Alternate Best Actor 2000: Results

5. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?- Clooney gives a fun and endearing performance, which is fun to follow through this adventure.

Best Scene: The boys are about to be hanged.

4. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon- Yun-Fat succeeds well in a role tailored made for his particular screen presence.

Best Scene: His last scene.

3. Eric Bana in Chopper- Bana is a lot of fun with a bonkers performance that somehow makes his character believable.

Best Scene: Chopper kills the Turk.

2. Christian Bale in American Psycho- Bale performance gives a comedic phony performance that actually suits his character far better then if he played it straight.

Best Scene: Bateman kills Paul Allen.

1. Guy Pearce in Memento- Good Prediction Koook160. This was an easy choice for me. Guy Pearce gives a great performance brilliantly realizing his character's most unusual disability while flawlessly taking his character down a many differing paths, and never becoming dull for a moment even though his character does repeat himself often.

Best Scene: Leonard confronts John G. or at least he thinks he does.

Overall Rank:

1. Guy Pearce in Memento
2. Willem Dafoe in Shadow of the Vampire
3. Tom Hanks in Castaway
4. Christian Bale in American Psycho
5. Eric Bana in Chopper
6. Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys
   
7. Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Mood For Love
   
8. Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
9. George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?
10. Jamie Bell in Billy Elliot 
11. Paul Bettany in Gangster No. 1
12. Bruce Greenwood in Thirteen Days 
13. Mel Gibson in The Patriot
14. Samuel L. Jackson in Unbreakable 
15. Russell Crowe in Gladiator
16. Dennis Quaid in Frequency
17. Bruce Willis in Unbreakable
18. Joaquin Phoenix in Quills
19. Denzel Washington in Remember the Titans 
20. Owen Wilson in Shanghai Noon
21. Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft 
22. Patrick Fugit in Almost Famous
23. Haley Joel Osment in Pay It Forward
24. Jim Caviezel in Frequency 
25. Kevin Spacey in Pat It Forward
26. Samuel L. Jackson in Rules of Engagement
27. Matthew McConaughey in U-571
28. Tommy Lee Jones in Rules of Engagement
29. Gary Sinise in Mission to Mars
30. Tatsuya Fujimara in Battle Royale 
31. Ed Harris in Pollock
32. Geoffrey Rush in Quills
33. Javier Bardem in Before Night Falls
34. Nicolas Cage in Gone in Sixty Seconds
35. Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon
36. Hugh Jackman in X-Men 
37. Matt Damon in The Legend of Bagger Vance
38. Val Kilmer in Red Planet 
39. Arnold Schwarzenegger in The 6th Day 
40. Brendan Fraser in Bedazzled
41. John Malkovich in Shadow of the Vampire
42. Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents 
43. Matthew Perry in Whole Nine Yards
44. Robert De Niro in Meet the Parents
45. Bruce Willis in The Whole Nine Yards
46. Keanu Reeves in The Replacements
47. Sylvester Stallone in Get Carter
48. Kevin Costner in Thirteen Days
49. Jim Carrey in The Grinch
50. Eddie Murphy in Nutty Professor II
51. Jamie Foxx in Bait
52. Christopher Lambert in Highlander Endgame
53. Martin Lawrence in Big Momma's House
54. Breckin Meyer in Road Trip
55. Adrian Paul in Highlander Endgame
56. Adam Sandler in Little Nicky

Next Year: 2000 Supporting

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Alternate Best Actor 2000: George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?

George Clooney did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning a Golden Globe, for portraying Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother Where Art Thou?.

O Brother Where Art Thou? is a very enjoyably film about three escaped convicts who go on an Odyssey in the 30's.

As I'm sure you know George Clooney is far from a favorite actor of mine and the only performance of his which I reviewed that I have liked was his against type turn in The American. George Clooney here is technically seems a bit more in the Clooney zone as the part of the supposedly charming leading man, although even this part is a bit unorthodox for him considering the screwball nature of the film. Although I suppose I should note to begin with that I actually find his Oscar nominated work to be below average Clooney as those performances exemplify his very worst tendencies of an actor actually.

In this film Clooney does not just do his confident voice for most of his scenes except for a big dramatic scene where then he does his slightly stressed confident voice, no here Clooney actually goes about trying to be charming here rather then just assuming everyone will find him to be so. Clooney here first finds Ulysses as a character with his accent, which Clooney is rather solid on only wavering from it on occasion, and developing the schemer style of Ulysses. Clooney makes Ulysses both smart enough in that he is the smartest of the trio, but still gives the right sense that Ulysses probably does not exactly use every part of his brain either.

Clooney finds the right tone for his performance, and honestly by not seeming so excessively sure of himself his performance is a whole lot more endearing in this film. Clooney is actually just find to be around in this film as we follow his adventure to reunite with his wife while making sure his hair looks its very best with the best Dapper Dan has to offer. Clooney is very energetic here and goes to brighten every scene of the film in some way. Clooney does this pretty well, but he also has the right variations in his performance as he never overdoes a scene drawing back on the screwball attitude at the right times.

Clooney is actually just quite a bit of fun here and he proves a fit for the Coen brother's particular style here. He delivers each line with the right timing and the right drawl for this particular film. This is mostly a comic performance but there are some slightly dramatic moments late in the film. Even these moments though are still done in the film distinct style though as the dialogue still keeps his unusual flamboyance. Clooney brings the weight in the right way by internalizing it in his physical performance, and he really makes the scenes work well through reaction particularly his very effective one as Ulysses's sees something strange right before he is about to be hanged.

This is not an amazing performance by George Clooney but I genuinely liked him here which is really saying something when considering my usual view of his performance. To make me like him here did not require him to be intensely introverted either like in his best performance in The American. This is an extroverted performance by Clooney that never becomes overbearing in his attempt to entertain. Clooney actually is entertaining here as Ulysses, and acts as a likable character to follow through the various misadventures found in this most unusual Odyssey.

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Alternate Best Actor 2000

And the Nominees Were Not:

Christian Bale in American Psycho

Eric Bana in Chopper

Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Guy Pearce in Memento

George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou?

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Alternate Best Actor 2010: Results

5. Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll- Serkis is terrific in his portrayal of Ian Dury reminding me of the real man who I only knew from a brief not very memorable scene in Judge Dredd.

4. George Clooney in The American- Clooney gives possibly his best performance by toning down his usual mannerisms and giving a restrained as well as powerful portrait of an assassin who has seen too many double crosses.

3. Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine- Ryan Gosling gives a very strong performance in both his portrayal of the exuberant charmer as well as the bitter man he becomes.

2. Robert Duvall in Get Low- Robert Duvall once again knocks it out of the park in his portrayal of his old hermit who he creates a beautiful portrait with warmth, humor and sadness all while properly being this man who has exiled himself from the world.

1. Choi Min-sik in I Saw the Devil- This was one very close for me between the top three who all give great performances with stand out moments throughout their films. My favorite though goes to Choi Min-sik for his chilling portrayal of a serial killer who ends up being tortured himself. It is an amazing performance meeting the challenge of his character all the way through even as his character undergoes several extreme changes.

Overall Rank:

1. Choi Min-sik in I Saw the Devil
2. Robert Duvall in Get Low
3. Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine
4. Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
5. Ewan McGregor in The Ghost Writer
6. George Clooney in The American
7. Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
8. Christian Bale in The Fighter
9. Jiang Wen in Let the Bullets Fly
10. Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech
11. Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception
12. Lee Byung-hun in I Saw The Devil
13. Otto Jesperen in Trollhunter
14. James Franco in 127 Hours
15. Bruce Willis in Red
16. Ge You in Let The Bullets Fly
17. Leonardo DiCaprio in Shutter Island 
18. Ben Affleck in The Town
19. Colin Firth in The King's Speech
20. Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2
21. Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter  
22. Jeff Bridges in True Grit 
23. Javier Bardem in Biutiful  
24. Mark Wahlberg in The Other Guys
25. Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows  
26. Michael Cera in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
27. Sean Penn in Fair Game
28. Will Ferrell in The Other Guys
29. Gleenn Erland Tosterud in Trollhunter
30. Aaron Taylor Johnson in Kick-Ass
31. Skandar Keynes in Voyage of the Dawn Treader
32. Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables 
33. Logan Lerman in Percy Jackson 
34. Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid
35. James Frecheville in Animal Kingdom

Next Year: 2010 Supporting 

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Alternate Best Actor 2010: George Clooney in The American

George Clooney did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jack in The American.

The American is the epitome of a slow burn which tells the story of an over the hill assassin doing one more job. I personally thought it is quite compelling and reminded of The Day of the Jackal in a good way. I can see why it is divisive as it does take its time.

George Clooney is not one of my favorite actors as you may have been able to decipher from my reviews of all of his Oscar nominated performances. All of four of his performances I felt lacked conviction in terms of trying to portray an actual character, and besides Syriana he relied to much on just his own personality. Then with Syriana he relied to much on his weight gain and one single expression to convey the troubles of his character. Clooney seems like an actor who just can do no right for me, well that is not true, and I believe that his work here actually vindicates by own opinions regarding his other performances, especially since this sort of is almost the exact type of performance he should have given in Syriana. 

Clooney plays here an assassin, and thankfully takes a decidedly non Clooney esque route for the character of Jack. From the first scene where Jack kills two potential assassins, and an innocent woman he was with, it is rather clear that this is a very different character for Clooney. Clooney also takes a very different approach here and manages to actually internalize the emotions within Jack, and realizes Jack as a character. Clooney never loses his character here and he always stays with Jack through the film never compromising once for his usual manner he takes with many of his performances. This time there is the conviction in his performance that brings Jack to life as a character, and makes him particularly compelling character at that.

Jack is in many ways much the Jackal so well played by Edward Fox in The Day of the Jackal. Clooney like Fox did in that other film about a meticulous assassination shows very much the attitude that the day to day hit man. Clooney like Fox did portrays the routine effectively, and properly shows the operatives history through the meticlous manner employed. It is quite nice to Clooney actually handle a role with so much subtlety, and for it to honestly pay off as it does here. Clooney is great in the manner that he brings in through his eyes that fierceness one would expect from a killer. He portrays Jack as a man always of the mind. He makes him a man who is always clearly thinking and calculating as the trained killer should.

There is a great difference between Jack and the Jackal though since the Jackal was a soulless man willing to kill anyone to complete the job, Jack actually has a soul. Clooney is very affecting in his portrayal of this man who frankly has just killed too many and seen to many double crosses in his time. In this vein he reminded me of Richard Burton as Alec Leamus in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold particularly by the subtle method in which he expresses the pain Jack is going through. This is probably the least that Clooney has ever spoken in a film, and he handles the often silent role so well. He is great in just the scenes of Jack listening particularly in the presence of a kindly priest. Clooney powerfully shows Jack's regrets simply in his expression as the priest talks about sin.

This is a strong performance from Clooney throughout but he especially succeeds in the part near the end as Jack sees things closing around him. One single stunning moment comes in his performance as he believes he once again has to murder someone who has become close to him. The moment is brilliantly played by Clooney as he makes despair mounts as Jack is forced to prepare for the kill. It is a beautiful moment so quietly played and realizes the troublesome condition of this man so effectively. At the end of the film as Jack rejects the mission this could easily be the time for Clooney to drop Jack's nature and go to his old tricks as an actor but he doesn't. He keeps going within this downplayed approach where we really can truly feel the struggle that Jack is facing.

The final moments of his performance are terrific, and Clooney could not play them better frankly. Jack's true feelings finally come out, but Clooney does not reject his portrayal of Jack for these moments. He stays with the character still and succeeds in bringing the poignancy at the end by subtly showing the intensity of Jack's emotions slowly builds as he sees his future slipping away. It is a very moving end to the film, and Clooney delivers. So there, here is a performance by George Clooney honestly gives a very strong portrayal of a character because he goes straight through the film with the character. He carries this film not through his usual method, but by dialing back his own manner and gets to the core of his character.

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Alternate Best Actor 2010

And the Nominees Were Not:

Choi Min-sik in I Saw The Devil

Robert Duvall in Get Low

Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine

George Clooney in The American

Andy Serkis in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

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