2012 Calvin Awards: Best Supporting Actor
By David Mumpower
February 16, 2012
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Jonah Hill is our choice for Best Supporting Actor of the year for his role in Moneyball. In the Michael Lewis novel, we learn that Ivy League graduate Paul DePodesta presents strange new ideas to his immediate superior, Billy Beane. In the movie adaptation of Moneyball, Hill is not portraying DePodesta per se but instead an amalgam of several numbers crunchers who suddenly came into vogue after the release of the novel. Old school scouting based upon irrational, mercurial opinions fell out of favor as more and more general managers in baseball learned to love the calculator and the spreadsheet. In this movie, Hill is Peter Brand, a graduate of the Yale school of Economics. Brand has been given his first job out of college as an underling in the Cleveland Indians organization.
Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane immediately perceives that this young man is undervalued in his own building, exactly the sort of oversight Beane seeks to attack in assembling the best possible baseball team against the constraints of fiscal woes. The two men meet and have a pair of awkward conversations, first in the cubicle farm at Cleveland then later in the parking lot. At this point, Beane makes an offer Brand cannot refuse and the two become enjoined in a battle against the failings of the current baseball economic system.
Hill as an actor has become an inflammatory subject in that he has been typecast as quickly and finitely as any thespian in recent memory. In Moneyball, however, Brad Pitt is asked to portray the comic relief, which liberates Hill to portray a sounding board, a kid who knows he is in over his head but hopes nobody notices. After all, the instant someone does, he expects to wake up in his bedroom and be told it is time to go to school. In learning how to build a team through esoteric calculations, Hill’s character must also learn to deal with the human element, the aspect of baseball that is impossible to anticipate from a spreadsheet. He learns the awkward nature of trading a player, the difficulty that comes from navigating the political climate of a clubhouse and the haphazard manner through which roster moves are made. Throughout the entirety of the proceedings, Hill never loses his wide-eyed wonder about how much his life has changed in a few short months. In these moments, Hill reminds us that even after a series of missteps in terms of career roles, he is still among the most talented actors of his generation. Playing against type here is a career resurgence for Hill and the staff’s clear favorite as the Best Supporting Actor performance of the year.
Actors are too often typecast in Hollywood. A great example of this is our choice for second best performance in the category this year, Albert Brooks. The writer/director has even pigeonholed himself in the same sort of Woody Allen-ish parts that focus humor upon him due to his various personal failings. Perhaps this is why his dazzling performance in Drive is all the more impressive. This is the rare occasion where Brooks plays a bad guy and even in such a situation, he blurs the focus with a stubborn ambiguity that enhances the character further. Brooks’ Bernie Rose is in the mob yet he has always had a soft spot for Shannon, a garage owner whose bad luck seems eternal. When Shannon presents him with an opportunity to enter the world of stockcar racing, Bernie believes that this is his opportunity to make his reputation while also helping out a friend. And we all know that this will not be how the story plays out even as we hope to be wrong about it. Bernie cares about money and business relationships first and foremost and when Shannon’s new friend’s decisions impinge both of these areas, Bernie is forced to act. It is in these moments that we forget we are watching funnyman Albert Brooks and instead see a terrifying human being capable of true evil when such an action is requisite. I think the world of Albert Brooks as an actor so it means more coming from me when I say that this is the role of his career.
Finishing in third place this year is relative unknown Corey Stoll. Assigned the hefty task of bringing Ernest Hemingway to life once more in Midnight in Paris, Stoll demonstrates impressive instincts. His take on Hemingway is the correct one. The non-fictional character’s fictional representation is infused with easy bravado. Forget all of the liquor commercials you have seen. Ernest Hemingway is the most interesting man in the world and Stoll’s decision to imbue him with extreme confidence and the correct amount of painstaking sincerity is pitch perfect. Midnight in Paris is comprised of any number of famous characters brought to life by fine actors, but Corey Stoll is the best of them. In the absence of the real Ernest Hemingway, he has proven to be a solid substitute.
The final pair of spots in the top five is given to Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Nick Nolte for Warrior. Plummer portrays a recently widowed man who announces to his son that he is in fact homosexual. Utilizing his measured acting style to the fullest, Plummer’s character embarks a series of dates that confuse and frustrate his son. Finally, an illness draws the two of them together in a tender, relatable manner. This is one of the best father/son stories since Big Fish, and Plummer carries the day with his sincerity. Nolte’s character is also a struggling father but for different reasons. A recovering alcoholic, his abusive nature has created a schism in his relationship with both sons. When each of them embarks upon an attempt to win the grand prize in a mixed martial arts tournament, they find themselves interacting with their estranged father once more. In my estimation, this is Nolte’s best work since The Good Thief, meaning it is his finest performance in almost a decade.
Our sixth and seventh place selections this year are both fine actors used as straight men and comic foil for quirky female characters. Kenneth Branagh portrays screen legend Laurence Olivier, who is stuck with Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) as the female lead in The Prince and the Showgirl. She is a depressed, spoiled actress whose appeal is utterly lost on the ill-tempered writer/director. Mr. Olivier tries to elevate the situation as best he can yet he oftentimes winds up exasperated with Ms. Monroe. And there is true joy in his frustration. Patton Oswalt’s role in Young Adult is to hold a mirror to Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron) in order to allow her to see what a mess of a human being the young adult writer has become. She is trapped in a half-life from which there is no escape until his character begins to penetrate her outer shell. Oswalt is adept at bringing out the best in other performers, which is exactly what transpires in Young Adult.
Often celebrated BOP faves comprise the rest of our top 10. Brad Pitt’s second best performance of the year occurs in The Tree of Life. He portrays a loving father who attempts to gird his children against the savagery of life by being hard on them. The outcome of this is a fundamental change in the way that his son, Jack, matures as a human being. Stellan Skarsgård willing embraces a role of pure evil in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and in the process, he demonstrates yet again how a character can be equal parts chilling and charming. In portraying Martin Vanger, Skarsgård demonstrates the appropriate amount of courtesy to strangers as well as savvy as a businessman. His nocturnal activities are that much more bone chilling because we know how ordinary he is otherwise. Our final selection was also our silver medalist last year. John Hawkes follows his masterful performance in Winter’s Bone with an equally interesting portrayal in Martha Marcy May Marlene. Hawkes play a cult leader having trouble letting go of a former disciple.
Narrowly missing nomination this year are Ryan Gosling for Crazy, Stupid, Love, Bryan Cranston for Drive, Jesper Christensen for The Debt, William Fichtner for Drive Angry, Laurence Fishburne for Contagion, Colin Farrell for Fright Night, Ralph Fiennes for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Chris New for Weekend and George Clooney for the Ides of March.
The Calvins: An Introduction
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Album
Best Cast
Best Character
Best Director
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