Top 5 Performances: Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac

 

The likelihood of either of these actors getting a nomination this year is very slim, to say the least.

But you know what? Let's give them some hype anyway.

Mulligan:

5. The Great Gatsby

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The character of Daisy Buchanan is an incredibly complex character to pull off because of all the varying sympathies readers/audience members can take towards the character. Going one way or the other is sure to elicit criticism of some sort, and while on one hand I can understand why some might not take to Mulligan's portrayal as much as I did, I think she really is as definitive a Daisy as one can get. Perhaps not as spot-on with my preconceptions of the character as, say, Elizabeth Debicki, Leonardo DiCaprio or Tobey Maguire (yes, Maguire), but certainly a very effective and affecting take on the character, which I elaborate upon here: http://actorvsactor.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/head-to-head-great-gatsby-part-2-daisy.html

4. Inside Llewlyn Davis

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A one-note performance but such a pitch-perfect one, that I don't bemoan for one second its lack of complexity. Mulligan might not be the first name that comes to mind when one envisages a Coen Brothers' supporting player, but she fits so seamlessly into the world of Llewlyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) with her high-risk, high-reward comic portrayal of a pissy, perennially angry and frankly, fairly reprehensible 'friend' of Llewlyn's who nevertheless has such wonderfully funny scenes with him, making her scenes some of the best scenes in the film. All she really has to do is deliver her lines in a funny manner, and she's hilarious, so job well done. 'Like King Midas' idiot brother'--never fails to set me off in fits of giggles.

Also she has a really nice singing voice!

3. Suffragette

The more I think about the film the more problems I find with its plot structure and focus (i.e. a bit too little on the Pankhursts). Nevertheless I still think it's an effective film, and a large part of that goes down to Mulligan's lead performance. She effectively makes every step of her character's transition from timidity to strength and assertion of her will to do what is right, and not necessarily what society deems to be right, while still maintaining that undercurrent of fear throughout. The more emotional scenes of dealing with her child being adopted into another family etc. are all handled very well too, but perhaps the best scenes are her scenes with Brendan Gleeson. The two are fantastic in showing both sides to the Suffragette movement, the good and the bad, and Mulligan makes these scenes work excellently by her strong-willed, defiant but all too human approach to fighting injustice. Her delivery of 'you can't stop us all' still sends chills down my spine every time I think about it.

2. Far From the Madding Crowd

Flawless work to say the least, and I think I'll leave it to a future Head-to-Head (I know I've been putting those off awhile now) to compare it with Julie Christie's version to explain just how fantastic a piece of acting it is. Anyway, Mulligan gives an outstanding depiction of the character's resilience and determination to make her voice heard through actions. She merges this magnificently well with the slow brimming passion she brings in, in different forms, for the three men, and makes sense of the rather scattershot approach Bathsheba takes to life and love, making her a flawed, fallible character we nevertheless want to see reach a happy ending of sorts.

1. An Education

Her breakthrough role and, at this point in time, my favourite performance of hers (although it was definitely a tough choice to make). There's nothing in particular I really prefer over her work here than in Far From the Madding Crowd, maybe it's just because while she really stretched herself to play Bathsheba marvellously, here I just felt she was so perfectly attuned to the role of Jenny Mellor from the very start. Which doesn't make it an easy performance in itself. No, not at all. Jenny could've easily come across as just a simplistic, spoilt girl with annoying fantasies and delusions, an all too unrealistic figure to comprehend. Instead she's a heartbreaking, charming and just beautifully engaging lead to this very effective, low-key drama, and makes every pitfall her character falls into just so affecting, and each lesson she learns resonate so much with the viewer. Below, one of my favourite scene of hers in the film where, without even saying anything, she both enhances Alfred Monila's performance and her own:

Isaac:

Hon. Mentions: 10 Years

A great example of an actor making a lot out of very little. The film itself is fairly schmaltzy and the cast is hit-and-miss Channing Tatum is fairly dull in the lead role, most of the actors fail to make much of an impression except Kate Mara and surprise, surprise, Oscar Isaac. Their romantic subplot is far from the main focus of this ensemble piece but it doesn't really matter, as it all culminates with this beautiful song that's worth trudging through the film for. If not, then just give it a listen. A very good indicator of great things to come here, methinks...

Hon. Hon. Mentions: Show Me a Hero and Balibo

I've only seen little snippets of both of these performances, but from the little I have seen I thought he was absolutely fantastic, and once I've checked out his performances in these two in all their entirety I'll get back to them.

5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

On one hand, I was surprised and slightly disappointed by how little relative screentime he got in The Force Awakens.

On the other hand, he makes so much with the little he's given, he has such awesome chemistry with John Boyega, and his opening interplay with Kylo Ren are some of my favourite moments in the film ('you talk, I talk' and his jibe at Ren's vocal chords). He does the whole cocky pilot routine wonderfully by avoiding obnoxiousness, and instead making it so endearing. I can't wait to see how he's utilised in the sequels.

4. Robin Hood

 

Hammy and over-the-top? Yes.

Needless showboating? Yes.

Is he entertaining in doing it? Yes.

So I see nothing to complain about here. Him and Matthew Macfayden's Sheriff of Nottingham are one of the best things about Ridley Scott's take on Robin Hood and his merry men because they help enliven a film that is otherwise a bit dour and too serious, though not ineffective in being so. Could only wish there was a sequel but alas, box-office numbers didn't call for one.

3. Ex Machina

One of those performances that just grows on you. The first time I watched Ex Machina I thought Isaac gave a good performance, an effective villainous turn, but nothing overly impressive or groundbreakng especially in contrast to Domnhall Gleeson's sympathetic, deceptively complex reactionary performance, or Alicia Vikander's intriguing character creation of artificiality in its most human form. On re-watch though, I picked up on so much more regarding the character of Nathan. There's obviously that twisted, megalomaniac 'evil genius' side to him which Isaac plays into very well, but second time round I took note of just how charismatic and yet, how off-putting he is with that charisma he is, and also that undercurrent of loneliness  you feel through the character's self-imposed solitude. There's so many sides Isaac gives to the character of Nathan and he makes his character's ending at the same time, both satisfying and oddly tragic. A great supporting turn by a great up-and-coming actor.

Also, this scene is just the perfect blend of weirdly awesome, awesomely weird. It's almost like Alex Garland morphed into David Lynch for one-and-a-half minutes and made Oscar Isaac his Dean Stockwell.

2. A Most Violent Year

Having only seen this VERY recently, I still need some time to collect my thoughts entirely regarding this performance. It's his take on Al Pacino's Michael Corleone through his transition from an idealistic businessman into a ... criminal? I question that categorization of the final step his character makes because Isaac plays the role like he's never quite at that stage, that despite doing villainous deeds he's never a villain, and only trying to do the right thing, even if that means commiting acts as a means to an ends and neglecting the ends in themselves. His final scene is amazing, and I'm seriously considering giving him the win for 2014 lead; just need to bring him head-to-head with Hardy in Locke and The Drop to make that final decision.

1. Inside Llewlyn Davis

From start to finish this is one brilliant portrayal of a repentant jerk who just can't ever seem to catch a break. Isaac avoids being reptitive by just finding so much depth within Llewyn Davis; and his musical work is, in short, remarkable. It's one of my all-time favourite performances in one of my all-time favourite films and I can't sing enough praises about Isaac's splendid work in Inside Llewlyn Davis. This Portrait of The Artist as an Arrogant, Pretentious Man never jars with the viewer the wrong way because Isaac, despite boldly showing just how much of an asshole Llewlyn is, and making the comedic moments of his character all the more hilarious and golden, he also makes him very approachable, very sympathetic, likable in his own unique way, and utilises this along the whole style of performance both in and out of the musical interludes as this folk singer of the period, to make Llewlyn a man you could easily envisage meeting, and not necessarily hate from the outset. You feel like you've gone on a journey with him once the film reaches its end despite the character not really having any sort of definite 'arc', and that just shows why you should watch/re-watch Inside Llewlyn Davis, for Isaac's fantastic depiction of an honest, flawed, and oh so human character.

My favourite scenes of his: