When Sean Penn won Best Actor in 2003, it was the first and, to my memory, the only time I’d ever seen the host himself apologize to one of the other nominees. That’s because while Penn’s victory wasn’t a total shock - there was a late surge of support for him and the film - conventional wisdom at the time had Bill Murray as the inevitable winner. Both Penn and Murray won Golden Globes, but Murray had also been crowned by the New York critics, the LA critics, the Indie Spirits, and BAFTA, an actual industry group! The only other nominee to be honored by people who’d actually vote for the Oscars was Johnny Depp at the SAG Awards, and many felt the nomination was the win for him. Murray was a beloved comedy icon who many agreed probably just missed on a Supporting Actor nomination for Rushmore, it seemed inevitable that the Academy would reward him and his career. For once, the inevitable did not occur:
Here are the performances, ranked from 5th to 1st:
5. Jude Law as William Inman
Cold Mountain
second and last nomination; BAFTA Award nominee for Best Actor, Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor in a Drama
Communicates a lot through his eyes: his love for Nicole Kidman, his fear of getting killed, the decision to desert, the disapproval of others’ actions, the desperation to survive and do good. It’s a character more reactive than active, so thank goodness Law is a terrific on-screen listener, reactor, mover. Loved this.
4. Bill Murray as Bob Harris
Lost in Translation
only nomination; BAFTA Award winner for Best Actor, Golden Globe winner for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, LAFCA Award winner for Best Actor, NYFCC Award winner for Best Actor; SAG Award nominee for Best Actor
Great at playing tired. Not only is he jet-lagged, he’s looking around and finding little joy, tired of the publicity tour, of living in hotels, of domestic squabbles over the phone, of this whole career, this world. It’s lovely, watching him warm up to Scarlett Johansson, seeing him hold on to someone real and true. It’s a remarkable portrayal of aloneness.
3. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
first of three nominations; SAG Award winner for Best Actor; BAFTA Award nominee for Best Actor, Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy
He sways with the sea, he seems half in the bag at all times, he’s in love with his own legend. Yet within that comic performance, Depp remembers that Sparrow is a pirate: not just ruthless, but skilled at fighting and surviving, much more clever than he seems. And I cannot emphasize enough the impact his entrance had on the audience in 2003: you knew this was an icon being born before your eyes.
2. Sean Penn as Jimmy Markum
Mystic River
Golden Globe winner for Best Actor in a Drama, National Board of Review's Best Actor of 2003 [along with 21 Grams]; BAFTA Award nominee for Best Actor, LAFCA Award runner-up for Best Actor, NYFCC Award runner-up for Best Actor, SAG Award nominee for Best Actor and Best Ensemble
He’s a reformed criminal, but the swagger and the watching eyes, a man ready to confront trouble when it starts, tells you he’s never far from those roots, they’re his instincts, they’re him. Penn playing the coiled rage, sure, we knew he could do that; the impotence of all that fight in him still leaving him unable to protect his daughter, the best thing in his life, the reason he tried to put the life of crime behind him? Penn gives that too, the helplessness, the hopelessness - the violent vengeance. Great performance!
1. Ben Kingsley as Colonel Massoud Behrani
House of Sand and Fog
past winner, fourth and last nomination; Golden Globe nominee for Best Actor in a Drama, SAG Award nominee for Best Actor
The moment the movie ended, I wondered how his performance was not the frontrunner for Best Actor. He projects practiced dignity, yes, but I love the almost boyish light in his eyes when he finds he is able to buy the titular house: this is not a second chance, but a rebirth! No matter how frustrating he becomes, no matter how clearly wrong some of his decisions are, you still get that this is not a bad man. This is a desperate man who genuinely believes that his family’s happiness is dependent on his own sense of self. Tragic but not out of the realm of possibility, not once we get to know him.
Tomorrow, the nominees for Best Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Mystic River, and Seabiscuit.
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