Top 10 Performances by a Supporting ActorLooking at my list for the best supporting actors, there's not really a system or a commonality between them except eight out of the ten played off-their-rocker psychopaths, killers, molesters, or schizophrenics. The two sane ones weren't so over the top, but sweet and gracefully filled the stage with presence.
Dev Patel in "Slumdog Millionaire" captured the essence of unstoppable determination in the name of love. He wasn't over the top or under-performing - he was perfect in a crucial age-role of the film. The other lucid character was played by James Franco in "Milk." Franco - with "Pineapple Express" under his belt - had a tremendous career, jump-starting a future in great films. In "Milk," he was more like the housewife to Harvey Milk, a Jackie Onassis to her JFK.
Eddie Marsan, who was pitch-perfectly creepy as the driving instructor in "Happy-Go-Lucky," begins the eight crazies. He contrasted Sally Hawkin's character so masterfully that sometimes you weren't sure if she's ever leave the car alive. In "Revolutionary Road," Kate and Leo go head-to-head, but in the few scenes with Michael Shannon - the only role who understands the couple's escapism dream - are brilliant. The man out-performs DiCaprio in every which way. A possible child molester, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a priest in "Doubt" who must defend his sexuality and position at a 1964 Catholic school in the Bronx. Like the feuds in "Revolutionary Road," Hoffman clashes swords with Meryl Streep - if only we could have a sword-duel to see who would truly win. In "Burn After Reading," Brad Pitt, releasing his inner-Keanu, blooms as the bouncy/screwball gym trainer who teams with Frances McDormand to uncover a possible government secret, while John Malkovich goes ape-shit on the 
Coen Brothers set as the man McDormand and Pitt are after. Also starring in the same film are Tom Cruise as the foul-mouthed, rapping movie producer and Robert Downey, Jr. as the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude. Cruise was off-the-charts crazy, while you had to look beyond the character-over-character/skin-over-skin to find the insanity of Downey, Jr.'s character.And then, in a whole other universe of caliber, there is the unreachable Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight." All I have to say about his performance is that it is the best performance of the 21st century, and one of the best in cinematic history. Transcendent. Sinister. Perfect.
And now, the list of the 2008 Top 10 Performances by a Supporting Actor:
10. Dev Patel as Jamal Malik in SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
9. John Malkovich as Oscbourne Cox in BURN AFTER READING
8. Brad Pitt as Chad Feldheimer in BURN AFTER READING
7. Tom Cruise as Les Grossman in TROPIC THUNDER
6. Michael Shannon as John Givings in REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
5. James Franco as Scott Smith in MILK
4. Robert Downey, Jr. as Kirk Lazarus in TROPIC THUNDER3. Eddie Marsan as Scott in HAPPY-GO-LUCKY
2. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn in DOUBT
1. Heath Ledger as The Joker in THE DARK KNIGHT
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