This was Regina King's award all the way through the awards season. She won basically everything and Oscar night was more of a formality. You had two previous Oscar winners from the same film splitting the vote and a foreign film nominee who came out of literally nowhere to get a nomination. Marina de Tavira literally had no precursor nominations from anyone so her inclusion was a huge surprise. She wasn't going to win, though, and it was basically up to Adams to try and beat King. But she mostly seemed to just come along for the ride with her film which she has done a few times now with her nominations. So, easy win for King. Now I just have to actually watch them and see if I agree.
2018 Best Supporting Actress
Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
This was Barry Jenkins' follow up film to Moonlight and it carries on his luscious cinematography and moody interpersonal dramatic style. This film is more melodramatic and follows in the footsteps of Douglas Sirk with the languid pace and lingering shots of the main character as the moody score plays on top of it all. It's a well done film and visually beautiful. I had issues with some of the acting and with how the dialogue seems unnatural. King plays the mother of the main girl whose husband is falsely accused of rape and ends up in jail. The girl becomes pregnant and the film is about their situation and trying to get the guy out of prison. So King is the strong, protective mother character and while she doesn't get many scenes, she does make great use of her time on screen. I felt like King stood out because she felt like the most natural character in the film. She speaks normally and doesn't talk in the prose from the James Baldwin novel the film is based on. And her character has a singular mission to protect her daughter and fight to keep her world from collapsing around her. So she has this protective mother role and that's all she has to do. I would have liked more depth to the character and even the story as a whole because I feel it probably doesn't quite live up to Baldwin's novel. But King brings an intensity to the role you'd find in a mother determined to help her child and we see that the scene where she appeals to the guy in prison's mother about not cursing her grandchild. It's sincere and from the heart and makes you instantly on King's side. Her other big scene is when she goes to Puerto Rico to confront the woman who is accusing her son-in-law of rape. It's heartbreaking and intense and you feel for both women in the moment. But at the end when the woman starts screaming and is taken away, you feel King's desperation as she mutters fuck! because she knows she may have screwed up the chances of getting him out of trouble. I think it's strong work from King and seems very deserving to me. I'm happy she won and I'll figure out if she is indeed my clear cut winner, too.
Amy Adams - Vice
Poor Amy! She just can't catch a break when it comes to winning. For most of her performances it seems like she is being swept up along with the film as a whole and gets nominated that way. So she just comes along for the ride and doesn't get a proper look and here we are sitting at her 6th (!) nomination without a win. Other than her first nomination for Junebug, you could say she got carried into a nomination because the films were heavily liked and got lots of acting nominations. That's not denigrating Adams by any means, it's just that she has been incredible in so many ensemble films that do well at the Oscars and she hasn't been the winner. I don't think she campaigns, at least much, and others do and so she goes by the wayside. She's an amazing actress and probably should have won one Oscar by now. I loved her in Arrival and The Master and those would have been good wins. In this film, she plays Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne. She is sort of the driving force behind him. She spurs him into action and kicks his ass when he needs it after getting a DUI or having a heart attack or whatever it may be. She looks the part, plays the character perfectly when it comes to accent, and just delivers her routinely strong performance. I would say it stands out in the film because she does have such a domineering presence but the film forgets her as soon as she isn't on screen and Adams doesn't do enough to keep her memorable once the focus is back on the historical moments. So she's good as usual, but not good enough for the win, especially having already seen the winner and knowing King does a great job.
Marina de Tavira - Roma
When nominations were announced, this one was the big shocker of the morning for the acting categories. Marina de Tavira had not shown up anywhere else for any of the precursor awards or even critics groups. She was just nowhere to be found and then bam, here she is nominated for an Oscar. It's clear that she came along for the ride with Roma and clearly there was a lot of lover overall for the film. It's good then that de Tavira doesn't just come along for a nothing role. She plays the wife/mother in the film and is the employer of Yalitza Aparicio's character. As the story unfolds, we see that de Tavira's relationship is not as wonderful as it seems and her husband is always gone and then we see it's because he's seeing other women. de Tavira has a couple strong acting moments in the film, namely when she is on the phone with her cheating husband and comes out of her room and finds one of her sons listening in and she slaps him and then immediately starts crying and consoling him and then yells at Aparicio for letting him listen. It's this rapid fire emotional outburst that is impressive and adds to the film overall. There's a couple other good moments for de Tavira who does what is needed from her character and does it very well. It's a natural performance that serves the film wonderfully and is great that she was recognized by the Academy. She was never going to win but it's nice to just have someone different on this list for once, someone that would normally always be overlooked. She may not be amazing and a sure thing winner, but she gives a strong performance in a great film.
Emma Stone - The Favourite
It's great that we got the double nominees back to back so this will actually flow well together a be a bit more cohesive. I'll start off by saying I don't really see these two as supporting actors in this film. If anything, they are both co-leads, as the film is about their rivalry and their striving to be the real power behind the throne. Stone is a cousin to Weisz's character but her father lost her as a bet in some game, if I'm not mistaken. So she goes to the palace to work as a maid before inserting herself into the Queen's life and helping her with her gout. Then it becomes a game for the two to see who can win the Queen's affection and trust, which Weisz has had for awhile now. Stone is very good in the role. She excels at those roles where she's at the bottom and/or not considered pretty or talented or whatever. Then she becomes some kind of force and is this beautiful, confident woman who is determined to succeed. Stone and Weisz's back and forth as the film goes on is great to watch as both women are such incredible actors and watching them being snarkily savage to each other in the nicest way possible is hilarious. Their dialogue and the way they deliver it in such nonchalant ways while actually tearing each other down is something that takes finesse to come off as intended. They both clearly have a lot of fun with their roles and then throw Olivia Colman in the mix and all of their scenes together is a hoot. You are just waiting for the next savage take down masked as a compliment. It's also about their physical comedy and timing like Stone walking down a hallway saying Fuck!. A lot of it is in how they move a certain way or how they walk or pausing before saying something funny. Both are fantastic at doing all of that kind of comedy and keeping it from being such a ham fisted, broadly obvious thing. I think it's good work that they both had fun with and enjoyed immensely which in turn made their performances that much more believable and better for the audience.
Rachel Weisz - The Favourite
I think Stone had more of an upper hand with this kind of role because she came from somewhat of a comedy background. Weisz has always been a serious actor to me, but can also shine in other ways, as well. Weisz is already the confidante of the Queen. She is also her lover and in turn the real power behind the throne. As Queen Anne is in the throes of depression and seemingly overburdened with having to lead, Weisz is the one who makes all the decisions and guides the Queen in what to do. Then enters Stone and the two are cordial at first but then the claws come out and it's game on. Both are hilarious and see above for most of what can be said here for Weisz. Both are very similar in this film, though Weisz is more serious and dignified. I think she also does a great job in the role and feel like the two actors probably split the vote. Plus, they both already have their Oscars, so this was just two (or three with Colman) women having a grand old time acting together in a savagely funny film. I slightly like Stone better because I think the film gives her more to do as the one who is plotting and conniving her way into Weisz's role. But Weisz is strong in the role and is able to stand on her own and gives a good performance herself. Both are good and even though it doesn't really feel supporting, I'm cool with the double nomination.
This was a foregone conclusion for the whole awards season and in the end I feel King was the right pick. It has that right amount of intensity and tenderness that a motherly role like that should have. I'll stick with the Academy on this one. Adams is just along for the ride and happy to be nominated. I didn't think it was amazing and kinda wish someone else took her spot to be honest, but it was still fine overall. Marina de Tavira would be next simply because she doesn't get all that much opportunity to shine. She has some good scenes but doesn't quite have the same impact as the others. The rest is the women from The Favourite. They have a ton to do in the film and make the most of it. I like Stone a bit more than Weisz, but both are good. Both had also won already, so I'm glad they probably split the vote and allowed King to win. This was a decent year with some very good films represented here. I like the minority representation as it doesn't feel forced and all of these women are very good actresses. A decent year for a category that can often disappoint.
Oscar Winner: Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
My Winner: Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone
Rachel Weisz
Marina de Tavira
Amy Adams
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