Top 10 - Overlooked performances of 2006

By Frank Visco
Collegian Editor
February 21, 2007

With the Oscar hysteria mounting, I thought it would be a good idea to review some of this year’s best performances that you won’t see nominated come Sunday night. Here’s the top 10:

10) Vera Farmiga in The Departed — Amongst all the tough guys, Farmiga provided great support by forcing the film to slow down on occasion. She also brought out the three-dimensionality in both lead characters.

9) Daniel Craig in Casino Royale — He brought nuance to the role of Bond, making him an actual human being as opposed to the caricature he’s been all these years.

8) Ben Affleck in Hollywoodland — Affleck nailed George Reeves and was the biggest reason this film worked so well. Although often derided, the man can produce when given a role that suits him, as this one did.

7) Shareeka Epps in Half Nelson — Usually the Academy only allows for one child actor to be nominated per year, and so Epps lost out due to Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin. Still, it should be noted that Epps gave a fully realized performance as Drey, matching her Oscar-nominated costar Ryan Gosling beat for beat.

6) Michael Caine in Children of Men — Caine’s been playing the classy mentor role for a while now in films like The Prestige, The Weatherman and Batman Begins, but his turn in Children of Men broke the pattern—a bit. Although still a mentor, his performance as Jasper was so much more. Caine brought great depth and humor to the film, and should’ve been nominated for this bizarre take on his signature role.

5) Matt Damon in The Departed — In one of his two masterful performances this year, Damon brought great sympathy to his role, despite playing the restrained, calculating Colin Sullivan. His slow boil contrasted perfectly with the outlandish performances from most of the cast, and should have brought him his second acting nomination.

4) Maggie Gyllenhaal in Sherrybaby — Gyllenhaal turned out top-notch performances in several movies this year (including World Trade Center, Stranger Than Fiction and Sherrybaby), the best among them being her lead role as Sherry, an ex-heroin addict, ex-convict trying to reconnect with her daughter. Her lack of a nomination is startling.

3) Brad Pitt in Babel — Best known for playing cool cats or crazies, Pitt tread new ground in his supporting role in Babel. As a father of two trying to keep his wounded wife alive in Morocco, he gave the most soulful performance of his career.

2) Phyllis Sommerville in Little Children — The heart of Little Children, Sommerville really brought her all to the part of May McGorvey, the mother of a convicted pedophile. She brought great poignancy and tragedy to the film, and has been an overlooked supporting actress gem throughout this year’s awards season.

1) Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed — DiCaprio delivered one of the best lead performances of the year as Billy Costigan, an undercover cop who unravels due to the pressures of the job. Years from now people will look back on this performance as the time the Academy totally snubbed DiCaprio (then they’ll assuredly give him an award for a good, but less worthy, performance).

viscof1@lasalle.edu