2009 Calvin Awards: Best Actress
February 12, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Anne Hathaway is the winner of the 2009 Calvin for Best Actress by a near-50% margin over Streep and Winslet. Our staff felt that her understated outing as a Lindsay Lohan-type struggling through the steps of addiction recovery lapped the competition. The beauty of Hathaway's work here is that the back story cleverly paints a picture of the person she used to be with brief snippets of her days as a model who wound up being on Cops. Hathaway imbues her character with a sense of grace and the beyond-her-years suffering that comes from suffering too much too young. As the viewer gradually comes to understand the events that molded her as a monumentally screwed up human being, a better appreciation of the subtlety of Hathaway's performance shines through. Rachel Getting Married is not a perfect movie, but it is a very good one with a near-perfect acting performance. In a year where two of the most lauded actresses in the history of the industry offer some of their best work ever, it is Anne Hathaway who stands above the rest as the best actress.
Then again, Meryl Streep is no slouch, either. After a rare misstep in the instantly forgettable Lions for Lambs, the Prada-clad devil made a triumphant return in 2008 with a $600 million chick flick featuring the music of Abba followed by a dazzling turn as a tough nun in Doubt. It is the latter role that merits her the honor of second best actress of the year. In Doubt, Streep portrays a woman of God whose foundation is struck to the core when her worst nightmare is realized. A priest who had been forced to change parishes due to ominous allegations suddenly befriends a young boy. Streep's character had been warned to look for signs such as this one that may be indicative of inappropriate behavior and she finds the courage to confront the priest with accusations about his wrongdoing, even though she is uncertain of their veracity. The role requires a tough-as-nails woman to show that suspicion of the truth is not enough to set someone free. Streep is quite possibly the only woman in the industry today who could make the nun seem morally justified as she attempts to destroy a man she is not certain is guilty.
Kate Winslet had her votes divided this year. Because of this, she finishes in third and fourth place for her work in Revolutionary Road and The Reader. If she had but one of the titles released over the course of the year, she probably would have had a better chance of winning the category. Instead, our staff was evenly divided between the roles with Revolutionary Road getting the slight nod. In this role, she portrays an ambitious actress and honeymooner who views her husband and herself as much better than their neighbors. The couple plans to live in Paris with the other cultural elite of the world, but plans fall apart due to unwanted pregnancies, emotional abuse and marital infidelity. Amazingly, this is the cheerier of her two roles for the year. In The Reader, she portrays an illiterate pedophile who may have aided in the slayings of some people at a concentration camp. Clearly, what this woman needs is a nice, comfortable Paul Blart sequel. Until then, she will have to settle for inordinate critical acclaim and two spots in the top four in the Best Actress category of The Calvins.
Two acting heavyweights are our selections for fifth and sixth place, both of them aided by co-star Brad Pitt. BOP fave Frances McDormand made us fall in love with her talent all over again in Burn after Reading. This time, she joins Pitt in the task of blackmailing people and trying to cut a deal with the Russians in quite possibly the dumbest fashion in the history of espionage. McDormand's comedic timing continues to be the gold standard in our industry. Cate Blanchett's work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a celebration of dancing. She portrays a woman helplessly in love with a man who, by the very definition of the nature of his being, will never meet her at the right time in both of their lives. Blanchett's emotional responses have never been more resonant than when several people's fates conspire to fundamentally alter the nature of her life. Brad Pitt has the showier role in Benjamin Button, but Blanchett is the scene stealer time and time again.
The noobs are our selections in seventh and eighth place. In Let the Right One In, Lina Leandersson, a 13-year-old Swedish actress, offers the best performance we have seen from someone that age since Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider. In the movie, she portrays a 200-year-old vampire who develops a crush on a 12-year-old boy. Then, she aids him in attaining revenge upon all of those who have wronged him in his life. Leandersson's story vacillates between tender and terrifying but the young girl somehow maintains her character's humanity throughout her onscreen atrocities.
Slightly older but no better known entering the year, Rebecca Hall grabbed our attention with two head-turning performances. In Frost/Nixon, she was the high class bimbo wooed by David Frost while he attempted to permanently destroy Richard Nixon's already depreciated legacy. Our staff liked her a lot in that role, but we absolutely adored her in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, a movie whose central selling point was supposed to be a love story between Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. While that subplot made headlines, Hall was in fact the focus of the movie. Her character was supposed to be an engaged, normal woman waiting for a happily ever after to occur with her would-be husband. Then, a handsome European artist who looks a lot like a Javier Bardem makes an indecent proposal to her and her best friend and her entire world falls apart. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a fascinating exploration of every woman's fantasy about meeting a strange and exotic man while visiting a foreign land. Hall's portrayal of a conflicted woman feeling self-doubt about everything she had once believed in life is a wondrous performance getting lost in the lesbian sex shuffle of the movie's ad campaign.
Rounding out the top ten selections for 2009 are Keira Knightley for The Duchess and Anne Hathaway for her other huge role of the year, Get Smart. Knightley has long been a staff favorite, but we were particularly drawn to her work in this period piece about the life and times of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. What we take from this movie is that women have every reason in the world to hate men for past indignities. Okay, we take that from the movie, but what we'll always remember about The Duchess is Lady Bess Foster pleasuring the titular lead. Vicky Cristina Barcelona got a lot more headlines, but The Duchess has a much sexier moment. Plus, there is a wig fire, which has been a guaranteed source of humor ever since Michael Jackson did that Pepsi commercial. As for Hathaway, we never thought anyone but Barbara Feldon could be Agent 99, but the actress' take on the role was pitch perfect. The embodiment of professional competence and personal grace, Hathaway's work in Get Smart is a key reason why the movie wound up being a $130 million blockbuster.
Just missing selection this year are Melissa Leo for Frozen River, Scarlett Johansson for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Audrey Tautou for Priceless, Kat Dennings for Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, Angelina Jolie for Changeling, Amy Adams for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, and Anna Faris for The House Bunny. (David Mumpower/BOP)
Best Actor
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Director
Best DVD
Best Overlooked Film
Best Picture
Best Scene
Best Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best TV Show
Best Use of Music
Best Videogame
Breakthrough Performance
Worst Performance
Worst Picture