Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Best Actor nominations

Predicted nominees:
  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus
  • Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
I would nominate:
  • Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
  • Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man
  • Ben Foster, The Messenger
  • Viggo Mortensen, The Road
In A Single Man, Colin Firth gave the most devastating and emotionally resonant performance by a lead actor since Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. Robert Downey Jr. brought a delirious energy to the character of Sherlock Holmes, and his rhythm with co-star Jude Law was perfection. Viggo Mortensen provides the ultimate portrait of a loving father in The Road. Ben Foster is fascinating to watch in The Messenger; he builds his character ever so gradually until we finally understand him at the end (or do we?). And Jeff Bridges is a joy to behold, so self-assured and likable as a broke-down singer in Crazy Heart.

Honorable mentions: Jeremy Renner, intense and troubled in The Hurt Locker; Morgan Freeman painting new and unexpected shades onto the heroic character of Nelson Mandela in Invictus; and Sam Rockwell, slowly going mad on The Moon.

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