Oscar 2017: Best Performances – Best Actor

Taking a look at the acting categories from this year’s Academy Awards, here are my picks for the best performances from this year’s Best Actor nominees.

CASEY AFFLECK 

BEST PERFORMANCE – MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (Kenneth Lonergan, 2016)

I love Casey Affleck more than most people.  After a spectacular 2007, starring in films like Gone Baby Gone and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (which was almost my pick here), he was a staple on my favorite actor’s list.  Normally a supporting actor, Affleck got to show the world what he was truly capable of in Manchester by the Sea.  This is a powerful, soul-crushing performance about a man dealing with tragedy.  Affleck doesn’t show his emotion through dialog, but through his body.  He wears grief and sadness on his shoulders and shows Lee’s emptiness in his eyes.  This is a captivating performance and my favorite of 2016.

ANDREW GARFIELD

BEST PERFORMANCE – THE SOCIAL NETWORK (David Fincher, 2010)

This was a lot tougher of a decision that I thought.  I could have gone with either of the two stellar performances from 2016 in Silence and his nominated performance in Hacksaw Ridge, his underrated power in Never Let Me Go (2010), and his breakout in Boy A (2007).  But being the sympathetic figure in an ice-bold biopic takes it.  This was the first performance I saw Garfield in and he blew me away.  He reads Sorkin’s dialog like a pro and makes us love Eduard Saverin and feel for his Shakespearian rise and fall.  Robbed of an Oscar nomination, Garfield has never been better.

RYAN GOSLING

BEST PERFORMANCE – THE BELIEVER (Henry Bean, 2001)

Gosling has, in an understated fashion, put together a very impressive filmography over the years, with some stellar performances and great movies.  His performance in The Believer is a truly special role.  Playing a young Jewish man with anti-Semitic beliefs, Gosling gives a layered, deeply moving performance of a man troubled by beliefs and his heritage.  Gosling, who was a relative unknown at the time and known more for his Mickey Mouse Club days broke that mold and showed he was a legitimate talent in Hollywood.  This is a powerful performance and one that people should seek out to see Gosling at his best.

VIGGO MORTENSEN 

BEST PERFORMANCE – EASTERN PROMISES (David Cronenberg, 2007)

This is the definition of a balls-to-the-wall performance, both literally and figuratively.  Mortensen’s second pairing with master director David Cronenberg is a dark, violent, twisted thriller about the Russian mob and a baby.  Mortensen is chilling as the mob’s number one.  He nails the Russian accent and is an intimidating force whenever on screen.  He’s capable of anything and does so in a calm demeanor, making him even more intense.  The sauna room fight is one of the best fights I have ever seen and shows Mortensen’s commitment and bravery in the role (I’m still convinced he killed those two guys).  This is the best performance from a Cronenberg movie and Mortensen has never been better.

DENZEL WASHINGTON 

BEST PERFORMANCE – MALCOLM X (Spike Lee, 1992)

Denzel Washington is a Hollywood legend and one of the best ever to grace the screen.  With a number of legendary performances under his belt, there are a number of performances that could be considered his best.  But for me, this was an easy choice, as his performance in Malcolm X is simply one of the greatest I have ever seen.  Washington becomes the legendary Civil Rights leader.  He nails the look, the voice, the speech pattern, the confidence, and the intensity.  In Spike Lee’s sprawling epic, Washington is in every scene and throws the 200+ minute run time on his back and carries it.  In one of the biggest Oscar robberies of all-time, Washington was nominated, but didn’t win for this role, but this is a performance that will live on in cinema forever.

What are your favorite performances from this year’s Best Actor nominees?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.