This was another Supporting category that was over before it ever really began. Downey Jr swept everything just like Da'Vine Joy Randolph did, so these were a little boring to follow. This category was even more boring because these nominees, except for the surprise inclusion of Brown which wasn't much of a surprise, honestly, were the same group throughout the season. I say Brown was a minor surprise because he felt like the fifth spot but was nominated at SAG, so he had popular support. I am excited to watch all of these because they all had their champions online and in the media, and they all feel like they could get my support for the win, too.
2023 Best Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer
It seems a little silly that RDJ didn't have an Oscar before this because he had been in so many different great films with a bunch of good performances. This felt inevitable and I'm honestly glad it was for a non-comic book role. Nothing against Marvel, but this performance and role showed us that RDJ still has a lot more to give, which made the announcement that he was going back to Marvel kind of sting because he gave us a winner and then dipped. Maybe his Doom will be generational, I dunno. I just want more of this type of role from him. Here he plays Admiral Lewis Strauss, a high ranking member of the Atomic Energy Commission who eventually orchestrates a kangaroo court against Oppy, which in turn costs him a Senate Confirmation for Secretary of Commerce (yeah, I had to read wiki for that because I had no idea what either of the last trials were for). Which all stems from a perceived slight of RDJ's character by Oppenheimer while the latter greeted Einstein at a lake. We then next see RDJ trying to be slick in some government proceedings and the pettiness that sets all this off is interesting. I did find that the film sagged a bit at the end and I think it's mainly due to the build up to the bomb being much more intriguing and exciting than some bureaucratic proceedings, though RDJ is fine enough in these scenes. This performance was honestly much better than I anticipated because I was thinking it was going to be much shorter and more like a cameo, but it did have some meat on the bones. Hopefully RDJ gets his comic book film fill and comes back to these kinds of films so we don't miss out on some good to great performances.
Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction
Okay, this was a minor surprise on nomination day, but let's be honest, we kinda expect Brown to be nominated in this category. He's got a Globe, a few Emmys, and a few SAG awards mostly for his TV work. Naturally, he would take his talents to film and his character in this role is a younger brother who is over a marriage and now embracing his homosexuality and deep in his drug use. The film itself is a satire of a black man who writes a stereotypical "black" book because another book of the same mold from an educated black woman who wrote a best seller was getting lots of attention. Brown is the younger brother of Jeffrey Wright, the author, and we see him act unapologetically gay and as someone who is doing drugs and is just living his life as his true self now. He has some funny moments where he interrupts his brother and just has some wild behavior at other times. He also has some brief tender moments with his brother that don't last long before he either departs or says watch this bullshit and does something crazy. It's a minor performance that is elevated because Brown is such a phenomenal actor. He was never going to win but I think we all agree him having an Oscar nomination feels right and is totally deserved.
Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon
This was De Niro's 8th acting nomination and 9th total (he had a producer nom for The Irishman). It's honestly easy to look at any new De Niro nomination with a side eye and wonder if this is simply because he's an acting legend getting on in years and the Academy wants to reward him one last time. But this is also a Scorsese film, and you know De Niro ain't half-assing a performance with Marty, so then I get curious as to how good this might actually be. For me, the surprising thing about this performance was how benign he seemed initially and the accent he had going on. It wasn't De Niro sounding like De Niro or a New Yorker, he had the midwestern accent and it was nice to know he'd put in the effort to become King Hale, who basically runs the area in Oklahoma where this is set, and that he had such a grandfatherly demeanor. Especially since De Niro is essentially the villain of the story, which of course we find out later, but I'm glad that De Niro didn't play him evil from the outset and added more depth to the character to cause us to think about who he really was and didn't fall back into the cliches of De Niro like some veteran actors do when they don't put in the work. The performance builds as we see De Niro assert his influence on the town and the Osage members, one scene is where a tribal council has convened about the murders and they offer up money to have it investigated and De Niro pipes up that he'll put up $1,000 and for anyone with concerns or info to come see him directly. It makes him seem like a friend to the Osage and comes off as being normal and natural, but of course is a bit nefarious in hindsight. That's where the performance shines is the menacing nature that bubbles up at times to the surface of De Niro's character until we see just how evil he is. This is one of the better De Niro performances I have seen in a long time, much better than The Irishman and hope we can get more of this in the future before De Niro calls it quits.
Ryan Gosling - Barbie
There was a brief time during the Barbenheimer craze that Gosling looked to possibly be a front runner. I am of the belief that the Academy is very wary of rewarding a pure comedy performance like this one with no actual facts to back it up. This was Gosling's third Oscar nomination and I do hope he gets one some day. This one he plays Ken and really not much else needs to be explained because we all know what Ken represents. What I love about the performance is the earnestness with which Gosling plays the character. There is no wavering. There is no popping out of character to have some discussion about what the character means. Gosling is Ken. And his physical comedy for the role is dedicated and almost unmatched. This is full comedy but even when making jokes we can understand the different feelings Ken is going through. Apparently, Gosling made some choices for the character that cracked up director Greta Gerwig like the putting on double sunglasses or yelling Sublime! when Barbie tricks him by asking to be his girlfriend. I love when an actor is so dedicated that they can influence their character in the positive by being so in tune with them that they improve the performance with their improvisations. Gosling just gets Ken. One of my favorite scenes is Ken singing "Push" by Rob Thomas and he is singing it in such an exaggerated way. It's hilarious and perfectly Ken and really made me love the performance overall. This is what makes a great Supporting Actor. Gosling has the dramatic work that has been nominated and some that hasn't, but like his fellow nominees in Downey Jr and Ruffalo, they can excel at both dramatic and comedic and make them feel worth nominating. Gosling is certainly Kenough.
Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things
Ruffalo is starting to turn into one of those actors where they seem to get nominated whenever they do anything. I may be conflating his Emmy love with his Oscar love, but the guy just puts in the work in both mediums and delivers seemingly every time. This is not a nom that you point to as being bad or of some inflated worth, Ruffalo is legitimately good in this role. He's a lawyer called to set up the marriage contract between Emma Stone and her potential husband, Ramy Youssef. Ruffalo then runs off with Stone and has lots of sex with her, mind you she is a woman with a brain of a child, so he is clearly taking advantage of her. While doing so, Bella (Stone) begins to mature and doing things on her own as Ruffalo tries to keep her reigned in. There are lots of funny moments and Ruffalo is fine in the role and is this sort of scoundrel or reprobate, but it's hard to like the character who is essentially fucking a literal child mentally. It's icky and he's smarmy and really leans into the faux-sophisticated man he portrays. His performance is lustfully dumb even as he battles Bella as she becomes more philosophically inclined and independent. It's decent stuff from Ruffalo, though the character is hard to like even when you laugh at his physical humor and reactions to Bella. Not the biggest fan of this one and would like to see Ruffalo rewarded somewhere down the line, but not for this one.
Well, I certainly had higher hopes for this group, It's not awful, but it didn't live up to the expectations the awards season lead me to believe in. My win is maybe not a popular one, because everyone seems to love the Downey Jr win, but Gosling brought so much to Ken that honestly should have been a nothing role. It became so much more and so iconic. Then we have some Roberts up next with Downey Jr being very good in his role and De Niro giving us something we hadn't really seen before in a way, and I liked that. Brown eschews his TV stuff to finally break through in film and I'm here for it. Ruffalo is probably too low for most people reading this and I get it, but I don't like the character and need more from him than some pretty boy sexualizer. A good group of names that could have been better, frankly. Let's get to 2024, please.
Oscar Winner: Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer
My Winner: Ryan Gosling - Barbie
Robert Downey Jr
Robert De Niro
Sterling K. Brown
Mark Ruffalo
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