Best of 2008: Top 10 Performances by a Supporting Actress

Top 10 Performances by a Supporting Actress

It's very difficult in defining a top 10 list for any category of film. There are so many genres and types of movies released that it's a daunting task for any professional or amateur critic. This year was full of great supporting roles for both male and female, and I could probably list 10 more reasonably - but I'm not.

The women comprising the Supporing Actress category are just that - supporting characters, despite what any award show says. Three movies cultivated such great performances that they have two actresses appearing in the list. Debra Winger and Rosemarie DeWitt shine like a dirty gem in "Rachel Getting Married," both giving realistic performances, particularly DeWitt who should be nominated for an Oscar as Rachel. In "Doubt," Amy Adams impeccably plays Sister James - a role only fate could allow her to have - and Viola Davis stands out in her single, yet moving, scene. And in "The Wrestler," Mickey Rourke's two supporting women, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei, aid his journey with eloquent, raw performances.

The four women of the list certainly stood out in their particular films. Taraji P. Henson captivated the character of Queen so perfectly - she was hilarious, heart-felt, and effective in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." In "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Penelope Cruz surfaces as a woman who can act her heart out. Her fiery vixen of an ex-wife was both entertaining and frightening. Freida Pinto captured the purity, beauty, and romance that was "Slumdog Millionaire." I'd put her on the list for that slow motion shot of her by the trains, smiling. Such a great, simple performance by a beautiful unknown. Finally, Misty Upham drove Melissa Leo's lead character into forbidden dangers in "Frozen River." She gave an incredible performance that was both dynamic and effortless.

Here is the list of the Top 10 Performances by a Supporting Actress:

10. Debra Winger as Abby in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

9. Freida Pinto as Lakita in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

8. Evan Rachel Wood as Stephanie Robinson in THE WRESTLER

7. Misty Upham as Lila in FROZEN RIVER

6. Taraji P. Henson as Queenie in THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

5. Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller in DOUBT

4. Marisa Tomei as Cassidy in THE WRESTLER

3. Rosemarie DeWitt as Rachel in RACHEL GETTING MARRIED

2. Amy Adams as Sister James in DOUBT

1. Penelope Cruz as Maria Elena in VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Julia Ormond, Taraji P. Henson, Tilda Swinton, Jared Harris & Mahershalalhashbaz Ali

David Fincher's epic masterwork known as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," allows life and death, love and wrinkles, to stretch across the screen in a timeless tale of an unusual boy turning man turning boy. Universality in the unique - this is what sticks you in your seat, what makes a near three hours feel like ten minutes.

It's astonishing how you know exactly what will come, what will pass, but how you yearn to know how. Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) ages backwards, but is as ordinary as a person of a different color, religion, sexuality, or even someone who can't see. It's just how he was made. His heart aches, he's determined, he wants to see the world, and he realizes that everything doesn't matter if you don't love. That's where Cate Blanchet's Daisy comes into the picture. Daisy, about six years younger than Benjamin, ages normally, which causes a disturbance in their relationship, but no more than someone nervous saying "I love you". Time goes on, he's younger looking, she's older looking, and more time passes. History plays its mesmerizing role as backdrop as we follow Benjamin's disappearing gray hair.

Pitt excels his acting credibility as Button. With an oxymoronic exterior, he thrusts his appropriate age with subtlety. Blanchett delivers a lively performance of various degrees of a life, just as smooth as Pitt's, though not as surprising. The supporting cast does just what the name calls for. Tilda Swinton and Jared Harris are the most profound characters Benjamin meets on his bildungsroman travels, introducing him to sex and alcohol, however Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, Benjamin's mother, and Julia Ormond as Caroline, Daisy's daughter, showcase themselves with scenes full of affection and feeling.

Life, as taught by "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," isn't about the oddities and obstacles; it's about how you grow and how you jump. The opportunites that pass on by and the ones that you take. The moments. The love. The memory.

Grade: A

Smokin' Aces

Smokin' Aces (DVD)

Staring Jeremy Piven, Alicia Keys, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, & Taraji Henson

A single playing card - no matter what the suit, no matter what the color, no matter if it's got a joker on it or game rules - is two sided. If it falls, it will land on one of two sides. It will never stand up alone. This is the way "Smokin' Aces" evolves. From a particularly good eared, two-dimensional script, the characters and their situations fall heavily to the ground. With a whole lot of drive, a few original traits, and completely no audience empathy or appreciation, the ensemble, which is all too big to begin with, kicks ass, but we could care less.

However, there is one set of killers out to assassinate Vegas-rich Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), and that is the female contract killers, Georgia Skye and Sharice Watters, played by singer Alicia Keys and "Hustle & Flow's" Taraji Henson. Keys delivers with on-time attitude and brings life and attractiveness to her character, whereas the other actors just deliver their lines. Henson is the key to Key's prosperity as a reasonable character. The duo are friends, and Sharice cares deeply for Georgia, which brings some humanity to the movie.

What's the conflict? It's simple. Kill Israel. Who are the characters? Well, there's a ton of them, played by Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Ray Liota, Common, and the list goes on. What happens? A lot and not all at the same time. The idea was present but the delivery was all wrong. Reynolds, Garcia and Liota are at a career low. Their lines are fast and important which is a terrible mix, and they're not having much fun - Garcia especially. He is a lame duck in the film.

"Smokin' Aces" is clearly not a movie for a sappy friendship to bud either - it's a guy's movie, a shoot-you-in-the-face, blood-thirsty, action extravaganza. Or it should have been. For like the card trying to stand, it falls. Director and screenwriter, Joe Carnahan, presents us with a situation, but instead of showing it to us, he tells us. Multiple characters talking so rapidly about something that should be paid attention to by the audience, but can't, allows our affliction (or what was left of it) to diminish.


Where's the action? Well, to tell you the truth, with all of the plot confusion, when the action occurs, it's free of conflict, which is very, very bad. Action without conflict in an action movie is like kicking yourself in the groin. Some of the scenes are unexpected and good, like when "Lost's" Matthew Fox interrogates another "Lost" actor, Nestor Carbonell, about his credibility of being a true FBI agent. Of course Carbonell's character, Pasquale Acosta who bit off the the skin on his fingers so he can't be traced, is not an FBI agent. This scene is fun to watch and has great dialogue, and an end that has great collision. Another character that's fun to watch is Jason Bateman's Rip Reed who is erratic and completely hilarious.

There is a build up, too, in "Smokin' Aces," which is the death of Israel. If he does not die, this would not be a movie. Well, it would but I would hate it even more than I do now. We watch "Smokin' Aces" not for the characters, not for the dialogue, not for the confusing plot, but for the climax, when Israel comes face to face with fate. We'll just leave it at this: it's a huge let down.

However, what saves this movie from being one of the worst films ever, is that it pulls off one of my favorite tricks in cinema, something successfully pulled off in "The Village" and "Children of Men," the incredibly shocking and unpredictable killing of a main star within the first half-hour. "Smokin' Aces" does this and is effective in the act, gaining some respect.

Grade: D