Amy Adams in 'Arrival' + Personal Ranking: Best Actress 2016

When I first saw Arrival couple of months ago, these were a few of my initial thoughts. Let's see how they stand now:

(from http://actorvsactor.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/top-10-space-themed-films-outside-of.html)

The script and the daring directions it takes, is sitting really, really well with me now. 

The 'daring' nature of the film still resonates with me strongly. The script, on the other hand, has somewhat diminished in my regard after re-watch, but oddly enough made me appreciate a certain something about the film all the more.

As is Amy Adams' lead performance; in fact, she might be among my favourite female leads of the decade now. I also think she'll get in for the Oscars.

Nah, I thought she was awful, should've campaigned for Nocturnal Animals to be honest for 'most series of enforced reactions shots of 2016 without any substance, drawing unncessary parallels, if Jake Gyllenhaal takes a shower then Amy Adams should take a shower too, also never criticize an aspiring novelist's book because you have to be careful with these things, you can't just throw it away, 'I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED IT' screams Tony internalizing my memories as in retrospect I reach out the the screen and attempt a pause, oh pause I cannot, I'm trapped, you have to be careful with these things Amy, we all eventually turn into our mothers - MARTHA (oops wrong bad Amy Adams film of 2016) - from Prologue to 'How I Realize I Hated Nocturnal Animals' by Calvin Law

The more I think about it, the more I think the film's best comparison is actually, funnily enough, a film I don't care all that much for: American Beauty, and another film I really like, Life of Pi.   

Umm...maybe? I don't know why I made this comparison. I'll see if I can integrate it into my review.


There's an aspect of the film I have a slight reservation with, but to discuss it would be spoiler-y, so I'll wait until more people have seen it.

Yeah, might as well get onto my review. Anyway, after re-watching Arrival, my overall feelings towards it remain the same, even if my feelings about certain aspects have changed. I've noticed that though the epic scope of the film's extraterrestrial contact plot is perhaps more resonant than ever, minor details deterred it from becoming a perfect film, notably in some of its simplistic side characters, rushed decisions by characters, and a few, very few, odd choices in terms of storytelling devices, like that Jeremy Renner voiceover and some of the cutaway scenes to the faceless soldiers and their responses to the situation. Now these are nitpicks, and I only mention them because it ties into my appreciation for Amy Adam's superb leading performance.

(Now my friends, you have three options: 1, continue reading if you've seen both Westworld and Arrival. 2, continue reading, but skip/don't highlight and read the red bold section below, if you've seen Arrival but not Westworld. 3, don't read on if you haven't seen Arrival).


Amy Adams' work in Arrival bears a lot of resemblance to another performance this year, Jeffrey Wright's technically duplicitous, but unwittingly so, turn in Westworld. Adams, similarly, has to base her whole performance around a twist, but make it subtle and not character-defining, and also the fact the screenplay itself dwells more on the grander implications of her 'ability' means that she has to do most of the heavy lifting for the personal, more intimate side of it, as well as fitting the twist into the grand scheme of the story. Like Wright, Adams' performance is filled with twists, and the most important aspect to the performance is that these twists are hinted at throughout with the proper amount of ambiguity. 

Amy Adams has had quite an interesting 2016. After a two-year hiatus after a very good performance in a rather mundane biopic, Big Eyes, I first saw her in Batman v.s. Superman, a terrible film, and while she wasn't overly bad in it, her Lois Lane just felt like such an awkward character placed in an awkward position in an awkwardly made film (that bathtub scene...). The I saw her in Nocturnal Animals, an even worse film (though the optimist in me tried to think the better of it on first watch, it really is an awful wreck), where she actually comes out best of the whole cast upon re-watch with her best attempts to salvage a terrible screenplay and direction ('So Amy, in this scene, you're going to be aghast, with an expression of 'Oh my god'...don't ask why, just do it, I need the reaction shot Amy, by the way what do you think of this perfume ad, lol jk it's a murder scene'). Then came Arrival. I must admit, despite eagerly going to see it with a friend, I wasn't expecting too much from Adams herself. I thought I'd be in for an experience of the technical wonder and grandeur of Denis Villeneuve and some thought-provoking sci-fi. Well I got all that too, but Adams, pulling the rug under me, gives a rather spellbinding performance that's so hauntingly complex, I don't quite know where to start - it doesn't really have a 'chronological' progression, so to speak, nor is there a way to 'sum it up' in terms of its brilliance since it's such enigmatic but naturalistic, rather unshowy work that's unfussy, unmannered, but when it and the film all concluded my friend Alexei and I just sat there, astounded, wowed, blown apart by the magnitude of the film's and performance's power.

Like Kate in Sicario and Loki in Prisoners, Villeneuve's last two excellent directorial efforts, Arrival has at its centre a sort of 'everyman' protagonist thrust into rather strange and unsettling circumstances by her own drive and determination, all the while revealing a deeper edge to the character. Linguist Louise Banks is presented to us as a woman with a troubled past (but that's not all there is to her), which we are given insight to in the beginning of the film. Then aliens arrive, and in classic governmental fashion a group of Army Colonels, led by Forest Whitaker's Colonel Weber, come to fetch Louise to help in deciphering the aliens' language. Adams' work in these early scenes, on a cursory glance, is more than solid, she's convincingly 'grieved' in the 'past' scenes, a convincing university lecturer, seems very intelligent, very passionate about linguistics, and with an intense interest in the extraterrestrial life forms who have come for unknown reasons to Earth.

Of course, bearing the eventual twist in mind, all these aspects of the performance are strengthened so much more. I was wondering when I should begin discussing the twist, I might as well start here: Louise's 'past' is actually her 'future'. (SPOILER) Her ailing daughter's slow and painful death is in the 'future', thus Adams' first big challenge is to make her character somewhat unsettled, and possibly troubled as you'd expect, but also allow you to interpret it as confusion, which it really is. I thought a particularly strong moment of this is at the military base when she's asked about her marital status. Her reaction could be read as: 'I'm not married', 'I'm not married anymore', 'I'd rather not say', 'Why are you asking me this?', 'Pardon?' These seem like minor things, but they really aren't, they're absolutely essential to the film working as well as it does.

Louise meets Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), physcist also enlisted to help in communicating with the aliens, and here's one regard where I thought Adams really lifted the script's weaknesses. (SPOILER) The two end up being married in the future, and I thought that while Renner did his very best, the script doesn't really allow him to develop much in the way of genuine chemistry with Adams. He's very likeable though. Adams, though, carries this part of the film with aplomb, because she quietly suggests a growing affection for Ian, but not enough to give the game away, but again not too subtly that it grows completely ignored.

The film doesn't waste too much time in getting us to meet the aliens. These scenes are masterclasses in editing, cinematography and sound, and of course Villeneuve's direction, but also Adams' performance. We watch as the lifetime linguist gets the opportunity to study the language of extraterrestrial species. It's beuaitfully handled in Adams' hands as we watch her realistic, compelling process of learning how to communicate to them not only with her linguistic abilities, but also by developing a genuine trust and bond with the aliens, who she and Ian nickname 'Abbott' and 'Costello'. The film's examination of how through various circular symbols and vocabulary, humans and aliens begin to develop communication, could've been boring, but Adams' passionate portrayal of Louise's learning process makes it very fascinating.

The grander scheme of the films focuses a lot on bureaucacy and government, and how their military fears of the aliens as invaders conflicts with the scientists' desire to understand what the aliens are here for, and what message they are trying to convey. Adams again is brilliant in showing how the government's stubbornness wears down on her character, as the strain and effort of having to prove her theories again and again, and the race against time for her deciphering of the aliens' message, is very effecting. In one crucial scene where U.S. soldiers, worried for the safety of their families and hearing news about imminent war with the aliens, plant explosives on the spaceship, Adams is so attuned to the film that, even though the scene is rushed and underdeveloped, you feel the impact of her desperate communication with Abbott and begging him to giver her a message, any message, that could help salvage her mission to help both the aliens and Earth.

The circular symbols the aliens show are eventually revealed to be related to the circular concept of time. (SPOILERS) The scene where all is revealed to Louise is brilliantly handled. Through the course of the film Louise experiences visions of her daughter. These are happy scenes, very endearing scenes of a mother's simple love for her child, nothing more, nothing less. Adams is, in classic Adams fashion, so luminous, and her reactions after waking from these visions are again so masterfully ambiguous, part sadness, part confusion. They are, as aforementioned, revealed to be 'flashforwards'. The aliens, through contact with Louise, have given her the ability to not only decipher their language, but also see into the future. The scene where she experiences the full range of emotions that envelop her upon this revelation is incredible, as you feel the whole weight of humanity's fate fall upon her shoulders. Soon, too, comes another scene, in the 'future', where Adams finds herself with her daughter, well aware that her daughter will soon die. Adams is utterly heartbreaking in this scene in showing the intense pain at knowing that suffering for them both is inevitable, but also intense love for her daughter.

The finale of Arrival is a rather understated one, involving Adams speaking Mandarin (which she handles admirably well), 'travelling' into the future (in a sense), and directly confronting government authority. It could've been anti-climactic, and the script's simplification of the government backdrop to the situation could've rung false, but Adams entirely delivers in her one-man mission. (SPOILERS) The ending of the film is utterly beautiful but also soul-destroying. We see Louise, contemplating all she's learnt and knowing all that will come will bring joy, but also grief, to her. Her final 'yes' is so simple, and that's all that's required. The music - Max Richter's spellbinding 'The Swimmer' -, the editing, is all fabulous, but it's her final expressions that bring the character of Louise Banks full circle. Arrival might not necessarily be a film about faith and religion in the same way as like, Silence was. But it is a powerful perspective into martyrdom, and sacrifice, and Adam's performance provides an intriguing and intensely poignant look into the life of a woman who becomes omniscient but alas, not omnipotent. A fantastic performance, and though the Academy did right in a lot of stuff this year, it's a shame they didn't come round to this career-best work by Amy Adams that, as I'm writing about this...might be tied with Rooney Mara in Carol as my favourite female lead performance of the decade.
















After the main event, let's talk a little about some of my honourable mentions for Best Actress:

Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship

The film itself has somewhat slipped out of my memory, but Beckinsale's Lady Susan really is a career-best from an actress who has rarely impressed me, a delightful comedic creation that's one of the purely funniest performances of the year. Beckinsale handles Jane Austen's dialogue impeccably, handles the subtle venom and incisiveness of her character brilliantly, with just the touch of ambiguous love, and makes her unpredictable, calculating mindset quite compelling to watch. Wish it could've stayed in my top 5, but alas, the year is too strong.

Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen

Another performance I hate to leave out of my top 5, Steinfeld handles a (much better than I'd expected) variation on the 'wry, knowing teenager' role that's been done to death, in a surprisingly good film that's not just another teen movie. High school senior Nadine is a bit abrasive and a bit annoying, very annoying actually in certain parts, and it's to Steinfeld's credit that she holds our attention all the way through. She's funny, she's sad, she's both at certain points, raising the film above the potential problems of its insight into high school caricatures, and manages to make the film's conclusion affecting without being didactic.

Marion Cotillard,  Allied

I should note that the more I think about it, the more I really enjoyed this film. It's not great, far from Zemeckis' best, and it has a very bland male lead, but I find Cotillard's depiction of a (potential) (enigma), but also the allure and seductiveness of the femme fatale (possibly), and the loving housewife and mother, and the badass war hero, all cohered perfectly into a rather grand performance. Despite the awful trailers which essentially spoiled the whole film's plot for me, I found that Cotillard's performance was profoundly affecting and extremely entertaining, and made the ending possibly more moving than I'd have expected.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane

The film has all but faded from my memory now, and the more I think about it, it really was a mess, a fun mess that presents a scattershot of genres and tones for you to pick out. It's a muddled but enjoyable thriller, and Winstead is a rather terrific lead, giving a realistic, passionate and very to-the-point reactionary performance to the insanity around her. Plaudits for the film's acting seem to be going to John Goodman, but I actually found Winstead was the one who stole the show.

Sasha Lane, American Honey

Another film I liked when watching it, it has a lot of inspired moments, beautiful cinematography, a uniformly strong ensemble, but ultimately lacked that extra 'oomph' that gives me a lasting impression of it. Lane's lead performance as the suitably named Star (hopefully she'll be a rising one in years to come) carries Andrea Arnold's vision of an All-American road trip very well, even if not everything she and her troupe of merry salesmen does feels too substantial. It's a wavering film in terms of focus and far too overlong, but I found Lane compelling throughout in showing her character's subtle, gradual maturation.

Elle Fanning, The Neon Demon

I'm in two minds about this performance. On one hand, Fanning is almost a prop at certain points to the film's overall vision, and I'll admit that a lot of the memorable quality of her 'fish out of the water' model comes from her visual presentation. But Jesse is still a fully-fleshed character in her own right, and Fanning gives a very remarkable, stylized portrayal of this timid young woman coming into her own in the fashion world in such a harrowing, gruesome fashion. I'm a defender of the film, it's by no means perfect, but I found it thoroughly engaging throughout and Fanning contributes greatly to it.

1. Amy Adams, Arrival
2. Emma Stone, La La Land
3. Isabelle Huppert, Elle
4. Natalie Portman, Jackie
5. Ruth Negga, Loving
6. Kate Beckinsale, Love & Friendship
7. Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
8. Marion Cotillard, Allied
9. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 10 Cloverfield Lane
10. Sasha Lane, American Honey
11. Elle Fanning, The Neon Demon
12. Anya Taylor-Joy, The VVitch
13. Felicity Jones, Rogue One
14. Helen Mirren, Eye in the Sky
15. Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
16. Sandra Hüller, Toni Erdmann
17. Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones's Baby
18. Margot Robbie, Suicide Squad
19. Amy Adams, Nocturnal Animals
20. Katherine Waterston, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 
21. Alicia Vikander, Jason Bourne
22. Julia Roberts, Money Monster
23. Ruby Barnhill, The BFG
24. Melissa McCarthy, Ghostbusters
25. Kirsten Wiig, Ghostbusters
26. Natalie Portman, Jane Got a Gun
27. Emilia Clarke, Me Before You

Ask for my thoughts on any of these if you wish!!