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A Mirror Floating in Water

Performances of the Decade

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by
DanielBenoit
, 11-28-2009 at 05:47 AM (808 Views)
I am a cruel judge towards actors. I cannot help but make the Hitchcockian comparison of them to "cattle" or as merely some attribute in some divine artistic endevour like Kubrick. Aren't I so inhuman?

Well, there have been some great performances this decade, some of them even outshining its very own directors. This decade in particular has produced a number of villians comparable only to the most vile and cruel of movie antagonists (Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men). I will count down in reverse order:

10. Mo'nique - Precious

9. Jerermie Renier - L'enfant

8. Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

7. Jack Nicholson - About Schmidt

6. John Malkovitch - Ripley's Game

5. Daniel-Day Lewis - Gangs of New York

4. Naomi Watts - Muholland Drive

3. Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator

2. Daniel-Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood


1. Charlize Theron - Monster

In a performance comparable to that of Robert DiNero's in Raging Bull, Theron undergoes a daring physical transformation from the attractive Hollywood blonde that she is, to an unattractive, mentally ill, serial killer. But just as much as DiNero's weight gain wasn't the key to his performance, Theron's makeup and prosthetic teeth isn't. The power of this entire film comes from her utter changeling of notorious serial killer Aileen Wuornos. If it was just a performance of insanity and instabiliy, then Monster would merely be regarded as a well-made film, but then forgotten with time. But Monster will not be forgotten and Theron's performance is deemed to be legendary. It is terrifying and pitiful at the same time. Throughout the length of the film, we have become Wuornos and develop an understanding of her that seems to transcend the lawyers in the courtroom. Is what Wuornos did sick and monsterous? You bet. Does that make her a monster? This is a question that the movie leaves open. Wuornos was a deeply scarred induvidual, forced by poverty to be a prostitute and manipulated by the one she loves to get money. There is so much in common with DiNero's performance in Raging Bull and Therons', that I even wrote a full-length essay concerning the paradoxical complexities of their portrayals (though most of it concerns Raging Bull rather than Monster). This is a merciless film, surrounded by a merciless performance ready to confuse us and tear us apart, until the end we look into our very selves and question what we are as moral social beings.
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  1. AuntShecky's Avatar
    I didn't see all the performances you listed,Daniel. Agree wholeheartedly with you re: Ledger in the Batman thing and especially
    Daniel D-L in Gangs of New York, a
    much better movie than it was given credit for.

    Didn't understand and didn't like Mulhulland Drive, but even if I did I wouldn't think Naomi was all that great. (The horrible, horrible movie, "The Ring" ruined Naomi for me.) On the other hand I was greatly impressed by Natalie Portman's performance in "V is for Vendetta."

    Around this place, we have benchmarks for "great performances" in which we compare everything we see. "Gee, he was almost as good as Alec Baldwin in'Glengarry Glen Ross' . . .or Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock," Alec Guiness in "Bridge on the River Kwai," Cary Grant (yes,
    Cary Grant) in "Penny Serenade."

    The other night we saw "Flash of Genius" on HBO and there was a 5-minute scene with Alan Alda as a lawyer which knocked me out.

    I don't get the attraction for Leonardo DiCaprio. Women seem to love him. They also love George Clooney. George is attractive and charming, but I think his acting ability is excellent. (Good Night and Good Luck, for instance.)
    Updated 12-02-2009 at 05:29 PM by AuntShecky
  2. DanielBenoit's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by AuntShecky

    Didn't understand and didn't like
    Mulhulland Drive, but even if I did
    I wouldn't think Naomi was all that great. (The horrible, horrible movie, "The Ring" ruined Naomi for me.)
    Well I suppose to like Muholland Drive you have to like Lynch's other works first.

    In my opinion, Watts was brilliant because she pulled off the ideal Lynchian female archetype, and that is; for the first half, a campy bubbly naive blonde, and then for the second half a scarred and sexually jealous induvidual. It is a brilliant postmodern performance because she is able to pull of that campy and satirical performance of the first half, and be utterly convincing in the darker second half. Speaking of which, Laura Dern deserves a very honorable mention for her brave performance in Inland Empire.

    Around this place, we have benchmarks for "great performances" in which we compare everything we see. "Gee, he was almost as good as Alex Baldwin in
    'Glengarry Glen Ross' . . .or Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black
    Rock," Alec Guiness in "Bridge on the River Kwai," Cary Grant (yes,
    Cary Grant) in "Penny Serenade."
    Well the only reason I brought up the DiNero/Theron comparison was because of the simularity in the way their performances effect the viewer: they both play despicable induviduals, but once seeing the world through their eyes, we are just as appauled by their actions, and yet paradoxically don't consider themselves to be monsters. Both of their performances revolve around the Catholic aphorism "God hates the sin but not the sinner."
    Updated 11-28-2009 at 05:19 PM by DanielBenoit