This was Daniel Kaluuya's Oscar the whole way through. He won everything throughout awards season and it made for a very uninteresting race for this category. The only interesting and shocking thing was that LaKeith Stanfield's name was announced on the morning of the nominations. He wasn't on anyone's list and I don't think he was nominated by any other group which made his inclusion so surprising. Especially because the other fifth nominee all season long was Chadwick Boseman and you'd think that the Academy would have loved to double posthumously nominate him. Really interested to see Kaluuya because no one else was even really a thought here besides Boseman.
2020 Best Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Yeah, this was Daniel Kaluuya's Oscar from the jump. And he legitimately deserves it! If alive during this time, we all saw the commercials where he was shouting a call and response of I am...a revolutionary! That is the film in a nutshell but also speaks to Kaluuya's great use of diction and cadence. It feels important and like it has gravitas behind it. And that's the thing with this performance, Kaluuya plays Fred Hampton, a leader in the Black Panther party who uses his oratory skills (at 21 in real life) to help win over lots of different looking and minded folks. Kaluuya is legit fantastic at how he uses cadence and tone to hammer home his speeches and message. I love how the speeches resonate like they are fresh for today and speaking to the audience. I also like how he is a real person underneath as we see him flirt with a random lady who becomes a member of the party. It's gradual and earned and gives his character a bit of an arc and some actual character development. Kaluuya is best at being on the stage giving speeches, but he is also great at the quiet moments between staff, his girl, and when he has to take over and be a leader. When he goes to different folks like the rednecks and the Latinos, it all just works. He has two voices, the big speeches and the normal everyday conversations with the community. This is one of those performances where I think he wins because his grand moments are so good and powerful that you can't forget them. Yeah, he has all the other moments, but we are forever remembering the I am....a revolutionary! call to arms. It's great stuff and I am so glad that Kaluuya got more to do after Get Out because that could have been the highlight of his career, but we got some even better acting here.
Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7
This almost felt like who should represent this absolutely stacked film, okay let's give it to Cohen who also has a great film with his Borat thing and leave it at that. Which is not to say that Cohen is not a good actor, because he is a great dramatic actor and has proved himself of that many times before. I think Cohen really gets the nod here because he has the most Oscar worthy moment where he is on the stand and has the line of I didn't think my thoughts were on trial. I don't think anyone else has a quotable line like that and Cohen played his character to great effect. He was worried about his American accent but I think it was good, though I couldn't place where it was from and his character Abbie Hoffman was from Massachusetts and California so it was a mixed accent. The fact that I am critiquing his accent should tell you that he does a great job with the actual content of the performance. We get flashbacks, or maybe flashforwards because I think that's what they were, of his stand up and it is good. Cohen does a good job with the role and with the film and keeps us invested in everything. It feels like Cohen should have an Oscar acting nomination by now and I'm glad he does because he is a great chameleon of an actor. I have to point out this is his third nomination, as he was nominated for writing both Borat films, which I think also points to how much the Academy likes him and why he was nominated in this film. Never going to be a winner, but a pretty good film to watch regardless.
Leslie Odom Jr. - One Night in Miami...
Leslie Odom Jr. was a double nominee this year as he also was nominated for co-writing a Best Song nominee for this film. Which has happened multiple times recently where someone was nominated for acting and song in the same year, with 2017 being the first time it ever happened with Mary J. Blige. Wild. Odom Jr. plays soul singer Sam Cooke in this film where Jim Brown, Malcolm X, and Cooke all hang out in Miami and then celebrate Cassius Clay's title bout. It's based off a one act play and it feels like a bottle episode of a TV show where everything takes place in one room. That's not exactly how the film goes as there are a few different locations, but the sentiment is the same. The guys all come together and discuss topics of the day and each of their impacts on the black community. It wants to be a lot more intellectual than it really is, so it suffers from a lack of punching power to make these discussions have any emotional impact on the viewer. It's really cool to see these guys all together and butting heads and doing what each does best. But the appeal is mostly these famous people all being portrayed and not the substance of what they say, unfortunately. As for Odom Jr., he is fine as Cooke. I think that he and the actor who portrays Malcolm X, Kingsley Ben-Adir, were the two best of the four guys. Brown and Clay didn't really get to do a whole lot other than look like who they were. I also think that Odom Jr. had the most notable name recognition and is why he was the choice. I wish I could point to some specific Oscar moment, but Odom Jr. is just solidly good throughout with his singing and with showing the passion of Cooke's convictions. A good performance that I can't get too excited about, but a film worth watching.
Paul Raci - Sound of Metal
This was a performance I was keenly looking forward to watching. The concept of the film was intriguing, which is about a metal drummer and former addict losing his hearing and dealing with that new reality. Raci plays a deaf man who runs a shelter for deaf addicts, for which he is also a recovering addict. Raci had some character actor credits before this but was mostly unknown. He is a prominent figure in the deaf community, however, as he is a child of deaf adults. So Raci can hear, but is also fluent in ASL as he even had a sort of ASL band in that community. So this character is a very personal one for Raci, including being a Vietnam veteran and a recovering addict in real life. All of that points to how real and honest his portrayal of his character is and how he deals with Riz Ahmed's initial reluctance to integrate and deal with his newfound issue. Raci is a no bullshit kind of guy and the character is the same way, he just lays out the truth and goes from there whether you want to accept it or not. His talk with Ahmed about continuing on with the program in a different role to help others and being disappointed with his decision to get a cochlear implant is very raw and feels entirely authentic. It's like a father trying to help his son only to realize he is still addicted to something else that isn't drugs and needing to cut ties. This is a performance where Raci's real life experiences help shape and form his character into something so wholly believable that we forget he is acting in a film. We feel his passion to help and his disappointment when it doesn't end how he would like it to end. We understand that deaf people don't need to be fixed and Raci hammers that message home that it's okay to be deaf. A wonderfully real performance that has me rooting for it now.
LaKeith Stanfield - Judas and the Black Messiah
This was the surprise of the morning when nominations were announced. Probably the biggest one of the whole shebang. Stanfield is basically the lead of the film. He wasn't nominated anywhere that carried weight with Oscar prognosticators but was nominated in lead for like the NAACP and BET awards. Him showing up in Supporting was out of left field and just absolute category fraud. He is the catalyst for the film, as his character is the one that infiltrates the Black Panther's and reports on their goings on to the FBI who are using him. We mostly see the story through his actions. Stanfield is great in his role, no matter if it belongs in this category or not. He starts out as some chump using a fake FBI badge to boost cars and gets recruited that way. He joins the Black Panthers and weasels his way into a position of importance, at first because he just wants money. But later you can infer that he believes in the cause after all the craziness that has happened and wants to further the cause. He is also beholden to the almighty dollar which seems to win out more than loyalty or principal. Obviously, Stanfield is the Judas in the title of the film. He ultimately betrays Fred Hampton in the end and while he gets out of his troubles with the feds, his life isn't a happy one. Stanfield does a great job in playing both sides of his character where one minute he is committed to the cause and the next he is licking his fingers after a steak dinner paid for by the FBI. He is a great rat, who has to play both sides and be convincing at both. I read that Stanfield went to therapy after this role and I get it. To play a man who brought down a black empowerment movement and potentially killed some prominent figures in black history has to take some time to decompress from even when just acting. It's indicative of how good Stanfield has been recently, and while this is an out of left field nomination, I am glad he got the recognition.
This is a somewhat strong group, maybe a little top heavy. Kaluuya is by far the runaway winner. He just seizes the moment and delivers an incredible performance that leaves a lasting legacy. Raci is also phenomenal but not in the grandiose way that Kaluuya is. Raci is more quiet (no pun intended) and father-like in trying to help out Riz Ahmed's character. Raci has lived that performance in real life before so it brings a lot of authenticity to the role and film. Cohen represents his film and possibly could have been changed out for a couple other actors, but he does have the most memorable moment in the film and feels like a good fit to be nominated. Odom Jr. also represents his film, though it's not particularly strong and I suspect that him have a banner year with his music and theater stuff played into being nominated here. Stanfield is great, but he is absolutely a prime example of category fraud. He is the lead of the film easily and shouldn't be here. I love that he got recognition for the role, though. A decent group with an easy, possible all time winner. Ready for the next one.
Oscar Winner: Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
My Winner: Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Paul Raci
Sacha Baron Cohen
Leslie Odom Jr.
LaKeith Stanfield
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