best Actor Oscar to go along with his Best Supporting win. Obviously he plays Vice President Dick Cheney in this film and there are times if you pause the film you will not be able to tell the difference. Kudos to the makeup team but also to Bale to fully embody this heinous man. I also like how Bale can capture that arrogance and importance of a man so disliked by a huge portion of America. I also like how Bale can imbue this dickhead with some legitimate humanity when it comes to his gay daughter or getting caught for a DUI. He wants and craves power, but his wife is the driving force that pushes him to achieve all that he can. I just love all the choices that Bale makes for the voice and the look and the mannerisms that make his Cheney a complete character. It's easy to make this character into a shitty, evil version of the man we know, but at least Bale tries to give Dick some depth. Even still, it is mostly an interpretation of an already established person, which we see from the winner in this category as well. I think it will be left up to who you think pulls off the real version the best.
Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born
Ah man, I've become such a big Cooper fan because of roles like this. He just transforms into someone else entirely and gets you to forget he's Bradley fucking Cooper. He can play all kinds of roles so it's a pleasure to watch him dive into an alcoholic musician type and absolutely nail it, which is a weird sentence to write. But he is really incredible as this singer who is struggling with alcoholism who meets a beautiful woman who is even more talented than he is. This is a film that's been remade so many times now yet Cooper was able to modernize it as the director and bring some otherworldly truth the to the character as the actor. It's equally impressive that he sang and even played guitar for the film. Those concert scenes are real and his voice is so good that I would love a full album from Cooper. That's dedication to the craft and the character and makes the film seem much more personal and real. His chemistry with Lady Gaga is undeniable and off the charts. It makes their relationship feel like we are fly on the wall in the real world watching it all unfold. His relationship with his brother, Sam Elliott, is also very authentic, probably because Cooper modeled his gruff, mumbly voice off of Elliott's. It's these little things that add up to make a performance become so damn good. His character, while being an awful alcoholic, is still charming and lovely and a guy you'd want to be around or with. So that makes the ending even more tragic and heartbreaking and it all feels so earned and just hits you even harder because we, too, fall for this man even with all his troubles. I think Cooper is brilliant and this is another amazing performance from him. It's a shame he wasn't rewarded for it but I hope in the future he finally gets his due.
Willem Dafoe - At Eternity's Gate
I feel like Willem Dafoe should be considered for some other award and not an Oscar for this work. Why do you say that? Because this performance is so far removed from the rest of this category. It's true! The rest act in normal Hollywood films and then we have Dafoe in a Julian Schnabel film. We know he is brilliant and dedicated but at this point, we expect this from Dafoe. How insane is that, that we expect Willem Dafoe to deliver these brilliant, undefinable pieces of acting. Because that's what Dafoe gives routinely and we just go on debating about Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio or George Clooney or something like that. The point is that Dafoe embodies every character he becomes. I saw The Lighthouse with Robert Pattinson and they were both brilliant. It feels like the Academy and Hollywood were inching towards rewarding Dafoe for his brilliance and then backed off, meaning it felt like they were ready to finally reward him but they haven't yet. A lot of the credit can go to Schnabel for his directing style that evokes a lot of emotion. But Dafoe melds the directing and acting into this sublimely melancholy work of art. If you have never seen a Julian Schnabel film, go watch The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It's amazing for one, but also because it's themes are the same that define this Vincent van Gogh piece. It's extreme closeups that mimic the character's point of view. It's moving camera work that represents the character's thoughts. It's the luscious, hazy cinematography that defines the dreamlike world in which van Gogh exists. It's so damn good and yet no one will have ever watched it. I can see this performance as one of those that we look back on in 10 years as a wait, what was that film again? It feels destined to be one of those completely forgotten nominees that someone in the future looks at and goes oh yeah, Willem Dafoe was nominated for that random ass film. But he's so good in the role. The conversation he has with Mads Mikkelsen who is a priest deciding if Dafoe is worthy of getting out of an asylum is a thing of beauty. I want to watch their discussion over and over because it's acting at it's finest quality. This performance is not as showy as the others, but still demands one to watch it so they can experience acting at it's most definable core. I wasn't sure what to expect going in but I love this performance. It may not even end up my winner, but I hold a special place for it knowing it will probably transcend the years to be one of Dafoe's greatest accomplishments.
Viggo Mortensen - Green Book
It's crazy to me that Viggo is over 60 years old because he doesn't look that old to me at all! I'm a big fan of Viggo's work and he's been mostly over looked by the Academy through the years but has finally gotten some love the last couple years. It's also quite evident that the Academy loved and adored this film because Viggo and Mahershala Ali were nominated. I say that because I'm not wild about either performance no matter how good the actors are. I've already talked about Ali, but some of the same problems exist in Viggo's performance, too. It doesn't really wow, especially considering that Viggo (and Ali) can and have given us way better work. This role and character is a very broad comedic one and Viggo plays it that way the whole film. He's like a big, dumb, casually racist Neanderthal who eats a ton and through the interactions with Ali, becomes a better person. This is some easily digestible feel good pap and while Viggo is good in the role for what is asked of him, it doesn't pop off the screen to me. I actually am more interested in when Viggo's character turns into a badass and becomes a sort of protector of Ali. It's like you can see the Eastern Promises character start to come alive in Viggo and that aspect is inherently more interesting than the buddy movie formula we get. The film goes back and forth between comedy and serious drama and I think it can be hard to balance the same character between those two sides of the film. While watching this performance, I found myself thinking back on all of Viggo's amazing work in his career and wishing this one could manage to muster up any semblance of those other performances. I think Viggo is great but this performance is too broad and unexciting for me to really care about.
Wow, this was a fucking tough one to figure out! I don't agree with the Academy at all and didn't really like Malek's win. The performance feels so unbalance to me and it's only saved by that awesome Live Aid end scene. But I felt Viggo was even worse. I love him as an actor but that was such a broad, uneven performance. It's not his typical strong, nuanced work that has depth. Just a huge miss for me. Bale is next for trying to do something interesting with Cheney and hitting on it for the most part. He really tries to become the man and get inside him and show us who he is. It's good work, but these other two are just leaps beyond him. I honestly couldn't really figure out who to give the win to. Cooper is so good in his role and I love that he actually sings and plays guitar and matches his accent to Elliott and has amazing chemistry with Gaga while portraying this doomed alcoholic musician. It's incredible work and Cooper deserves an Oscar someday. But Dafoe really wowed me. I have loved a lot of his work and he's been knocking it out of the park recently, but this was some truly inspired acting. That might go down as some of the best acting ever, certainly of his career. It's so good and I hope more people get the chance to check it out. This year is top heavy. The ones on top are sooo good. The ones on the bottom are so disappointing. I don't like Malek's win but it's cool he won it, if you understand what I mean.
Oscar Winner: Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
My Winner: Willem Dafoe - At Eternity's Gate
Bradley Cooper
Christian Bale
Rami Malek
Viggo Mortensen
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