Alternate Best Actor 2009: Results

5. Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - Nicolas Cage is at his mad best here giving a wildly entertaining depiction of the corrupt and drug addicted bad Lieutenant.

Best Scene: The Lieutenant watches the soul dance.

4. Sam Rockwell in Moon - Rockwell gives two great performances here and creates a genuine moving depiction of two men who have more in common than they would like.

Best Scene: Old Sam tells New Sam to go instead.

3. Tom Hardy in Bronson - Hardy gives an amazing and incredibly magnetic performance that brings to life his very strange and violent character in a compelling fashion.

Best Scene: Bronson's "performance" in regards to the sanitarium.

2. Sharlto Copley in District 9- Sharlto Copley gives one of the greatest feature debut performances of all time in his complex, poignant and surprisingly believable depiction of the transformation from a bureaucrat to a half alien freedom fighter.

Best Scene: Wickus is used as a guinea pig by his own company.

1. Viggo Mortensen in The Road- This was a great year for leading performances and it is real shame that the academy could not be bothered to drift out of traditional baity fair to recognize any of these performances. Although I loved all five of these performances the one that left the most lasting impact on me was Mortensen's performance. He gives his best performance with his heartbreaking and almost painfully realistic portrayal of a single man trying to save his son in the horrible conditions of a post-apocalyptic world.

Best Scene: The man says goodbye to the boy.

Overall Rank:

1. Viggo Mortensen in The Road
2. Sharlto Copley in District 9
3. Tom Hardy in Bronson
4. Sam Rockwell in Moon
5. Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant
6. Ben Foster in The Messenger
7. Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man
8. Michael Sheen in The Damned United
9. Colin Firth in A Single Man
10. Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
11. Matt Damon in The Informant!
12. Michael Caine in Harry Brown
13. Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers
14. Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Road
15. Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes
16. Tony Leung Ka-fai in Bodyguards and Assassins
17. Johnny Depp in Public Enemies
18. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer
19. Russell Crowe in State of Play
20. Ed Asner in UP
21. Zachary Quinto in Star Trek
22. Jesse Eisenberg in Zombieland
23. Chris Pine in Star Trek
24. Chiwetel Ejiofor in 2012
25. Adam Sandler in Funny People
26. Daniel Radcliffe in The Half-Blood Prince
27. Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins Wolverine
28. Morgan Freeman in Invictus
29. James McAvoy in The Last Station
30. Tobey Maguire in Brothers
31. Colin Hanks in The Great Buck Howard
32. Jim Carrey in A Christmas Carol
33. Mark Wahlberg in The Lovely Bones
34. Seth Rogen in Funny People
35. George Clooney in Up in The Air 
36. John Cusack in 2012 
37. Zac Efron in Me and Orson Welles
38. Sam Worthington in Avatar

Next Year: 2009 Supporting