More than making us feel pathos
and admiration for a drug dealer, Ali gets us to stop thinking of him
as a drug dealer, or even as a father figure, but as a man becoming
undone by the discovery of the damage his work does.
Bennett puts on clinic of giddy
social ineptitude as the buffoonish would-be suitor to flighty
Frederica. His posture, face and line readings tickle in a manner few
performances do. “Bit of a rattle”, indeed.
Ehrenreich positively steals the
show as a moon-crooning, spaghetti-roping, fish-out-of-water cowboy
forced into a confusing world of parlour etiquette. Wish the movie
was as consistently hysterical. Would that it were so simple.
Whatever
it is that's possessed Ralph Fiennes here, let's hope it sticks
around. He's the much
needed bolt of electricity as a man without an 'off' switch in Luca
Guadagnino's latest tale of privileged tragedy. Dance, Ralph, dance!
The 'motivational coach in a
sports movie' role is a pretty well-worn archetype at this point, but
Oyelowo brings a natural warmth and chemistry with his young costars
that enhances the character. Earnest without being joyless.
Just missed:
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water
Other considerations:
Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea
Stephen McKinley Henderson in Fences
Issei Ogata in Silence
Michael Shannon in Nocturnal Animals
