Best of 2011: My Favorite Performances

The following are my favorite performances of 2011. They are the men and women* who stood out to me, who were vital to the success of the films they were in, who I thought about weeks and months after seeing. They are presented in alphabetical order by last name except one that I have chosen as my absolute favorite of the year.

Joel Edgarton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte – Warrior

There is a lot to love about the rousing fight drama Warrior but its cast is especially impressive. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgarton give understated performances as estranged brothers, one an angry Iraq War veteran (Hardy); the other, a devoted father (Edgarton). Together, with Nick Nolte, who plays their recovering alcoholic father, they form a fractured – and believable – family whose complex relationships elevate the film beyond the ring.

Michael Fassbender – X-Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method

Michael Fassbender had a great year. He starred in a new Jane Eyre as Rochester, a plum role for any brooding actor, and got a lot of attention playing a sex addict in Shame (both films unseen by me). His intensity was a standout of X-Men: First Class where he played the young, Nazi-hunting Magneto, and he gave a more nuanced performance as psychologist Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method. I don’t doubt we will continue to see strong work from him in the future.

Ryan Gosling – Drive, The Ides of March

Speaking of great years, how about that Ryan Gosling? After the romantic comedy Crazy Stupid Love, he had two killer leading roles. I wasn’t as wowed by Drive as some were but I admired Mr. Gosling’s work as the nameless protagonist whose silence hints at a deeply troubled past. And in The Ides of March, he held his own sharing scenes with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. I’d be hard pressed to name a better young star.

Jeremy Irons – Margin Call

The financial thriller Margin Call boasts an exceptional ensemble cast (including Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci) but I want to single out Jeremy Irons who plays John Tuld, the CEO of an investment firm facing certain doom. Mr. Irons has a voice well suited to villainy (his voice will still be familiar to many as that of Scar from The Lion King) but his portrayal of this cold, calculating billionaire is not one-dimensional. Tuld conveys the gravity of their dire situation without wavering from his brutal, capitalist morals, and Mr. Irons delivers some potentially heavy-handed monologues forcefully and convincingly. He is a compelling, absorbing presence in every scene.

Hunter McCracken – The Tree of Life

So few children in movies actually act like children but Hunter McCracken’s performance as Jack, the young protagonist of Terrence Malick’s cosmic opus, The Tree of Life, has astonishing depth and complexity. The film is, among other things, about a boy’s transition from carefree, childhood innocence to the emotional burdens of adulthood. Since the film has minimal dialogue, Jack does not feel like the artificial construction of a screenwriter but, rather, a living, breathing kid. He throws angry fits, is dependent on his mother’s love, and runs through the quiet, suburban streets of his home, unaware of the impossible hugeness of the universe he lives in.

Viggo Mortensen – A Dangerous Method

Viggo Mortensen takes on the weighty role of Sigmund Freud and makes it his own with characteristic ease. His Freud is a highly intelligent man who knows full well the scope of his influence and intellect. He exacts his powerful, analytic mind not only on his patients but also his peers and even himself. He speaks with absolute certainty and clarity. This is Mr. Mortensen’s third collaboration and in each film he has turned in a strong (and very different) performance – a rural family man with a past, a Russian mobster. Few actors are so adventurous in their selection of roles and so consistent.

Christopher Plummer – Beginners

The heart of Mike Mills’s warm, autobiographical Beginners rests in Christopher Plummer’s performance as Hal, a feisty old man who responds to his cancer diagnosis with a continued, unflinching zeal for life. Having only recently come out of the closet, Hal is enjoying a newfound freedom in the lifestyle and Mr. Plummer expresses a wealth of happiness behind the smallest of smiles. The last act of life need not be a bittersweet goodbye and Hal’s optimism is contagious, both to his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor), and to us.

John C. Reilly – Cedar Rapids, Terri, Carnage

John C. Reilly continues to prove how versatile his skills are. He is a gifted comedic actor whose lovable schmo persona was a joy to watch in Carnage, Roman Polanski’s comedy about bickering couples, and his insurance salesman with a rockstar-sized ego was a highlight of Cedar Rapids. He also gave the high school coming-of-age story Terri some laugh out loud moments as a jovial assistant principal. He is the rare actor who is as comfortable in a Will Ferrell comedy as he is in more “serious” fare, stealing scenes wherever he goes.

My Favorite Performance of the Year:

Vera Farmiga – Higher Ground

Faith is a very personal thing and though it is often celebrated in the company of others, such as in the evangelical community in Higher Ground, the process of exploring and discovering one’s faith must first happen internally. Vera Farmiga has the difficult task of playing a woman, Corinne Briggs, who wrestles with her faith, believing at first that she has found it only to question the role the Lord truly plays in her life. These are delicate feelings that are rarely displayed externally and yet, in the film, there is never a moment when we are unsure what is on Corinne’s mind. Mrs. Farmiga expresses Corinne’s hopeful optimism, her disappointment when her marriage and her church let her down, and her unflagging desire and willingness to open her heart to religion. This is a breakthrough performance from an immensely talented actress and is not to be missed.

* Looking over the eleven names above I notice there is only one woman. A sexist oversight on my part? Perhaps. Worth noting, however, is how few substantial roles there are for women in movies today. The majority of movies I saw this year were absent of female leading roles that were not romantic interests to a more heavily featured male character or sexualized. Also worth noting is that the one woman on my list, Vera Farmiga in Higher Ground, also directed the film. Whether or not women need to be behind the camera in order to get quality parts in front of it is a discussion for another time but these are issues worth thinking about.

(Two notable exceptions from this year are the box office hits Bridesmaids and The Help, both directed by men and featuring female ensembles. I wasn’t a fan of either film but in neither case do their faults lie in the acting, which is strong across the board. And I am happy the popularity of Bridesmaids may open doors for more female-centric comedies.)

- Steve Avigliano, 2/23/12

REVIEW: The Ides of March

The Ides of March (2011): Dir. George Clooney. Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon. Based on the play, Farragut North by Beau Willimon. Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright and Evan Rachel Wood. Rated R (language and some sexuality). Running time: 101 minutes.

3 stars (out of four)

In the months building up to a presidential election, the 24-hour news machine can feel so much like entertainment – politicians debate on live TV and commentators subsequently debate the candidates’ worth with sensationalized talking points and colorful graphics – that a film about the primary election process may almost feel redundant. Released in time to coincide with the growing media hullabaloo that marks the start of the 2012 presidential race, The Ides of March, a soapy political thriller directed by George Clooney, is less interested in the candidates of its fictional political world and the issues they discuss than the web of campaign managers and advisors who pull the strings behind the scenes.

At the center of that web for Democratic Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) is a talented young campaign manager named Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) and Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a campaign veteran and Myers’s boss. These two are responsible for getting the aforementioned media machine to work in Morris’s favor – that is to say, their favor – and ensuring a victory at the polls. Assisting them is a team of hard-working interns, including Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), daughter of DNC chairman Jack Stearns (Gregory Itzin).

The film focuses on a coveted primacy race in Ohio where Morris holds a tentative lead over Arkansas Senator Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell). An endorsement from one Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), a powerful figure in the Democratic Party, would all but seal the nomination for Morris. That is, unless Pullman secures Thompson’s support first.

Posing a threat to the Governor and his team is Pullman’s campaign manager, Tom Duffy (a wonderfully gruff Paul Giamatti), who has his eyes on Myers. He wants Myers to jump ship on Morris’s campaign and work for him, but Myers is an idealist. He believes in Morris. This idealism prompts the derision of Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei), a New York Times writer who pries Myers and Zara for leads about their campaign strategies. She reminds Myers that Morris is a politician like any other and dismisses his faith in Morris as little more than starry-eyed naiveté.

Clooney’s Morris is a bit of an idealized figure. A staunch liberal, Morris proclaims that he is not a religious man but believes in the people’s right to practice any and all faiths. He calls for an end to America’s addiction to foreign oil, for industry-minded emphasis on burgeoning technologies, and for a revised economic system that ensures Americans pay their “fair share” of taxes. He is a frank, good-humored, sane and reasonable man. He is, in other words, an utterly unelectable figure in anything resembling the real world. Morris is a sort of Übermensch for Clooney, a romantic vision of his ideal politician. The improbability that such a politician could ever make it as far as Morris does in pursuit of the Presidency is not addressed in The Ides of March.

This unlikelihood is not so important to the film’s success, however, because Clooney’s ultimate message transcends political partisanship. His focus is not on the warring ideals that are currently causing our political system to sputter and stall but on the even dirtier infighting between career-minded advisors.

In its second half, The Ides of March flirts with soap opera levels of blackmailing and dirty laundry, which serves both to widen the film’s appeal to less politically-savvy audience members while also limiting the credibility of its arguments. Clooney need not go to such overdramatic lengths to illustrate how American politics are driven by personal ambition, though such sensational additions do make for an exciting movie.

As a director Clooney is sharp and confident and he stays focused on his cold perspective of the political game. The film’s visual style complements this; steely grays and blues are offset by the red and white stripes that necessarily pervade the background of a given shot.

The cast, it should go without saying, is exceptional. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives lessons on how to command the screen with characteristic effortlessness, and the ubiquitous Ryan Gosling continues to make a strong case for being the most reliable star of his age. (Your move, Leo.)

So although The Ides of March is a more than capable film, executed with skill and efficiency, it is also a difficult film to embrace. Clooney presents an unforgivingly cynical portrait of American politics but offers little in the way of hope for the future. If one wants to stay in the business of politics, ideals must be compromised (or thrown violently out the window as the case may be). Such news should hardly come as a revelation to anyone; what we need now are some suggestions on how to improve the state of things.

- Steve Avigliano, 10/10/11