Analysis: Best Actor 2015

The Oscar Nominees 2015:

1. Matt Damon in The Martian: Giving probably the most restrained, subtle performance out of the 5 nominees, Damon's work as Mars-stranded astronaut Mark Watney is career-best work and my choice out of these 5 nominees. Though the role itself may not seem particularly Oscar-worthy, being relatively simple in conception, Damon makes so much out of this one-man show opportunity, turning in a magnificent performance of equal parts comic and dramatic brilliance. One of his earliest scenes, involving a self-performed emergency procedural, is played with such tense, unrelenting emotions and searing pain, which in itself would've been a very worthy highlight to any performance. But in Damon's hands the successive scenes are such a fascinating blend of easy-going, charismatic humour, and heartfelt, poignant moments where we get insight into the loneliness of life on Mars. I can certainly see how some would not take to this performance as much as I have...but I loved it.

2. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant: A re-watch of this just a few days ago has led me to re-evaluate DiCaprio's performance once again. I feel I've been too judgemental over the whole 'Oscar-bait' nature of the role; it is what it is, and I feel increasingly that no one could have done a better job with this role than he did. I have to repeat, this is a perfect physical performance as DiCaprio so convincingly and powerfully portrays the gradual degradation and physical maladies of Hugh Glass as he undertakes his most perilous journey. And though I have before described the whole character as being 'paper-thin', a revisiting of the performance brought to me a lot of stuff I missed out first time round. His reactions to his son's death, in particular, showed to me how much emotional heft DiCaprio gave to the performance, as well as the little nuances he gives to his character's journey.

3. Bryan Cranston in Trumbo: Really, my #3 and #4 are fairly interchangeable. Cranston's portrayal of blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is slightly flawed in its opening scenes, where it's almost is if Cranston felt like he needed to overcompensate for not really resembling the real-life Trumbo by exaggerating and overacting the mannerisms of this slightly quirky individual who stands defiantly by his principles and politics. Eventually though he gives an entertaining, moving performance that carries his film very well. The blend of comedy and drama is well-handled by Cranston, if not quite Damon-standard, and he makes Dalton Trumbo a both suitably inspiring, and realistic figure, which is fairly remarkable given the overacting he does at the beginning.

4. Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs

5. Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl

Verdict: A deceptively good Oscar year, actually; only Fassbender out of the 5 was really underwhelming. I would love for Damon to win, but the most likely victor, DiCaprio, would be very worthy as well.

My Awards Nominees

1. Sir Ian McKellen in Mr Holmes: I've probably repeated myself too many times over on this point, but this is a performance that has stuck with me for quite a while now as my win. A wonderfully calibrated performance of equal poignancy and humour, the perfectly peels off layers of the enigma that is an aged, haunted Sherlock Holmes. It's strange how underwhelming the awards acclaim/response has been to both this film and the central performance, seeing as how much love the last Bill Condon-Ian McKellen venture Gods and Monsters got for both film and star. Anyway, what does it matter. I'm sure McKellen's absolutely spellbinding work of the world's greatest sleuth in a weakened, poignant state will find retroactive acclaim in the future as one of the greatest unnominated performances of all-time. (for more on this performance, see http://www.savageonline.co.uk/our-london/2015-in-review-mr-holmes/)

2. Matt Damon in The Martian: see above.

3. Tom Hardy in Legend: First off, I have to say that the fact that this landmark piece of acting is only Mr. Hardy's 3rd greatest performance, after his work in The Drop and Locke just seems unfair. He's so far ahead of every other of his contemporaries working today, it's scary to think about where he might go next in terms of roles he chooses. Anyway, I've talked before about the fine art of acting for two (http://actorvsactor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/acting-for-two-playing-doubles-onscreen.html) and Hardy performs the feat flawlessly. As Reggie he's a charismatic ball of swagger and sass to his gangster posturing, as well as a more depthful sensitivity, and as Ron Kray, the 'nuts' twin brother (though is either of them really sane?), Hardy completely disappears into this complete monstrosity of a man, both unnervingly scary and absolutely hilarious, but also adds a bit of depth to the man to show that while Ron Kray is definitely a murderous, brutal bastard, he might not be that much worse than his brother after all.

4. Jason Segel in The End of the Tour: I've always known Segel as just that funny but not particularly outstanding chap from How I Met Your Mother and thus, made his wonderfully nuanced work as David Foster Wallace just such a revelation. The film itself is my choice for the most underrated anything in cinema for 2015 (see:  It's a very mannered, performance, firstly, and I think it works very well because of that. There really is no other way to play the character Wallace but Segel certainly delivers in all the little quirks and indulgences of this intelligent man, making them quietly, understatedly entertaining as well as just so natural to who Wallace is. There's a fun and easy chemistry he has with co-star Jesse Eisenberg and just watching them shoot the breeze together is such a delight, but even better is the slow deconstruction of Wallace through these interactions as you start to see the true essence of the man, becoming rather haunting in his portrayal of the character's loneliness and insecurities about life, creating a subtly powerful performance within a deceptively subtle façade.

5. Michael B. Jordan in Creed: Like Damon, Jordan gives classic, straightforward leading man work in one of the most Hollywood-y films of the year. This seventh instalment of the Rocky series could've gone awry, could have not worked, could've been yet another useless spinoff. Instead it's one of the best films of the year, not just a feel-good story but, similar to the first film, so much more beneath that hearty surface of the underdog tale. Credit of course must be given to the brilliant Sylvester Stallone for his Oscar-nominated (and hopefully winning) reprisal of Rocky, Ryan Coolger's great direction, the simple but excellent script, but of course Michael B. Jordan is the glue that holds it all together. Jordan knows exactly how to strike a balance between his inherent charm and talent, and character work, and through Adonis 'Donnie' Creed/Johnson he he implements certain homages to Carl Weathers' work in the original films while also making these tics and mannerisms very distinctly his own. He's just naturally such an entertaining performer to watch in both his fighting/training scenes, and his interactive scenes, and adds so much to each scene even if he's not the focus, in fact I got a bit of a Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront vibe from him in that no matter what he's doing in any given scene, he enlivens both his and his co-stars' performances. Plus there's an emotional core to his performance that's incredibly well handled; that scene in the prison cell, in a perfect world, would get him the Oscar nomination.

6. Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant
7. Michael Fassbender in Macbeth
8. Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation
9. Johnny Depp in Black Mass
10. Kurt Russell in Bone Tomahawk
11. Ben Mendelsohn in Mississippi Grind
12. John Boyega in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
13. Jesse Eisenberg in The End of the Tour
14. Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies
15. Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road
16. Tom Courtenay in 45 Years
17. Daniel Craig in Spectre
18. Joel Edgerton in Black Mass
19. Bryan Cranston in Trumbo
20. Domnhall Gleeson in Ex Machina