Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale lead Oscars actor race
LOS ANGELES: In contrast to the lead actress competition, a list of this year’s lead actor Oscar hopefuls runs out of home run contenders pretty quickly.
But at the very top, just like their female counterparts, the leading men are led by a trio of front-runners in what may well amount to the eventual race for the gold.
Bradley Cooper’s career-best work comes in his own “A Star Is Born,” taking on a classic character that has longed for an empathetic rendering across the ages and finally gets one in the best version of the tale to date. An addict with a heart of gold — a talent facing twilight — the role of Jackson Maine was a showcase opportunity for Cooper and he seized it.
Curiously enough, Cooper and his “American Hustle” costar Christian Bale highlight the race, with Bale delivering an uncanny rendering of former Vice President Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s “Vice.” The film is an immersive character study that has the actor front and centre throughout, peeling back the layers of a true enigma.
In the shadow of that towering duo is Viggo Mortensen, quietly cranking out one of his best performances in Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” (Mortensen’s co-star Mahershala Ali will compete in the supporting actor category).
But it’s a campaign facing a few challenges. Mortensen’s recent N-word gaffe will obviously do him no favors — particularly so with a film has been criticised as “corny” and “misguided” in its feel-good grasp of American race relations in the 1960s. Regardless, he’s overdue for an Oscar, and “Green Book” has far more champions than not.
After that, the category feels like a bit of a free-for-all. Every other contender seems notably vulnerable. Take Ryan Gosling, whose portrayal of Neil Armstrong in “First Man” was precisely what it needed to be: an emotionally clenched well of grief and determination. But it comes across as passive compared with other, more outward displays. Hugh Jackman faces a similar challenge with “The Front Runner,” and like Gosling, his work comes in a film that has underwhelmed at the box office.
As Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Rami Malek is probably in a better position than Jackman or Gosling. Critics savaged “Rhapsody,” but audiences arrived in droves, and Malek’s work has been singled out even by the movie’s detractors.
Perhaps the critics groups can help shed some light on the race. “First Reformed” star Ethan Hawke seems assured of a few notices in the coming weeks for his portrayal of a tormented priest. Willem Dafoe could be due a second wind after winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival for his depiction of Vincent Van Gogh in “At Eternity’s Gate.”
The Screen Actors Guild will soon give the first real indication of where the actor race is going. Nominations for the group’s 25th annual awards will be announced on Dec 12.