Smackdown '05: Amy, Catherine, Frances, Michelle, and Rachel Weisz
Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 10:31AM The Supporting Actress Smackdown series picks an Oscar vintage -- 2005 this time -- and explores.
THE NOMINEES
A pregnant meercat obsessive, a gaslit housewife, a reckless activist, a tough union rep, and the perceptive companion to a famous writer. For the Best Supporting Actress slate of 2005, the Academy went with two then fresh faces (Amy Adams in Junebug, Michelle Williams in Brokeback Mountain), and one mid-career actress stepping up her game (Rachel Weisz in The Constant Gardener). They filled out the remainder of the field with familiar players, an Oscar regular (Frances McDormand in North Country) and a previous nominee (Catherine Keener in Capote)
THE PANEL
Here to discuss these actresses and films of 2005 are from left to right: cinephile and actress obsessive Ali Benzekri, Los Angeles Times' Justin Chang, Awards Daily's Joey Moser, the actress Kerry O'Malley (Snowpiercer, Boardwalk Empire, Strange Angel) and your host at the The Film Experience, Nathaniel R. Let's begin...
2005
SUPPORTING ACTRESS SMACKDOWN + PODCAST
The companion podcast can be downloaded at the bottom of this article or by visiting the iTunes page...
Amy Adams as "Ashley" in Junebug
Synopsis: A very pregnant child-like housewife becomes fascinated with her new sister-in-law visiting from New York City.
Stats: Then 31 yrs old, 8th film, 1st billed (but it's alphabetical as an ensemble picture). First nomination (of an eventual six). 31 minutes of screen time (or 29% of the running time)
Ali Benzekri: I have so many problems with Junebug but none of them involve Amy Adams’ work. She can do so many things. In Junebug, she is different and it goes without saying that she delivers, once again, an ideal performance in a far from ideal film. ♥♥♥
Justin Chang: Any actor who’s racked up six Oscar nominations in 13 years is bound to seem overdue. But Adams has seemed overdue since she received her first nomination for this early breakthrough that still stands, remarkably, among her finest work. She’s sublime in her subtle vacillations between hilarity and heartache, never more affectingly than in that killer of a final scene. And she makes beautiful sense of a character who might have seemed, in other hands, like a bundle of irreconcilable contradictions: Ashley is insecure and big-hearted, impulsive and wise, the orphan who married into this family and becomes the glue that holds it together. I remember seeing this movie for the first time and thinking I’d never encountered a character quite like Ashley; years later, I still can’t shake that feeling. ♥♥♥♥♥
Joey Moser: Protect Ashley at all costs! I want to be her friend so badly--if only to tell her that Johnny needs to talk to someone about his boyish lack of patience. Ashley is eager for knowledge and love and I was so happy to be reminded that Embeth Davidtz's Madeleine is never annoyed or put off by Ashley's loquaciousness. If that hospital scene doesn't break your heart and make you feel helpless, you're a monster. If this movie had been made 10 or 12 years later, you know Ashley would have a meerkat YouTube channel, and I would watch it every week. ♥♥♥♥♥
Kerry O'Malley: A role that would have been a caricature or a joke in other, less-skilled hands. She never condescends to the character, but leads with vulnerability and guilelessness and true charm. It's such a winning performance and I frequently thought how annoying this character could have been in the hands of someone else. You really care for Ashley and want the best for her! ♥♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: This breakthrough turn has so many unforgettable details that it was a shock to revisit it and realize just how said flourishes are. Ashley's much beloved meercat fascination, for example, is over in a split second, Adams ending the funny impression of the animal before it's even really formed. That's how train-of-thought spontaneous and rich the performance is. Ashley can't edit herself -- she's too full of life and curiousity and desperation to connect in a house full of grumpy silent types. But Adams doesn't have the same problem. She gives Ashley crucial silent moments, both contemplative (the baby shower ) and born of the same racing spirit as her motor mouth (those awkward pauses to smile and giggle). "What makes you tick?" she asks her new sister-in-law in one of the film's most endearing line readings. We needn't ask it of Ashley herself. Amy Adams tells us everything. ♥♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Yes, I love how wide-eyed, bubbly, and pure-of-thought Adams makes Ashley, but I love even more how she starts to slowly show us palpable layers of sadness and disappointment hidden underneath. You start to wonder if the former explains the latter. Subsequent viewings have only driven home the point that Ashley is the glue holding this quietly broken family together." - Braulio (Reader average: ♥♥♥♥)
Actress earns 27 ❤s
Catherine Keener as "Nelle Harper Lee" in Capote
Synopsis: A writer, on the verge of publishing her bestseller, takes a trip south with her far more famous friend for research on his own novel. His narcissism starts to get to her.
Stats: Then 46 yrs old, 27th film, 2nd billed. Her second nomination. 19 minutes of screentime (or 16% of the running time)
Ali Benzekri: It’s almost impossible to take your eyes off of Keener. Whenever she’s on screen, she’s commanding and present through the whole film. Coattail or not, this is a masterclass in understated acting. Loved her in this. ♥♥♥♥
Justin Chang: Beautifully restrained work in what you might call a classic supporting role: It’s a part that serves entirely to inform and illuminate our perceptions of the lead character, and which therefore remains firmly within designated emotional boundaries. Her rapport with Philip Seymour Hoffman feels tender and true, as does the lopsidedness of their relationship. And I love that there’s a performance here whose quiet, graceful, steady virtues stand in opposition to the noise and bombast that typically gets awards attention, and those virtues are very much those of Nelle Harper Lee herself. Even still, it doesn’t feel anywhere close to Keener’s most fully realized work; it’s effective, in part, because it feels like a negation of everything that we know she can do. ♥♥♥
Joey Moser: People only talk about Philip Seymour Hoffman's brilliant performance, but there is a brilliance in being able to hold one's own in the shadow of a giant personality. She is Truman's confidante but she challenges him more than he might realize. I loved watching Keener's eyes observing every scene as if she was writing a literary commentary in her head. ♥♥♥♥
Kerry O'Malley: Catherine Keener has very little screen time, but once again turns in a performance with wit, humor, grace, steel and backbone. Oh, for a movie with her and Frances McDormand playing opposite each other. She has true moral authority and one of the most centered and hard-hitting moments in the movie, delivered with such directness and quiet force that it took my breath away. There simply isn’t enough of her in this film, and when she isn’t there, you really feel her absence. ♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: Hugely successful performances that never draw attention to themselves, aren't that common in Oscar history. But it's worth truly considering them with an open mind when they do show up. Theory: Hoffman still would have won the Oscar with a more generic take on Harper beside him, but the performance might not have been considered an instant classic without her. Why? Well, Keener let's us track Capote's emotional state beneath Hoffman's flamboyant recreation, down to a microscopic level, by way of her ultra-precise reactive performance. It's a gorgeously quiet study of a perpetually frustrating but intimate friendship. Would happily watch a movie all about her. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Too often derided as a coattail nominee, Keener more than holds her own against Hoffman. All of her scenes bring a warm, almost lilting presence that nicely balances the drab tone of the film. I only wish there were more of it to savor." - Jordan W. (Reader average: ♥♥¾)
Actress earns 20¾ ❤s
Frances McDormand as "Glory" in North Country
Synopsis: A tough union delegate mentors a new hire through a sexually toxic work environment before falling ill from Lou Gehrig's disease.
Stats: Then 48 yrs old, 27th film, 2nd billed. Fourth nomination (of an eventual five). 15 minutes of screen time (or 12% of the running time).
Ali Benzekri: Frances is a tremendous actress but this is a convenient role at best. Enjoyable but easily forgettable. She gives Glory a certain gravitas that is becoming her own trademark by now. Sometimes this touch works perfectly but in North Country, it is not distinctive or exciting. ♥♥
Justin Chang: The least distinctive of McDormand’s Oscar-nominated performances, despite some subliminal callbacks to the wintry Minnesota setting of “Fargo” and some attempts to inject some of her signature take-no-bull humor. Part of me wants to applaud the uncharacteristic lack of showiness, but the characterization too often feels vague and muffled — right down to the debilitating illness that surfaces in the third act, which feels introduced mainly to secure that courtroom-climax turnaround. ♥♥
Joey Moser: She could play Glory in her sleep, but I wanted more of her. She feels removed from the story, especially once she stops working at the mine. Since Glory is a bit older than Charlize Theron's character, I would've loved to have seen them interact more since Glory can stand up to everyone. The small moments of vulnerability are great, but her character sometimes feels like she's in another movie. ♥♥
Kerry O'Malley: Frances McDormand turns in another stunning turn as a blue collar, no-nonsense, hard-headed woman with a heart of gold. As always, a strong, centered, incisive performance from an actress whose presence always brings gravitas and moral strength. I can’t take my eyes off her, and her one scene in the courtroom has such force and power that she can change the course of the action with one look. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: The nomination is surely the byproduct of two things the first of which is that she's Frances McDormand, an Oscar favourite. Second, the character has a fatal disease, and thus collects enormous sympathy. If this sounds cynical and reductive, well, this particular Social Justice movie invites reductions. McDormand does solid work (it's hard to throw this actress off her game) but the movie asks very little of her. Curiously she comes closest to deserving the nominations in the 'light' scenes that ask her to do even less. McDormand's casual confidence, innate toughness, and cutting wit, all greatly enliven the movie's most atypically enjoyable scene where the characters are just being and talking whilst having fun at a local bar. ♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: " She gets an extra star for being all that Francis McDormandy extra, but it's nothing she ain't done before." - Drew C. (Reader average: ♥♥¼)
Actress earns 14¼ ❤s
Rachel Weisz as "Tessa Quayle" in The Constant Gardener
Synopsis: An impassioned activist falls for a British diplomat and uses their quick marriage as shield for her investigations into Big Pharma crimes in Africa.
Stats: Then 35 yrs old, 21st film, 2nd billed. First nomination (of an eventual two). 32 minutes of screentime (or 25% of the running time.)
Ali Benzekri: It was exciting to watch this for the first time this week especially after my newfound love for Weisz in The Favourite. Despite my hate for this film, I can’t say that Weisz left me indifferent. Her win though is still puzzling. She is emotive, intriguing and effective but all of this engaging work feels like it belongs to a better character/film. ♥♥♥
Justin Chang: Weisz’s best work (The Deep Blue Sea, The Favourite) is often intensely stylized in ways that push against the limits of realism. Her work here takes place in a more prosaic register, but it’s still vivid and energizing. What’s refreshing about it — and makes this a respectable win, despite superior competition — is how boldly it rejects the standard supporting-actress mold of the quietly long-suffering wife. Tessa is an adventurer and a crusader for justice who boldly forges her own path, pisses off powerful men and leaves her husband reeling rather than the other way around. She’s a memorable character, not least for the way she haunts the movie from beyond the grave. But these are qualities that exist as much on the page as on the screen; you don’t leave thinking that Weisz alone could have played her. ♥♥♥
Joey Moser: A beautifully natural performance. I sometimes wonder if Tessa has to calibrate her own charm and use it as a weapon with all the men around her. Her presence is felt throughout the film as if she is just to the side of the camera. How nice to see men obsess over a woman for a change, right? ♥♥♥♥
Kerry O'Malley: Weisz makes you think, “Of course! I would take you to Africa, too!" She is gorgeous and smart and passionate and feisty, and a real force of nature. You can easily see how she could get wrapped up in such a dangerous situation, and why Fiennes’ character would be so smitten by her. This is one of those displays of charisma that can’t be taught -- you either have it, or you don’t. She grabs a hold of the viewer and lets you fall in love with her and never lets go, so you believe that her husband would do anything to get to the bottom of what happened to her. ♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: It's still hard for me to watch this role and not see Kate Winslet all over it. She was originally cast and the role fits Winslet's early recklessly fiery screen persona to a "t". She would have also won the Oscar for it. Which is not to say that Weisz wastes this gift of a career-changing role. Still, for all of Weisz's skill and charisma in terms of shading the ambiguities of love and calculation from this danger-courting do-gooder, this is a true leading role and doesn't belong in this category. The entire movie is about Tessa; even when she's offscreen, she haunts the proceedings as a siren-like ghost, luring us all towards her death while exposing the crimes and fragility of men. ♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "This performance is the reason I became an awards follower. You can't take your eyes off her. The film is hers, top to bottom, driving not just the narrative but the emotional substance, too; I could go on and on, but this is actressing at its finest, its Weiszest" - Manuel M. (Reader average: ♥♥♥¾)
Actress earns 21¾ ❤s
Michelle Williams as "Alma" in Brokeback Mountain
Synopsis: A frequently abandoned housewife is shocked to realize her husband is in love with another man.
Stats: Then 25 yrs old, 17th film, 4th billed. First nomination (of an eventual four). 15 minutes of screentime (or 11% of the running time.)
Ali Benzekri: 10 years ago, I watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time and weirdly I’ve never had the chance to revisit it again until now. I forgot how wonderful it is and how sensual the cinematography, the music and the acting are. But there’s one thing I never forgot and that is how powerful Michelle Williams’ work was. Her rage and confusion work wonders here and her big scene feels earned and opportune. A very soulful performance. ♥♥♥♥
Justin Chang: A devastating slow burn of a performance from someone who has made them a career specialty. The scene in which Alma sees Ennis and Jack embrace is still astonishing in its emotional force; you see the utter shock on her face, the incomprehension — and then, suddenly, the opposite of incomprehension as everything about her distracted, distant husband snaps into place. What makes the performance so piercing is that Williams shows you a woman who, like most of the characters in this movie, has no dreamy expectations of perfection in life; long after Alma learns the truth, you see her struggling to accept and make peace with it, to cling to what happiness she can. That final, justly bitter eruption is well earned, and yet I wish we saw her one more time, even if only for a moment’s consolation. Brokeback Mountain is Ennis and Jack’s tragedy, but as Williams makes heartbreakingly clear, it’s Alma’s, too. ♥♥♥♥
Joey Moser: A performance full of immense pain and confusion. It's all on Alma's face and it intensifies after she sees Ennis and Jack passionately embracing. This is something that she doesn't understand and will never accept. Williams' part was smaller than I remembered, but that kitchen confrontation remains powerful. Alma is so angry but she can't separate it from the fear of her ex-husband's anger nor does she properly know how to articulate it or bring it up. ♥♥♥♥
Kerry O'Malley: A truly heartbreaking performance as the wife of doomed Ennis. Michelle shows you the terrible collateral damage, the cost of Ennis and Jack’s secret. She is so open and vulnerable and what she is able to achieve with a look or a breath or a glance is heart-stopping. Your heart is broken for Ennis and for her -- that is such an achievement, that you feel not only for the heroes of the movie but for the people who are harmed by them. She needs very little dialogue to tell you a story, her face reveals so much, so deeply, so quickly. ♥♥♥♥♥
Nathaniel R: Brokeback Mountain is so majestically great in so many ways, and its tragic love story so potent, that it's easy to undervalue the contributions of anyone beyond the central trio: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, and director Ang Lee. In fact, even though it's my personal favourite of Williams Oscar-nominated performances (by a hair over Blue Valentine), I'd forgotten just how finely calibrated her performance is. We get precious little time with her and her dialogue is rarely related to what she's actually feeling. That's an acting challenge but Williams has burrowed inside this emotionally inarticulate woman (in this particular way she's not so unlike her screen husband), and we understand nearly everything about her plight. Williams is illuminating it all from deep within. ♥♥♥♥♥
Reader Write-Ins: "Heartbreaking. She nails the sadness as much as the growing embers of rage." - Ryan St. (Reader average: ♥♥♥⅔)
Actress earns 25⅔ ❤s
Result: Rachel Weisz took the Oscar with apparent ease but the Smackdown is a more difficult feat. Michelle Williams pulls ahead. Still, Junebug's Amy Adams defeats them both amongst the panel and in reader balloting.
giggling
THE PODCAST CONVERSATION
Download at the bottom of this post 👇 or on iTunes to hear the in-depth discussion. [All Previous Smackdowns]
Next up: We'll discuss 1938 on September 14th so get to watching You Can't Take It With You, Jezebel, The Great Waltz, Merrily We Live, and Of Human Hearts before then.
Reader Comments (73)
Such a fabulous smackdown, with such a fabulous winner.
Amy Adams in Junebug is the most mind-shattering, soul-elevating "who. is. this. ACTRESS!?" moment I've ever experienced in 25 years of going to a cinema.
As someone pointed out above though, performances in small movies like this one often don't lead to much of a career. Therefore I remain ecstatic that Adams has at least been able to build an entire, rangy career based on this miracle of a character.
She's my single favourite nominated performance of the decade.
...And Michelle Williams is very close behind. It's a great insight Nathaniel points out "We get precious little time with her and her dialogue is rarely related to what she's actually feeling" - and it gets at the core of what makes her performance such a full-bodied astonishment.
I honestly feel like acting at this level is its own timeless reward. It borderline makes a mockery of the Oscars as a concept.
Catherine Keener too would be my winner in almost any other year. She does so much and with such subtlety and precision to elevate and deepen not just her character but the entire film around it.
I haven't seen North Country yet but when has McDormand been anything less than genius.
Rachel Weisz though, I've never loved - I always felt this performance was just a serviceable impression of Kate Winslet (and I didn't even know that bit about the original casting! makes so much sense..) As Justin Chang points out, it's made of "qualities that exist as much on the page as on the screen".
And it's not like Weisz's career up until that point in any way screamed 'overdue'. So I remain bewildered by the win.
Especially because without it, she would've made the inevitable and perfect (and beyond-deserved) winner in 2018 for another borderline-lead in The Favourite. *That's* a character she very much owned from frame one, where she managed to hit every single note with perfect pitch, and key in several additional, deepening ones that maybe didn't exist on the page.
That said, it def sounds like I missed something with Constant Gardener, and maybe that performance warrants a revisit.
Loved reading the write-ups and listening to the podcast. You all especially made me appreciate Keener’s minimalist acting a lot more.
Wouldn't it be strange if one year Annette Bening, Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close and Amy Adams were all nominated in the same category - and they all lost to a total newcomer?
My pick is Rachel Weisz followed closely by Amy Adams. The fact that many people here keep arguing that Weisz is a lead performance despite only appearing 25% of the screentime is a testament to the power of her performance. She dominates the film and you can't stop thinking about her.
One of the best Supporting Actress line-ups ever.
Great read.
Of the five, I'd still give the Oscar to Weisz, even if the character she created was there already on the page. I didn't know that on viewing the film and she fascinated me in a way few others have in the past decade or two.
I get the love for Adams. She has never been better and was a revelation at the time. I don't understand the Oscar love she has received since, except as some kind of payback for losing in 2005.
Williams was good, and has continued to grow and get better since Brokeback. Give her an Oscar soon pls.
I would replace the other two with Bello and Johansson, and would have a tough time choosing between Rachel and Scarlett for the win.
So a great year: three career best performances, from Weisz, Adams and Johansson.
I was reluctant to revisit such a recent year, but it was a more interesting set than I remembered. None of the performances (or movies) were duds, all interesting in their own way. Though I would bet you $10 that McDormand doesn't remember she was nominated for this one.
Really feels like this could have been Adams' first win - both on its own merits and compared to the other nominees. I think the movie was just too small to gain traction, it really speaks to Amy Adams strengths that she got this far at all in '05 with a movie that didn't totally catch on.
Amy would have won with this performance had it come later in her career.
Also, it would have been hard anyway to win for a breakthrough performance if the movie itself was not also well received.
Goran -- thank you for that comment. I love reading this passion!
F -- totally agree with you here. Although at the same time maybe the movie itself would have been better received? Or maybe less well received given that Amy's ascension was so much a part of its appeal (i really like Junebug as a whole, btw)
i agree with Manny. Weisz is only in 23% of Constant Gardener...not a lead. It's just because of how brilliant her acting is that the role feels much larger.
These five nominees are truly all wonderful...one of the best best supporting actress slates ever probably. Personally I'd still go with Weisz but it's a truly tough choice.
Nice job from everyone on the panel...I know how much work this is to do!
Glad for Amy! "Junebug" is still her shining moment after all this time. Not taking away anything from her other Oscar nominations, but I also wonder how many would have happened had she been awarded her first time out. You see how long it took Weisz to receive her second Oscar nomination. I kinda thought Williams would win this given her newfound industry clout. She was a fine nomination, but that's where it ended for me. Keener and McDormand were both non-entities in the race. I'd have replaced them with a combination of either Thandie Newton, Maria Bello, Taraji P. Henson, Kelly Reilly, Rosamund Pike, or even Anne Hathaway. Keener was much more alive and vital in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," but that was never gonna be nominated. I remember really being in the tank for Weisz at the time, and her performance holds up beautifully today. But now I might have chosen Adams over her.
Amy Adams gets my vote. A breakthrough performance.
Maria Bello - A History of Violence
Scarlett Johansson - Match Point
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain
Robin Wright - Nine Lives
Weisz still getting the Oscar for me with his personal lineup
I absolutely LOVED every minute of this. Such a thorough and incisive discussion on several of my favorite films/ performances from that decade let alone year.
I will forever be okay with this win because, in her speech, Weisz thanked John Le Carre for “his brilliant and angry novel” that was her film’s source material.
Happy to see Amy Adams take this! She's so fun to watch here; it's a very clever, creative performance.
Nathaniel, I loved that you mentioned her fleeting meercat impression "before it's even really formed." What makes the Smackdowns particularly pleasurable is reading a panelist who points out a detail that I myself notice and then analyzes it. You always do that remarkably well.
I'm actually open to the interpretation of Rachel Weisz as a lead in The Constant Gardener. Yes, she only has 25% of the screentime. Her character is still a dominant force in the film. Anthony Hopkins won Lead Actor for 14% of the screentime in The Silence of the Lambs. A character can dominate a film without having to be onscreen all the time.
With that said, I still view her role as a supporting one. Her character is a central figure in someone else's story. She's still my win here, but I have no problem with Amy Adams taking the Smackdown.
I just watched Rachel's Oscar speech is she is majestic and sincere. I am glad she won so she could pay tribute to 'greater men and women then I.'
Like many, for me it's also between Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. Weisz' role is more cerebral, while Williams is strictly emotion-based. In retrospect, Michelle's performance is the one that sticks with me. I will NEVER FORGET that look on her face when she sees Ennis and Jack locked in that sex-charged kiss. It was overwhelming, exactly what you'd feel yourself in that situation. It didn't seem like acting, just genuine shock, as if her entire world had just imploded. Those are tough feelings to sell to an audience, but Michelle Williams did it several times. Wouldn't a tie have been genuine Oscar drama?
It's too bad Adams sort of came out of nowhere for this nomination (not exactly nowhere, but this was definitely her first performance even close to Oscar talk). She was by far the best of the lot (yes, including Williams who has closer-to-brilliant performances in other films) and should have won. Then she need not have been nominated for The Master of Doubt (and maybe that would have cleared the way for Arrival). It really burns me how underappreciated certain forms of acting are in Oscar world when it comes to the win. A nuanced, understated work of art will get passed over by a boisterous biopic ham-it-up deal just about every single time. All that said, I do appreciate Rachel Weisz and she was a worthy winner.
I think Amy Adams was too unknown/Junebug not well-received enough. Michelle Williams still had more to prove, being the chick from Dawson's Creek. Keener and McDormand won when they got nominated. Rachel Weisz had already proven herself to be a movie star in a huge franchise, gave a great performance, and gets credibility brownie points for being British. lol
I think that's why it went the way it went.
I'm happy because I love Rachel Weisz. Wish she could've been nominated for The Deep Blue Sea though.
Late to the party, but thank you all for all your work on this. One of the all time great Oscar lineups, but I would have gone with Michelle in a smidge over Adams and Keener.
SmackDown 05 was an incredible experience! Amy, Rachel Weisz, Frances, Amy, and Catherine gave an incredible performance. living room furniture I was on the edge of my seat because of the tension in the ring and the skillful manoeuvres. Bravo to these intense rivals for an absolutely amazing battle. Looking forward to more thrilling SmackDowns!