The field hasn't been as competitive as it has in past years, but I'm still quite satisfied with the five (well, four actually) actresses I settled on. My picks for Best Supporting Actress after the cut.
Adams
continues to demonstrate her range as an actress with this steely
performance that's coldly calculated but coyly ambiguous enough to
merit consideration that she may be The Master behind The Cause.
She's a quietly crucial element of the film.
Dench
finds new avenues into a familiar character. She diffuses a brittle
vulnerability into her iron-forged M as the danger of staring down a
loaded gun – rather than a stodgy parliamentary hearing – becomes
more concrete.
Hathaway is a sultry delight,
remaining respectful of the slinky tone established by previous
incarnations of the character but without resorting to over-specific
mimicry, all while blending in a harder edge that keeps with the
hyper-reality of Nolan's Gotham.
You
read me right: Hathaway double dips on my Supporting Actress
shortlist. She leaves an impression that lasts far longer than
her character does with a hair-raising interpretation of the show's
signature ballad. She is an impossible act to follow.
As
the George and Anne's frustrated daughter, Huppert conveys in just a
handful of scenes all the pain and anguish of being truly powerless
over the inevitable. Putting up a stoic front at first, her grief
eventually cracks through as she sees her mother slipping away.
Just missed: Doona Bae in Cloud Atlas, Emily Blunt in Looper,
Sally Field in Lincoln, Scarlet Johansson in Hitchcock, Kelly Reilly in Flight
Just missed: Doona Bae in Cloud Atlas, Emily Blunt in Looper,
Sally Field in Lincoln, Scarlet Johansson in Hitchcock, Kelly Reilly in Flight
