At 12:18 PM 2/23/2009, David Kusumoto wrote:
I was extremely disappointed with Sean Penn's win. Sean Penn is an
outstanding actor who gave an uncharacteristically loose, engaging
and wonderful turn as an heroic figure -- in what I thought was a
conventionally structured, by-the-numbers-bio-pic capped with the
standard "where-are-they-now" text epilogue. His performance was
noble and deserving -- but his victory was politically correct and
in keeping with the Academy's self-seriousness to anoint things
historic that makes it feel good about itself (hence the standing ovation).
But in my view, the demands of his role paled compared to Mickey
Rourke's shattering, full-range performance in "The Wrestler." I am
not a fan of Mickey Rourke and dislike him intensely. But I could
not ignore -- having seen all the performances nominated this year
-- what he did in this picture, from start to finish. His character
was an exercise in total immersion, on par with what I believe have
been the best larger-than-life performances nominated since 1980 --
including De Niro in Raging Bull (win), Hopkins in Silence of the
Lambs (win), and Liam Neeson in Schindler's List (lost to Tom Hanks).
This was, by far, Sean Penn's best performance. He's a heavily mannered
actor whose performances are always full of the things actors love:
screaming, crying, dying, being mentally handicapped. You can always
see "acting". But in "Milk", he gave a subtle, nuanced performance that
wasn't full of ticks. He relaxed into the character and stopped being "Sean
Penn, A*c*t*o*r". I thought he deserved the award (although I also thought
that Mickey Rourke was excellent).
While not related to who should win for their performance, I thought "Milk"
a better film than "The Wrestler". Rourke and Marisa Tomei were both
great but the film was only "okay".
Craig.
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Craig Miller Wolfmill Entertainment [email protected]
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