Leading Actor 1997

Besides Damon, I've seen none of these so that's exciting for me, especially given the names attached.  I just hope those names live up to their previous billings! No rant for this category, so let's get to it.

1997 Best Actor

Jack Nicholson - As Good as It Gets

Here's Jack Nicholson playing Jack Nicholson. I kid somewhat but it's mostly true. While his About Schmidt performance has way more humor in it, the two are similar in a lot of ways. It's like Nicholson is pushing a bunch of the same notes in his performance but just in a slightly different order. In this film, he's an angry, self-absorbed writer with extreme OCD who has absolutely no tact, calling people derogatory names and saying whatever he's thinking however unpleasant that may be. It's as if the OCD thing should somehow excuse the abhorrent behavior. This character comes off very strong in the beginning which is probably why I have a hard time believing in his sudden change of heart into being a decent human being because he loves Hunt's character and also got to know his gay neighbor. Nicholson gives a strong performance and honestly, he's Jack Nicholson, he's going to give great performances. He's very domineering in this film at first, partly because of the persona, but also because that's just how good Nicholson is as actor. He takes over scenes probably without even meaning to do it. A lot of the Nicholson traits are present and work well for the character, my thing is that I just don't buy the 180 he does as a character. Nicholson is able to get by on his charisma and legacy but does rely on it a little too much in this performance, as he would in his later films. Nicholson has his moments where he is the best thing about the film and others where he ends up getting let down by the script and can't overcome it. It's a likable Nicholson performance but it definitely has it's flaws.

Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting

This was Damon's breakout role in the movie he wrote with his buddy Ben Affleck. So naturally he shines in the big part of Will Hunting. The movie is basically a fantasy as Damon gets to play the genius from Southie who upsets the intellectual elite in Boston by working as a janitor and in construction and getting the pretty, smart, British girl all while being kind of an asshole. Damon still displays his every man charm, the one he's been riffing off of for 20 years now and has made a career out of. His The Martian nomination is all about what he started with this character. The ability to charm the audience and get us rooting for him even if we aren't quite sure why we are other than he's a main character. Damon is good in this role because he's able to play two different sides of himself very well. He's the charming genius who is loyally devoted to his friends and he also is the douchebag genius who revels in letting the intellectual elite know just how easy he can do the proofs they spend years and months on all while squandering his potential because of bullshit ideals of staying true to his roots. The character is pretty layered and Damon is able to convey all of those layers easily and transition between the different sides of his character with little effort. It's impressive because the movie is resting squarely on his shoulders and if he were to falter the whole thing would come crashing down. Luckily, his performance works and we get an entertaining movie that might be a little goofy at times but is full of heart - much like Damon's performance, even if it's a little raw.

Robert Duvall - The Apostle

The Academy really loves to nominate passion projects, which is something about the Oscars that I've learned since doing this passion project. Duvall wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this film which is always impressive to me. But if it's your passion project and you're working on it for years and years, when you finally get to make it you better knock it the fuck out of the park! You can't go through all that and have it suck. Maybe that's why the Academy has honored Duvall and Ed Harris and Glenn Close among others with nominations because they know the dedication in spending years of your life trying to create something. Duvall surely does create something here. This is a terrific performance and Duvall really inhabits the role of a troubled preacher who starts up a new church in a small town. Duvall is great at becoming possessed by God like many televangelists and back water revivalists are. I was thinking that acting in that specific way has to be pretty easy and an actor's wet dream to be able to be as loud and ridiculous as possible. But Duvall showed you have to be great to make it believable. I'm sure anyone could go off shouting about the Lord but few could make you believe he was truly one with the Holy Spirit. There's more than just the shouting preacher to Duvall's performance, however, as we see him as a man quick to anger and dole out his own spiritual justice. The turns he makes from preacher to combatant mesh so well it can be hard to tell them apart. Duvall's character explains it as something divine but we know it's just an excuse to try and get away with kicking someone's ass or putting them into a coma. I thought in the beginning we were going to get this arrogant preacher who has anger issues and deals with his members and wife and church with the same slick hatred and conniving tactics to keep himself in power. The film defies my expectations when he goes on the run and settles in a small town and the film becomes this intimate man making amends but also satisfying his urge to be the Word of God because of his need for control and power of something. Duvall is fantastic especially during this part of the film when he's enthusiastic about building his new church and congregation that we start rooting him on. He dances on that fine line between sincerity and snake oil salesman and he's a treat to watch. I said that if you're going to devote years of your life to a passion project, you'd better knock it out of the park. Well, Duvall hits a grand slam because this is a role and performance and film he should be better known for. He is the Apostle, through and through. This is a must watch for Duvall's performance and I'm glad the Academy nominated him so I could watch this.

Peter Fonda - Ulee's Gold

This movie doesn't have a very good start to it. Let me back up a second and say that I'd heard good things about this performance all over the place. This was one of the first Best Actor performances I'd never heard of at all. I'd never heard of Ulee's Gold and I was very much alive in 1997. So I was intrigued at what the Academy might have unearthed so to speak that people seemed to like a lot. Most of the praise was that Fonda evoked his father in this performance because it's a quietly strong man trying to deal with life on his own terms. He doesn't say a whole lot and has that morally good quality to him. Yeah sure, he reminds you of his father Henry but let's not get carried away now. The movie does start off poorly like I said. The writing is just bad and comes off sounding like someone's first attempt at writing a script. The acting all around is wooden and awkward and subpar, including Fonda. This is a small indie movie about Fonda who is a beekeeper in North Florida who takes care of his son's daughters while he's in jail and then gets their junkie mother from Orlando. It starts out really rough, but once it settles in and the script gets a little bit better, Fonda's performance benefits and looks a lot better. It honestly reminds me of a mix of Clint Eastwood and some Henry Fonda, with the weariness of keeping a family together and the whole stern, breathy voice. At least you can say Fonda gives this performance his heart and soul, as I think that's pretty evident here. It's quiet as already stated but also strong, clunky writing be damned. Fonda is better the further he gets away from that writing so towards the end where he doesn't speak as much, the performance is best. I can see what all the critics loved about it but I do still think they are conveniently overlooking the flaws and exaggerating the strengths of the performance. If this was me in the role of Ulee, this isn't getting nominated. It's nomination is in large part because of the name as it is the performance. I really do like the beekeeping stuff, also, as it is pretty fascinating. It helps that Fonda's dad also kept bees so Peter at least had that experience to draw on for those scenes, which helps. So it does have that going for it but let's not make it seem like this is a can't miss performance. Fonda is good but I liked other performances in this group more.

Dustin Hoffman - Wag the Dog

A lot has been said about Wag the Dog already, but it's still amazing that this political satire that basically mirrored the Clinton scandal came out months before any of that actually happened. It's a pretty funny film, made funnier by the real life events that came later and is funny in large part due to Hoffman's performance. This is not much of a challenging role for Hoffman, but it's one he nails regardless of how difficult it is. He's clearly having a lot of fun in the role and that translates to a very good performance. He plays a Hollywood producer who is enlisted to help start a fake war to get the pressure off the president having an affair, or I think it was sexual harassment in the film, and is determined to make his war a worthy production. I love that Hoffman's character treats the whole thing like a big budget movie, always pushing for his vision to be realized and getting agitated when things don't work out his way just like a movie producer would. He's totally invested in his product and detached from even caring about it's real world implications. He doesn't care about the political and real life part, he just wants his war to be well done and to his specifications. He treats the President like an actor and the whole thing is just really hilarious to me. Hoffman portrays the producer perfectly, infusing his work with a sense of pride at getting the job done and singular determinism at making sure it work even with all the hitches and hiccups. He plays it like a producer should without any big emotional points or loud acting, just getting the war and it's components done like it was any other movie. It may not be Hoffman's best work but he's really good in the role and brings a lot of humor to it as well. I'm glad this performance is included because it's really entertaining and Hoffman deserves to be here.


Overall, this is a pretty damn good group. There's not a performance I dislike at all and that's a rare thing. It's interesting because when I looked down the years at what I had to watch, this jumped out with two films I'd never heard of being nominated in Duvall and Fonda. I liked Duvall so much I made him my winner. That's a performance that would make a top 10 or so of the decade, probably. Fonda started out awful but redeemed himself and made for an interesting performance to be my  3rd guy. Hoffman would actually slot in between those as number two because his performance was just so fun and humorous. Amazing that he shot that with Barry Levinson while on a break from them making The Sphere. That was done as like a distraction! That's crazy. Anyway, I liked him a lot in that film. Now, Nicholson is my 4th because it's not that great compared to his other stuff, before and after, and honestly I'd rather Fonda win this year than Jack. It just didn't do much for me. Damon comes in last because he's still pretty green and his performance is not fully fleshed out. But hey, I'll take a category like this at any time. Give me categories where I like every performance and I'll be happy.

Oscar Winner: Jack Nicholson - As Good as It Gets
My Winner:  Robert Duvall - The Apostle
Dustin Hoffman
Peter Fonda
Jack Nicholson
Matt Damon