The Supporting Actress Smackdown series picks an Oscar vintage and explores.
THE NOMINEES Today's topic: 2002 which featured the movies Adaptation, The Hours, About Schmidt, and Best Picture champ Chicago. This very starry field of much-beloved actresses (all but one are now Oscar winners) deliver a juicy collection of characters: a horny mother-of-the-groom, a suicidal 50s housewife, an opportunistic prison warden, a fictionalized non-fiction writer, and a jazzbaby murderess.
THE PANEL Here to talk about these 2002 divas and their movies are comedian/writer Joel Kim Booster, comedian/writer Matt Rogers, Variety's Artisan's editor Jazz Tangcay, Vox's critic-at-large Emily VanDerWerff, and lip sync assassin Ben Yahr. And, as ever, your host at The Film Experience, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...
2002
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...
Kathy Bates as "Roberta Hertzel" in About Schmidt
Synopsis: The horny unfiltered mother-of-the-groom unnerves the father of the bride as their children's wedding approaches.
Stats: Then 54 yrs old, 36th film, 6th billed (with an "and" to make her special). Third (of four) nominations. 14 minutes of screen time (or 11% of the running time)
Joel Kim Booster: A horrible, condescending role for an actor that deserves better. I have an allergy to most of Alexander Payne's work, and this movie was no exception. I love Kathy, but I find it hard to believe there weren't more deserving performances this year. ♥
Matt Rogers: Relentlessly funny, and certainly scores yet another notch in her iconic scene bedpost (of which Kathy has a few) with her hot tub come-on. While the performance is brief and there isn't too much demanded of Kathy, she scores and scores and scores. Bates is obviously an immense talent and I always love to see a full out comedy performance nominated, but if this is the year we were doing that in a major way, then why not Andrea Martin in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Probably because she wasn't already an Oscar favorite, which I think went a pretty long way here. ♥♥♥
Jazz Tangcay: Not her finest role. Revisiting About Schmidt after all these years -- it's still pretty awful. If anything, she is the best thing about it, but barely. Sorry, Kathy! ♥
Emily VanDerWerff: Bates is, as always, quite good, playing what feels like an evolutionary form of Annie Wilkes that is mutating into some of the characters the actress played on American Horror Story. But the performance is in service of the cruelest section of what might be Alexander Payne's cruelest movie, and Bates doesn't really push back against that tone, choosing to just go with the current of mocking these poor Coloradans. I suspect she got the nomination because of the nude scene, which surely would have been seen at the time as "brave." (It was frequently mentioned in the reviews.) But that scene is the nadir of the film's general "laughing at, not laughing with" vibe. ♥♥
Ben Yahr: Kathy Bates gives off real “cool aunt” energy in this role. The one who lets you smoke weed in her basement and really wants you to know what the 70’s were like. The second she walked into the jacuzzi naked, Kathy secured the Oscar nomination. Not a huge emotional range for her character, but a lot of grounded humanity and subtle humor. It’s a small part, and she made every second count. Her delivery of the line “Drink your fucking milk and shut the fuck up” nearly made me spit out my La Croix ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: An Oscar nomination for flashing the audience is as extremely "TOO MUCH" as the character Alexander Payne has written for Kathy Bates. Hmmm, "character" should be in quotes, too. Roberta is more of a non-dimensional vessel for outlandish lines of dialogue meant to jolt us into laughter than an actual person. That said, I found myself chortling at least three times, all due to random body language or weirdly specific line readings, especially one that is more gross than funny on the page. "Got anything for me in the bedpan?". ♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "A complete scene stealer and the definition of ‘supporting.’ Always improves whatever movie or scene she appears in." - Tom F. (Reader average: ♥♥¾)
Actress earns 15¾ ❤s
Queen Latifah as "Matron Mama Morton" in Chicago
Synopsis: A warden arranges representation, press, and good lawyers for her prisoners... at a price.
Stats: Then 32 yrs old, 12th film, 4th billed. Her first (and only) nomination. 11 minutes of screentime (or 10% of the running time)
Joel Kim Booster: Sure! I wanted to roll my eyes at this nomination but watching it again today I warmed to it. She's certainly doing more than Kathy, and solidifies her place as a star if maybe not an actress. ♥♥
Matt Rogers: Dana is fun in Chicago. "When You're Good To Mama" isn't wasted on her. But this nomination rode a wave of love for the film surrounding it, and I think most people without knowledge of the Oscars would be surprised to hear it was given much awards consideration. There's nothing super challenging here (it's the role they'll most often stunt cast and throw to someone like Countess Luann on Broadway), and you have to imagine that every actress in Hollywood who could claim to be a Mama Morton type would give a fun take on it. I guess that's my big issue here: this role just doesn't ask much of an actress, and because it doesn't require ingenuity, it isn't given any by Latifah. But, like I said, fun! ♥♥
Jazz Tangcay: Look I love her in this. I think she's better than Julianne and Kathy in this lineup. I worship at the temple of Rob Marshall and this film. ♥♥♥
Emily VanDerWerff: Everybody in Chicago might be the best they've ever been in a movie. I'm not sure that's true of Latifah -- she's usually really good -- but her sole Oscar nomination is for one of her top three performances, at least. The only thing I would hold against her (and this isn't really a criticism of her) is the way that she sort of slides out of the movie after her big number. But "If You're Good to Mama" is a real showstopper, and I enjoy her role as a de facto member of Roxie Hart's legal counsel, which she turns into a proto-version of Kim Wexler from Better Call Saul, but one who sings. She's a step behind the two all-timer performances in this category for me, but only a step. ♥♥♥♥
Ben Yahr: Queen Latifah has one big number in this movie (justice for the cut song “Class”). And she was nominated for performing that song. The song was brilliantly done, but rest of the movie doesn’t give Queen that much to work with. There aren’t really enough emotional stakes for Matron Mama Morton to really wow us. Don’t get me wrong, middle school me was absolutely practicing my boa work secretly to “When You’re Good To Mama”. She added energy and charm to the movie. Queen Latifah is a solid and consistent actor, but I can’t help but think about Toni Collette being passed over that year ♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: Like her fellow nominee CZJ, Latifah charges into this movies eyes flashing, thrilled by the opportunity. Unfortunately for us, "When You're Good to Mama," with its boob-shaking and feather-waving is both a highly promising first impression and impossible to live up to. She's forgettable in her other (admittedly thin) scenes and the turn is missing the kind of comic twists or curious detailing that might have otherwise energized this very marginal role. I kept wanting more. ♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Latifah plays it light, but there are shades of steel there. I get the impression Mama wouldn't be afraid to go all Nurse Ratchet on any of the chickies in her pen." - Tom G. (Reader average: ♥♥⅔)
Actress earns 18⅔ ❤s
Juianne Moore as "Laura Brown" in The Hours
Synopsis: A depressed 1950s housewive reads "Mrs Dalloway" while contemplating either suicide or abandoning her family.
Stats: Then 42 yrs old, 32nd film, 3rd billed. 3rd or 4th nomination (double-nominated this very year) out of five in her career. 28 minutes of screen time (or 25% of the running time).
Joel Kim Booster: Has the distinction of being the most maudlin performance in a movie full of them. I love Julianne, but I think she telegraphs a bit too much of the journey here, especially as compared to Toni Collette who does more with much less. ♥♥♥
Matt Rogers: A terrific portrayal of quiet, unbearable domestic agony. She is sort of playing a woman trapped inside a woman she doesn't know how to be. It looks like she literally hates being in her own skin. I particularly enjoy the way her voice and demeanor seem to change whenever she seems to think she's going to have a real connection with Toni Collette. She drops in and stops "performing" in a very subtle way. Moore's isn't my favorite performance in The Hours (that would be Streep), but the degree of difficulty here is quite high, even if some of the direction beats us over the head with how good the performance is. ACTING is very much HAPPENING in scenes such as Moore's performance for her husband from the bathroom, but that acting is great, and the audience feels what they need to feel as a result of it: really fucking sad. ♥♥♥♥
Jazz Tangcay: Another fine performance in a film with a superb cast but Toni Collette deserved it more and the film really belongs to Nicole Kidman. ♥♥
Emily VanDerWerff: I hated this movie in 2002, and I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaated it in 2020. The degree to which it glamorizes the suffering of women and poor people, beating its chest in pursuit of Oscars makes it hard to appreciate any of the performances, and any time the movie zeroes in on something moving from its considerable cast, Philip Glass's score (good in isolation!) wanders in to blow everything out of the water. Moore is perfectly fine. I quite liked her in the concluding scene with Streep, and she does everything she's asked to do. But comparing this to her also-nominated work as a different '50s housewife in Far From Heaven that year -- it's not even a contest. ♥♥
Ben Yahr: This is the heart breaker of the category. The way Julianne keeps that dread bubbling just under the surface is masterful and devastating. And the moments between her Laura and Toni Collette’s Kitty made me (and I assume every gay watching) squeal. To be honest, the misery level in this film was a little too much for me to handle in this quarantine world we’re all in, but there’s no denying these actors are incredible. Julianne’s performance was expectedly impressive, but the academy was clearly in the mood for a little more razzle dazzle ♥♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: As a die-hard Julianne fan I must admit that I think this her weakest Oscar-nominated performance (the other four? *chef's kiss*). She's haunting, yes, but the filmmaking and the other actors are doing the heavy lifting; when I think of her in this film I am actually always thinking of the voice overlay of John C Reilly's "come to bed, Laura Brown," her little son's huge needy eyes, or Toni Collette's accidental sensuality and perfect housewife facade. Moore is solid but between Moore's two performances that trade on almost catatonic spiritual misery, give me the more disturbing /challenging Safe (1995) every time. ♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Her stillness is so dynamic, an achievement that can only come at the hands of a skilled actress. " - Aditya (Reader average: ♥♥♥¾)
Actress earns 22¾ ❤s
Meryl Streep as "Susan Orleans" in Adaptation
Synopsis: A lonely New Yorker journalist worries that her secrets will be discovered when a screenwriter adapts her book.
Stats: Then 53 yrs old, 28th film, 2nd billed. 13th nomination (of an eventual 21). 32 minutes of screentime (or 28% of the running time.)
Joel Kim Booster: A bit cheeky of them to nominate this performance over what I think is a much better example of prime Meryl in The Hours. It goes some interesting places, but because of the nature of Kaufman's writing here it feels a bit thin. This movie is about Nic Cage and Chris Cooper, the women get a little forgotten. ♥♥♥
Matt Rogers: Very few things make me happier than watching Meryl Streep have fun. I always find my favorite performances of hers are her comedy ones, particularly when she explores vanity. With this performance, however, she's accessing an edgier, more sexual side of herself than we traditionally see. It's also one of the great examples of acting as if you're on drugs, and I particularly enjoy the moment when Susan Orlean realizes she is in fact high while brushing her teeth, leading to the delightful dial tone sequence. I don't even really have qualms with this performance, just that the movie isn't really for me and it's hard to get a finger on the character. She's still, overall, the best thing about Adaptation. But when is Meryl Streep not the best thing about whatever she's in (this includes The Hours)? "I want to be a baby again"? She sold that one. ♥♥♥♥
Jazz Tangcay: The material starts off great and by the third act it turns into a what is going on - swamp chase? But Meryl excels at the transition and she is fantastic. This performance is often cited in any top ten of Streeps. Watch all her scenes together and it's like an epic Meryl highlight reel. Love her in this. ♥♥♥♥
Emily VanDerWerff: Is it wrong to say this is my favorite Meryl Streep performance? Yes? No? If nothing else, she's so much better here than she is in The Hours. This performance would be worth it alone for the scene where she gets high, becomes entranced by the brushing of her teeth, imitates a dial tone, and just generally takes an already weird movie and hauls it into entirely weirder territory. (It's amazing how much of the film's shift from meta-storytelling to something else entirely is borne by Streep and Streep alone, and she makes it work, as you'd expect.) Plus when she's the more conventional spin on Susan Orlean, she's very good at capturing a journalist who treats her subjects like zoo animals. ♥♥♥♥♥
Ben Yahr: Like Meryl ever falls short of perfection. She brought an anxiety and fragility to this character that I for one definitely identified with. The end of this movie goes so wildly and intentionally off the rails, so I as the audience was very grateful for Meryl’s grounded and natural energy. This whole movie had that overly intellectualized, aimed at depressed people quality that so many movies had in the early 2000s. But Meryl has a singular ability to take mediocre material and elevate it to something human. All of her performances could have won Oscars, but this was clearly Catherine’s year ♥♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: In the annals of the Streepography, there are few scenes that equal the "dial tone" for sheer miracle of both craft and adorability. I also admire the way she slides between the real and the fictional skewerings of the same person though I admit to wishing that the demarcation line was a bit more visible. Still, this is a wow in terms of difficulty. If La Streep starts challenging herself like this again soon we will consider clamoring for a fourth Oscar. But I have to admit that I once thought of this as the Streep/Cooper movie but this time through Nicolas "my genre's thriller. What's yours?" Cage wins top honors. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Streep‘s an easy winner for me. Such a funny, sad, singular, hypnotic performance so beautifully distilled in her last moments crying over Chris Cooper’s dead body and wishing she were a baby again in the swamp. One of many career peaks for Meryl." - Ray L. (Reader average: ♥♥♥♥¼)
Actress earns 29¼ ❤s
Catherine Zeta-Jones as "Velma Kelly" in Chicago
Synopsis: A vaudeville star, on trial for a double-homicide, finds public interest in her case diminishing after a new murderess joins her in the clink.
Stats: Then 33 yrs old, 12th film, 2nd billed. 1st (and only) nomination. 31 minutes of screentime (or 27% of the running time.)
Joel Kim Booster: I remember at the time thinking this was a silly, flashy nomination and win for CZJ, but watching it again, especially against these other performances, she wins it on sheer work alone. But the great thing about the performance is she never lets you see the work. A bit of category fraud maybe? This to me is as much a lead performance as Zellweger but I'll allow it. ♥♥♥♥
Matt Rogers: She shoots this movie out of a fucking cannon with "All That Jazz", and yet one could argue her most iconic moment comes during her at first matter of fact, then rageful, roaring solo in "Cell Block Tango". Not only is she perfect for the part, and not only is she pretty flawless in executing the physically, musically and comedically demanding role, but this is one of those Oscar wins that lives up to my personal rubric. I always watch performances and think, "could anyone else have done this?" Was it singular? And Catherine, to me, IS Velma Kelly. Every word that comes out her mouth is credible and natural. You really believe that they did have it comin'. A performer in total control, and so memorable that people often consider it a co-lead. It's solidly supporting. It's just that iconic. ♥♥♥♥♥
Jazz Tangcay: As I was watching this for the millionth time, I thought 'When is she getting her comeback?' Yes, she deserved that win and was and still is phenomenal in this, from the sexy "All that Jazz" to the even hotter "Cell Block Tango," she brings a sense of mischief and is simply sensational throughout. Five stars ...and more. ♥♥♥♥♥
Emily VanDerWerff: I remember finding this performance and the movie it's in overhyped back in 2002. In 2020, I don't know what I was thinking. Zeta Jones's spin on Velma Kelly is so enthralling. She nails the singing. She nails the dancing. She nails the scenes where Velma has to be vulnerable and the scenes where she has to pretend to be vulnerable. She's the perfect frenemy, the perfect accomplice, and the perfect song and dance chanteuse. It's to Renee Zellweger's credit that Zeta Jones doesn't run away with the movie, but she still takes the movie away at a slow walk. ♥♥♥♥♥
Ben Yahr: CZJ gave the gays everything they wanted with this performance. The heavy eyeliner, the high-school production of Thoroughly Modern Millie wig… we were fed. And hearing a non-American actor try to wrap their mouth around an American accent always tickles us. In fact, the deep throaty way she says CICERO is probably why I turned out the way I did. She brought a sense of chaos and rage to Velma Kelly that thrilled us all. There were only a few moments of vulnerability for CZJ to dig into (I’ll never forget the reveal of her worn and ripped stockings). If there were more, this could have been a flawless performance. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: Super charged from her defiantly angry entrance, which plays like a deadly come-on, through to her worn-stocking vulnerable last gamble. She never steps a foot wrong, killing every musical number, every self-regarding line read, and best of all managing a tangled through-line on her resentful but practical feelings towards her dumber, but savvier, counterpart. Zeta-Jones's Velma is from the extremely limited subgenre of 'Actors Who Obviously Know While Filming That This is The One They'll Be Remembered For' and subsequently attack as if their legacy depends on it. Which it does. I'd like to rate this performance by emojis so it's pure 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. Or, rather... ♥♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "The juiciest role of all 5 roles and boy, she is nailing every beat." - Cesar (Reader average: ♥♥♥♥¼)
Actress earns 32¼ ❤s
Result: Catherine Zeta-Jones was a lock for the Oscar and, in a mild surprise, she's also the runaway winner again at the Smackdown!
THE FULL PODCAST CONVERSATION
Download at the bottom of this post 👇 or on iTunes to hear the in-depth discussion.
NEXT UP: The 1957 Oscar race will be discussed on July 6th. Watch Best Picture nominees Peyton Place and Witness for the Prosecution, as well as Sayonara and The Bachelor Party (if you can find them) before then to maximize your enjoyment of the next Smackdown. [All Previous Smackdowns]