The collection of actors lining up for this year’s Best Actor is a stellar list of famous favorites who each gave us their finest performances to date.
11-year old Jude Hill, who starred in my favorite film of the year (Belfast), is on track to becoming the youngest male Oscar nominee. And Oscar-winner and 4-time nominee Joaquin Phoenix (C’mon C’mon) and 8-time nominee and 2-time winner Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth) are back in play too.
Will Smith, past-nominated for underwhelming films Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, may finally have his day. He’s the frontrunner and we all would love his acceptance speech of course.
He is followed closely by Cumberbatch, who could ride a Power of the Dog sweep. His excellent, dark turn as Phil Burbank is one of the most haunting characters since Day-Lewis’s oilman in There Will Be Blood. But Phil Burbank is not as memorable as Day-Lewis' "I drink your milkshake" Dan Plainville character. You may want to add that Cumberbartch has bonus points for his Dr. Strange role in the recent Spider-Man film, but wait.
I’d argue that the biggest acting risk that paid off big was with the guy taking on the role of Jonathan Larsen —in a singing-dancing musical about the bohemian American composer and playwright who gave us Rent. This year, that actor also played Jim Baker to Jessica Chastain’s Eyes of Tammy Faye and (Spider-Man: No Way Home spoiler) stole the show in the biggest film of the decade.
Your Spidey-sense is correct! Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge, Social Network) should win for Tick, Tick Boom! Not saying he will, but...
Lin-Manuel -Miranda’s (Hamilton) musical could have gone wrong in so many ways. It could have been too-Broadway, too-melancholy or too-light or too-silly, but it turned out just too amazing. Credit Garfield for most of that. As Larsen, he gives the most emotional performance of the year in addition to dazzling song and dance. I honestly don’t know how it all worked.
Garfield captures the anxiety of a revolutionary artist while balancing powerhouse numbers sandwiched by drama and comedy — and makes it all seem breezy, never strained.
I’d argue that the biggest acting risk that paid off big was with the guy taking on the role of Jonathan Larsen —in a singing-dancing musical about the bohemian American composer and playwright who gave us Rent. This year, that actor also played Jim Baker to Jessica Chastain’s Eyes of Tammy Faye and (Spider-Man: No Way Home spoiler) stole the show in the biggest film of the decade.
Lin-Manuel -Miranda’s (Hamilton) musical could have gone wrong in so many ways. It could have been too-Broadway, too-melancholy or too-light or too-silly, but it turned out just too amazing. Credit Garfield for most of that. As Larsen, he gives the most emotional performance of the year in addition to dazzling song and dance. I honestly don’t know how it all worked.
Oh, and he saved MJ from that fall. I rest my case.
In a nutshell: Andrew Garfield is the best actor of 2021.
Award Potential: We'll see. Oscar nominations will be announced on February 8, 2022.
Where to find it: Tick, Tick Boom! is streaming on Netflix.
The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.
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