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Best Supporting Actor Nominees 2024: An Unhelpful Review

Writer's picture: Amanda KelnerAmanda Kelner

We're banging these out ahead of the Oscars and I this category's going to be a little different in that I've actually seen all the movies! Hooray for me! Let's do this!


5. Ryan Gosling - Barbie

Seriously? Look, this isn't a knock against Gosling. He was great. He was funny and insufferable and an excellent fit for the role. Oscar-worthy it was not. I've already mentioned that I didn't love Barbie, so I wasn't particularly stunned when there weren't that many nominations, but of all the people who should have gotten a nomination, Gosling was at the bottom of that list. And again, not because he was bad, but because it wasn't an Oscar-worthy performance. Mr. Gosling, I hope you don't take this personally, but I'm putting him at the bottom of my list. And it's a pretty firm number 5.


4. Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction

We're getting a little closer to solid nominees, but I have to say, this nomination also surprised me a bit. Sterling K. Brown was certainly excellent, and there's plenty of precedent for nominating an actor who wasn't on screen much, but I thought his performance lacked that je ne sais quoi that say Anthony Hopkins or Anne Hathaway or Judy Dench brought to a 15-minute character. Having said that, he was very good. That scene when he's at the vacation home during the wedding is so heartwarming and emotional and such a pivotal moment in the movie. His acting in that scene alone really set this performance apart, and frankly, if that scene got him the nomination, I'd get it.


3. Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things

Alright, this one feels like a more solid nomination. In terms of most entertaining performances, Mark Ruffalo wins. Hands down. The camp and the drama he brought to the role were such a massive success for this role, He didn't need to be the knight in shining armor and his humor in every scene lent itself so well to the narrative. Not to mention, his melodrama contrasted her hyper-rationalization in the best of ways. Ruffalo was hands down one of the best parts of that movie.


2. Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer

These last two were hard, but I think I'm putting Downey at number 2. It's a fantastic performance and the interrogation sequence alone puts him in the Oscar category. The way he unravels and realizes his scheming has come back to bite him in the butt is so genuine and Downey plays it incredibly well. Plus, the character was really well written, which lends itself to a great performance.


1. Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon

And the Unhelpful Reviews Oscar goes to!


You know it's a good performance when you're disgusted with the character. The audacity and the duplicity of De Niro's character make him such a perfect villain. And his acting really sold that duplicity. The fact that there's so little change in earnestness between when he's talking about his schemes to when he's talking to the tribe about being on their side just left such an icky taste in the mouth. And it was so real. You know that this is how the real person was and that's how he got away with what he did for so long. You were invested in his downfall so thoroughly and a big part of that was De Niro's acting.


Rounding out the acting categories next! Let me know who you think is taking home the Oscar and stay tuned for the next post!

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