海角大神

One thing I鈥檝e learned as a movie critic over the years is that a good actor will get me through a bad film. The movies right now might not be the best but the general level of acting in them is high. It鈥檚 been this way for a while. I suspect this is primarily because there are many more good actors than there are good roles for them to play. Lots of silk purses are being spun from a sow鈥檚 ear.聽

Of course, the ideal is when actor and role are equally distinguished, and 2019, despite its unevenness, had its fair share of such matchups. Any year featuring tip-top work from the likes of Laura Dern, Antonio Banderas, Saoirse Ronan, Joe Pesci, and Brad Pitt 鈥� to name just a few of the more high-profile names 鈥� is OK by me.

A question often asked of movie critics is: What do you look for in a performance? What is your criteria for excellence?

Acting 鈥� like movie criticism, for that matter 鈥� is an art and not a science. I don鈥檛 go into a film with a checklist: Charisma, check. Looks, check. Believability, check. Acting is, or should be, an intuitive process, and there is nothing more enjoyable than those moments when an actor confounds my expectations and does something truly astonishing.

Overlooked genres

Take, for example, Lupita Nyong鈥檕 in 鈥淯s.鈥� I was not a big fan of Jordan Peele鈥檚 overly ambitious shocker, but Nyongo鈥檚 dual role as a tremulous middle-class mom and her depraved double was a tour de force of the best kind. Her two guises showcased an entire range of feeling. It鈥檚 the kind of performance often overlooked at the Oscars because it鈥檚 the centerpiece of a horror film. Not 鈥渁rtistic鈥� enough. True to form, Nyong鈥檕 was not cited by the academy (though she won the New York Film Critics Circle best actress award). 聽

Another type of performance often slighted by the academy is small-scale, unshowy acting in movies lacking a big commercial push. Such was the case this year with Octavia Spencer, whose supporting work as the besieged high school history teacher in 鈥淟uce鈥� was among the most moving and nuanced acting I saw all year.

And then there鈥檚 Mary Kay Place, who, despite winning both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and National Society of Film Critics awards for best actress in 鈥淒iane,鈥� was shut out of contention at the Oscars. Place鈥檚 performance as a rural Pennsylvania mother who practically martyrs herself in service to others was one of the year鈥檚 finest. It will be remembered by those who saw it when flashier star turns are long forgotten.聽

Another underseen performance that I trust will not be forgotten is Sienna Miller鈥檚 work in 鈥淎merican Woman,鈥� a career best, in which she plays a righteous working-class mother who exasperates everyone around her. Miller doesn鈥檛 condescend to us by making her character 鈥渓ikable.鈥� The part is thinly written but 鈥� such is the mysterious alchemy of acting 鈥� she gives it emotional levels it likely lacked on the page.聽

International choices

I was happy this year to see some marvelous work in films from abroad, especially Asia. As the lovelorn gangster鈥檚 moll who seeks retribution in 鈥淎sh Is Purest White,鈥� Zhao Tao solidified her position as perhaps China鈥檚 finest actress. I鈥檝e rarely seen a performance that melded as skillfully hardheartedness and vulnerability. I appreciated Kang-ho Song as the corrupt patriarch in 鈥淧arasite,鈥� a tricky, darkly comic piece of performing that never settled into a single mood.

Sometimes actors go completely against type and expand our notions of what they can accomplish. Throughout his career, Banderas, most notably in the films of Pedro Almod贸var, has specialized in sinuously explosive characters. In Almod贸var鈥檚 鈥淧ain and Glory,鈥� he plays a haggard, furrowed film director, and the shock is in how resonant his performance is. All of Banderas鈥� characteristically outward energy is directed inward this time, and it鈥檚 more powerful than ever.聽

Something similar happens with Pesci as the mob boss in 鈥淭he Irishman.鈥� Pesci is best remembered as the nattery gangster with the hair-trigger temper in Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淕oodfellas.鈥� This time out, all that volatility has been subsumed. A world-weariness clings to his character. He sets in motion the violence that others carry out.

In that same film, Al Pacino, playing Jimmy Hoffa, is at his expansive best. Pacino鈥檚 career has had a fascinating arc: The robust stillnesses of his Michael Corleone in 鈥淭he Godfather鈥� films has given way over the years to an equally forceful flamboyance. He鈥檚 one of the few actors of his generation who still clearly loves to act.

Teamwork, dreamwork

It鈥檚 always fun to see terrific ensemble acting, and 鈥淟ittle Women鈥� 鈥� featuring Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Timoth茅e Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Eliza Scanlen, and Dern 鈥� provides that in surplus. Ronan鈥檚 Jo March prompts the question: Is there anything this 25-year-old phenomenon 肠补苍鈥檛 play? Dern鈥檚 compassionate matriarch is especially pungent when set beside her spiky divorce lawyer in 鈥淢arriage Story.鈥� Equally good, totally different.聽

Many other 2019 performances graced the good and not so good films in which they appeared.聽

As Fred Rogers in 鈥淎 Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,鈥� Tom Hanks turned what might have been a stunt into something soulful. Pitt in 鈥淥nce Upon a Time ... in Hollywood鈥� proves yet again that a bona fide movie star can also be a first-rate actor. Joaquin Phoenix in 鈥淛oker鈥� did a psychological deep-dive that recalled (as it was supposed to) Robert De Niro鈥檚 Travis Bickle in 鈥淭axi Driver.鈥�

There鈥檚 much more: Jamie Foxx and Tim Blake Nelson in 鈥淛ust Mercy,鈥� 海角大神 Bale in 鈥淔ord v Ferrari,鈥� Adam Driver in 鈥淢arriage Story,鈥� Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in 鈥淭he Two Popes.鈥澛�

These days especially, good acting is often the best reason to go to the movies.