Performances of 2007: Part 3

Sorry, this has been a long time coming. Finally, my favorite individual performances of the year.

GEORGE CLOONEY, MICHAEL CLAYTON
If you would have told me last January that my favorite performance of the year would come from George Clooney, I would have no doubt scoffed. (You know me, scoffing all over the place.) But Clooney in the title role of Michael Clayton was note-perfect in a way I’ve never seen before from a legitimate movie star. Clooney somehow hid behind his own recognizable mug; he didn’t transform, he disappeared. The wonderful thing about Clayton is he’s not quite a hero, but he’s not quite an antihero. He approaches everything with a sense of frustration and curiosity that’s honest and familiar. Clooney never lionizes the character, but he never lets him droop down to the point that you lose faith in him. And “Do I look like I’m negotiating?” could have been the next “You can’t handle the truth!” if he had been willing to ham it up a little. But that’s not Clayton’s style and what is the pop lexicon’s loss is the viewer’s gain.

SAOIRSE RONAN, ATONEMENT
I see your Dakota Fanning, and I raise you a Saoirse Ronan. Rarely do you see a child actor do so much with their eyes—as opposed to their voice and body—but Ronan is already tackling her roles like a young Jodie Foster. Albeit, Briony Tallis isn’t exactly the same as the prostitute in Taxi Driver. Briony is portrayed by three actresses in three different periods, but never is she as captivating as when Ronan brings her to life as the well-bred and good-intentioned little girl whose need to tell stories ultimately unravels the lives around her. Ronan—with Joe Wright’s help, I’m sure—made each manipulation humane and sympathetic, thank God, since Briony is truly the character with whom we’re all meant to identify.

HAL HOLBROOK, INTO THE WILD
Christopher McCandless is far into his journey (at the 2-hour mark in the film if that tells you anything) when he meets Ron Franz, a lonely leather-worker whose family was killed by a drunk driver. From the very moment Holbrook comes onscreen, he changes the mood of the film. His accidental isolation sharply contrasts Chris’s chosen isolation; Holbrook’s eyes yearn for a human connection and, right away, he talks to Chris like he would a prodigal son. And I won’t ruin it for anyone who has yet to see it, but the “goodbye” scene is Holbrook’s finest moment.

ASHLEY JUDD, MICHAEL SHANNON, AND HARRY CONNICK, JR. IN BUG
No question (in my mind), the best ensemble of the year. In Bug (adapted from the off-Broadway play and directed by The Exorcist’s William Freidkin), Michael Shannon plays a marine-turned-wanderer who spends the night with Ashley Judd’s broken bartender. Shannon starts finding microscopic insects all over her apartment and pulls her deep into his own paranoia until their delusions become one and the same. Connick, Jr., too, shows range I’ve never seen before. Not since Copycat has he played a creep, but as Judd’s abusive ex-lover, fresh out of prison, he was the kind of wounded slimeball that other actors have trouble nailing down without turning it into caricature. Also, Judd’s best film in a long time.

ANGELINA JOLIE, A MIGHTY HEART
The Most Famous Woman in the World has to get past the burden of being the most famous woman in the world to convincingly portray Marian Pearl, a modern figure with whom most of the public is already familiar. How does she do it? Well, first there’s the physical transformation, from the French-Cuban curls to the accent. And then there’s the fact that Jolie has never gone this deep before. The anguishing search for Daniel—which was actually much longer than I remembered—plays itself out in her voice, the brave smiles that get emptier and emptier. The scene in which she learns of his fate is powerful and harrowing, but the less intense scenes, too, like the flashback to Daniel and Marian’s wedding, are honest and refreshingly simple.

CHRIS COOPER, BREACH
This film was perhaps a little too easy ignore. It was a mostly low-key political thriller that delivered far more mental power plays than any actual thrills. Cooper’s magnetism though was more than sufficient entertainment. Wholly original but also a bit of a gender switch on The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Preistley, Cooper’s Robert Hanssen is demanding and complex. But unlike many traitors, Hanssen’s demons aren’t bubbling up from deep down. Rather, his demons always seem just under the surface, as if they’re using this devout Catholic as the perfect disguise.

MARION COTILLARD, LA VIE EN ROSE
Could even Edith Piaf sing enough praises to adequately commend Cotillard’s performance? There’s the undeniable art of lip-synching, which Cotillard does seamlessly. Then there’s the physical aging—the make-up helps, true, but it’s all in the way she speaks and carries herself, from 20 years old to death. There’s that undeniable pith and vinegar that Piaf brought to her performances; the sparkle in the eye that masked the loneliness. It 100% stands up to Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray and I hope she’s equally rewarded.

STEVE CARRELL, DAN IN REAL LIFE
While Michael Scott got goofier and goofier this season, the big screen showcased a warm, wounded Carrell that even surpasses his work in The 40-Year Old Virgin. Dan is a widower with two daughters and, during a weekend in the woods with his extended family, he falls in love with his brother’s girlfriend. Dan never stumbles into one of Carrell’s trademark personas; rather, he bites his lip throughout the movie and marvels at his bad luck. But he also breaks down in anger and sadness—just for moments—along the way. The best part: he raises the game of everyone around him.

SIGOURNEY WEAVER, THE TV SET
As head of network programming (and development?), Weaver’s Lenny reeks of Hollywood charm, the kind that almost feels genuine if you’re not listening closely enough. Clearly, Weaver’s met her share of executives in her day (did you know that Commander-in-Chief was originally written for her?) and I’m sure they’ve all contributed to this hilarious portrayal of someone whose able to look right past the art to the marketing and merchandising. It’s done so convincingly (read: depressingly) that it never has the heir of silly pandering or exaggerated namecalling. Rather, Weaver shows us what kind of people are running our entertainment…and how that explains way too much about our culture.

DON CHEADLE, TALK TO ME
As The Onion recently pointed out, Don Cheadle is perhaps known more for his philanthropic endeavors—and philanthropic performances—than the actor of amazing range he really is. Cheadle hasn’t played an ignoble character since Maurice “Snoopy” Miller in Out of Sight nine years ago. Here he comes roaring back, though, to show that he can also play a foul-mouthed, drunken bastard and do it with a whole hell of a lot of precision. As infamous radio deejay Petey Greene, Cheadle cracked me up with his fresh-off-the-block (and fresh outta prison) patter. But he also broke my heart. When Petey breaks the news that Martin Luther King, Jr. has been assassinated, he keeps it simple and raw. And as Petey descends into the darkness he creates for himself, the smile on his face flickers like the static on the radio. Let’s hope Cheadle takes more roles like this. I know the Onion would be happy.