Top 15 Most Underrated (anything) in Film 2015

 

from seattletimes.com
Is Emily Blunt's performance in Sicario THE most underrated lead performance of the year?

Hon. Mention: Spectre

Not really overlooked, or really 'underrated' in the usual sense; I mean, it was a box-office success and found quite a bit of acclaim for certain aspects of it (production design, action set pieces, Daniel Craig's performance). I just feel like on the whole it's been a bit underrated as a very good Bond film in its own right, hearkening back to the classic films. I think the fact it followed in Skyfall's footsteps may have been a reason for this.

15. Michael Fassbender in Macbeth (in contrast to the overpraising of his performance in Steve Jobs)

from: Vanity Fair

Oh how it irks me that Michael Fassbender will be getting a Lead Actor nomination that doesn't really warrant it (IMHO, of course) when he could be instead nominated for his spectacular Shakespearean work in Macbeth. The film itself I don't think is anything special, and the style particularly grating in some regards, but Fassbender is one thing I do love a great deal about it (I need to give more thought to Cotillard's performance). It's gotten acclaim from many sources which is why it's this low on the list; but it's just that, as far as awards notices go he's been snubbed almost everywhere.

14. Taron Egerton

Few actors have made as much with very little this year. Though he was the lead in Kingsman quite frankly he was saddled with the more thankless, wet around the ears recruit role in contrast to the more flamboyant characters given to Colin Firth, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine and Mark Strong. Nevertheless he delivered a strong, impressive debut leading man role, and was perhaps even more impressive in his smaller turns in Testament of Youth and Legend where in just a few scenes in each, created such interesting and sympathetic characters. In particular, in Legend he managed to steal the show from Tom Hardy's Reggie and Ron in one or two scenes, more than can be said for any other cast member with more material and screentime than he did. I look forward to seeing what else Mr Egerton has to offer the film world in the near future, starting with his next leading turn as Eddie the Eagle.

13. Paper Towns

foxfilm.com

Quite the underrated teen film, I think. It's relatively light stuff in contrast to The Spectacular Now or The Fault in Our Stars and that might just be why it was not only bearable in comparison to those (IMHO again) rather sickly saccharine efforts, but also an excellent film in itself. Cara Delavigne is a lovely looking lass, that's for sure, but I've seen barely anything about just how good she is in this film at, in relatively little screentime, playing both a straight version and a subversion of the Manic Pixie girl sort. 

12. Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max Fury Road

The Guardian

I was originally going to put in Emory Cohen for Brooklyn here but, since I've seen both a great deal of acclaim and some awards notices here and there for him, I thought I'd go for Hoult instead to cover the 'young good-looking actors unfortunately snubbed for excellent supporting turns' category here. He has one Teen's Choice Award nomination to his name for his performance as Nux in Mad Max and that's just plain ridiculous. With perhaps the most compelling arc in the whole film, he turns what in most films would just be a gormless gook into a genuinely sympathetic, tragic figure who gradually learns what it is to be a hero, and gets one of the most fitting, epic endings to any character in 2015. Hoult's performance is a deceptively complex one that just hits all the right notes; fantastic work that deserves to be noticed more than it has.

11. Mississippi Grind

The Observer

The most languid, well-written and enjoyable of showcases for two of the more underrated actors working today, Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn. I think Reynolds is going to be Oscar-worthy in Deadpool next year (you heard it here first, guys) and I stand by saying that he's the better version of Bradley Cooper as he's just so endearing as the Robert Redford to Mendelsohn's Paul Newman in the gambling world. Meanwhile it's great to see Mendelsohn, too often used as just the slimy supporting character in big blockbusters, take on the lead role. He's funny, heartbreaking and makes Gerry just a superb character.

10. Tom Hanks in Bridge of Spies

Very underrated performance because it's technically a 'straight man' role which facilitates the more 'meatier' supporting role. I'll get to another performance of the akin in a bit, but I feel Tom Hanks' Jimmy Stewart-esque work of idealism, patriotism, bravery and smarts via the character of James Donovan just isn't getting as much attention as it should. It's not the biggest challenge of his career but he's just such an engaging lead to follow through this cryptic story, and makes what could've been a convoluted, emotionally resonant.

9. Elizabeth Debicki in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

This is a marvellous supporting turn by one of the best up-and-coming actresses from Down Under. Debicki, whose Jordan Baker was the best thing about 2013's The Great Gatsby, not only completely nails that whole femme fatale look with her brilliant physical portrayal of the nemesis to our spy heroes' plans, she more importantly knows how to have fun with it in a manner most meta. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is hardly a perfect film but at the very least, it has a pitch-perfect villain to match both its serious and satirical tones perfectly. One can only wish Hollywood gets this beautiful and talented actress a leading gig soon (she's also excellent in a very small role in Macbeth). 

8. Far From the Madding Crowd

imwithgeek.com

I know many people who dislike, verging upon hatred, this film. I can see why; the pacing is perhaps too slow for some, the emotions too subdued and it is perhaps a bit too 'safe' and conventional with its aesthetic choices. Also, TOM STURRIDGE IS DREADFUL, not since Aaron Johnson in Anna Karenina has a performance as a 'dashing' young man so nearly dashed a whole film down. Like that film, the excellence of the other performances at hand more than make up for this black hole of charisma. Mulligan, Schoenaerts, and Sheen all turn in career-best work, and though I admit my love for the story may have overshadowed many of its flaws, at the very least it should've gotten much more awards attention and love for its cinematography, music, and editing.

7. Domhnall Gleeson

Has anyone else had a more diverse, eclectic year as Mr Gleeson? I first noticed this bright young talent in Anna Karenina where his subplot with Alicia Vikander resonated with me far more than anything else in the film. Once again he showed fantastic chemistry with her in Ex Machina, using that understated everyman charm he utilised so well in the likes of Frank and About Time, for an altogether much darker film. He's excellent in a less flashier role compared to his co-stars Oscar Isaac and Vikander, which can be also said for his supporting role in Brooklyn where he plays the decoy love interest to Saoirse Ronan's Eillis. Instead of being an unncecessary obstruction to the endearing charms of Emory Cohen he develops his Jim Farrell into a charming, sensitive and quite likable chap, and not just an obstacle or plot point to overcome. Then he completely turned the tables around as the delightfully hammy Admiral Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, milking the villainy out of his character for all it was worth to great effect. Even his relatively weaker work in The Revenant was still a solid enough piece of characterisation. Like his father Brendan, Domhnall's going places.

6. Mr Holmes

I think I've said more than enough about this film in like, practically every blog post since my first review of Ian McKellen's performance. It's underperformed at almost every major awards festival, which is incredulous really, seeing as how well Bill Condon's last work with McKellen, Gods and Monsters, performed with the critics and awards organisations. Here's to hoping for a last-minute resurgence of hopes for McKellen's (possibly final) dig at an Oscar nom, and maybe even win.

5. Michael B. Jordan in Creed

thegrio.com

He's gotten plenty of critical acclaim and even some awards love, but I still feel Jordan's work as Creed the Second has been a bit overshadowed by Sylvester Stallone's hearbreaking, brilliant reprisal of Rocky Balboa. Jordan is a great actor who knows exactly how to strike a balance between his inherent charm and talent, and character work, and through Adonis 'Donnie' Creed/Johnson he knows exactly how to make this character work. With the Creed part of the character he implements certain homages to Carl Weathers' work in the original films while also making these tics and mannerisms very distinctly his own, but perhaps even more impressively, adds in such an emotional backbone to his performance. That scene in the prison cell, in a perfect world, would get him the Oscar nomination.


4. The ladies of Wolf Hall (okay, television miniseries, but I want to talk about them)

Anne Boleyn

Jane Boleyn

Mary Boleyn

Upon reading the Golden Globes television nominees I was struck by equal parts joy and disappointment. Joy at seeing Mark Rylance and Damien Lewis being nominated for their excellent performances as Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII in the miniseries adaptation of Wolf Hall. Disappointed that none of the ladies, most notably, Claire Foy as a juvenile, pathetic, and yet alluring Anne Boelyn, Jessica Raine as the marvellously charmless, grotesque Jane Boleyn, and Charity Wakefield's heartbreaking turn as the unwanted, desperate Mary Boleyn. Each of these ladies just add so much to the wonderful tapestry of Hilary Mantell's story and characters, and help enhance the effect of Rylance's brilliantly understated performance by tapping into some truly fascinating character dynamics with him. That they've yet to be properly recognized anywhere for this excellence is a travesty.

3. Abraham Attah in Beasts of No Nation

Just like Hanks, Attah has been overshadowed quite a bit by Idris Elba's terrifying work as the Commandant guiding his character into the darkest, deepest pits of guerrilla warfare. Elba is great, as I mentioned, don't get me wrong. But it's Attah who really drives the film, The 400 Blows style, as our avatar into this devastatingly world of West Africa, where every act of bloodshed and ever life lost is just imprinted all the more vividly on the viewer by Attah's reactions to it. Elba will be duly recognized with an Oscar nomination for his work here, and rightly so, but Attah's splendid reactionary work should not be forgotten as a consequence.

2. Sicario

 

I'll leave my main thoughts about the film to a later article in wake of the (hopefully not imminent) snubs of this fabulous action crime thriller. Anyway, to be blunt, every critic and awards organisation who has overlooked this film thus far should be ashamed of themselves. Firstly, it's just one of the best edited films of the year. Not a single sequence out of place, and so constricted and taut in the atmosphere it creates so fittingly for the story. It makes the act of ruthlessly bringing down a Mexican cartel something like bloody poetry. Secondly, it has one of the most underrated scripts of the year. It's so sage without being on the nose, and runs along so smoothly. Lastly, Emily Blunt, who's been snubbed for so many years in a row for so many different roles that it's just nuts to leave her so far out of te Oscar race. She doesn't just play the tough sides of the FBI agent, she makes Kate Mercer very, very human and therefore, all the more impactful as a character. As for Benicio del Toro? His final acts of rampage in Sicario are the stuff of movie magic. Watch it.

1. The End of the Tour

 

Any film which singlehandedly compels me to get started on an author's work is a good film.

Any film which manages to convince me that Jason Segel is not just some Seth Rogan tagalong, How I Met Your Mother mainstay, Muppets mug, but instead can deliver such a complex, heartbreaking and haunting performance as David Foster Wallace, a literary genius who doesn't want to be that way but can't help it, is a great film.

Any film which utilises Jesse Eisenberg well is a fantastic film.

Any film in which Eisenberg and Segel, two actors with such distinctly different styles, generate such effortless chemistry that just watching them talk, talk, talk, is the most intriguing thing imaginable, is a brilliant film.

Any script which throws in such a blend of pop culture references, random but fascinating chitchat about the most inane yet interesting things, philosophical ideas, and the espousing of humility and acceptance of others, and makes it all fit together perfectly, is my favourite script of the year.

Watch The End of the Tour. The Oscars are probably going to completely ignore it, but that doesn't mean you should.

Also, my revised top 20 lists of films I've watched for 2015 will be up soon after I've watched The Hateful Eight.