with julienne moore, JK Simmons & patricia arquette's names more or less engraved on the other 3 trophies before the award seasons started, this year's oscar suspense for the acting categories was basically left depending on the race for best actor.
first off, my take on the lesser-deserving nominations - steve carell & bradley cooper. much of the amusement rilled up about carell's performance in "foxcatcher" to me lies more so on his prosthetic nose, make up & obscured facial expressions which give him a subdued, mysterious & peculiar persona. oscar unfortunately has a weakness for "major transformational" roles in the past, whether every nod was fully worthy remained questionable to me. cooper on the other hand had the opportunity to portray the riveting & distressed chris kyle, the deadliest sniper in US history. there was however nothing particularly strong about his performance. he beefed up (putting on 40 pounds) for the role, still playing a rather ego-heavy & masculine character which is kind of consistent in many of his previous works, mumbled his way throughout in a thick texan accent. was his acting gripping? it was adequate, but definitely not stunning enough to be oscar-worthy. having said that, i'm probably the only one not raving about cooper in clint eastwood's "american sniper", and we all know he has been one of the academy's favorites in recent years.
next, who did i predict as the higher probable winner - michael keaton or eddie redmayne. keaton would've probably won every audience's vote for the most entertaining role, having to infuse anger, desperation, bitterness, melancholy, comedy & insanity all in a single story in "birdman". he's been long loved for his roles in "night shift" (1982), beetlejuice (1988) & "batman" (1989 & 1992); "birdman" was hailed as his comeback role, it's his 1st oscar nomination & probably the last chance to win one for this hexagenerian.
latest brit invasion in hollywood, redmayne earned raves for pulling off one of the most challenging & bravest roles in “the theory of everything”. it may be his 1st leading role but for his portrayal as renowned physicist stephen hawking, the 33 year-old committed 4 months to prepare himself, reconfiguring his body with a choreographer’s help to capture hawking at each specific stage of his decades-long battle with ALS. bearing in mind, at least half the time in the film redmayne was subjected to limited means of expression and movement, being wheelchair bound & speaking through a computerized voice, and yet he manages to transmit hawking’s struggle, drive, joy & wit in precision. from the twitching & muscle decay, the awkward walk to the tilting neck, redmayne nailed the part. watching the film, hawking in fact had been reported saying that there were moments when he thought it was himself he was seeing on screen.
coming to the last nominee, and my choice for the win – benedict cumberbatch. everything about the film “the imitation game” dices in both ways, and that is precisely what i love about it. the tale of the mathematician alan turing who broke the german enigma code during world war II is both aching yet inspiring. the same goes with cumberbatch’s portrayal of the genius, imbuing turing in a nuanced but gripping performance. his character is unattuned to the feelings of others, but manages to win our sympathy as he can also be endearing. he will come across as arrogant & egoistic, yet we will be shedding tears for this awkward wiz when he gets prosecuted for his sexuality. all these are achieved only with cumberbatch’s enthralling performance
shouldn't win - steve carell & bradley cooper
should win - benedict cumberbatch
predicted will win - michael keaton or eddie redmayne
won - eddie redmayne
snubbed from nomination - jake gyllenhaal for "nightcrawler"
#oscar #bestActor #eddieRedmayne #steveCarell #bradleyCooper #michaelKeaton #benedictCumberbatch #theTheoryOfEverything #theImitationGame #foxcatcher #americanSniper #birdman #jakeGyllenhaal #nightcrawler
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