Two former Oscar winners in this group: Dench and Theron. While she was an acknowledged talent in the UK since the '80s, America didn't really notice Judi Dench until the later 1990s. But once the Academy did start honoring her, they haven't stopped since. This is already Dame Judi's fifth nomination, all in the last eight years. She has two other Best Actress nods, for
Mrs. Brown and
Iris, and two as Supporting Actress, with
Shakespeare in Love and
Chocolat. Her lone win came in
Shakespeare, which is one of Oscar's shortest performances to be honored - she's on screen for all of about eight total minutes as Queen Elizabeth. I haven't seen
Mrs. Henderson Presents, but only because it hasn't opened here yet. But judging from the kind of momentum the other nominees have, it doesn't look like Judi has much of a chance of winning this Oscar night. No worries, as clearly the Oscar voters like her an awful lot and she'll be back again.
Charlize Theron just won two years ago for her transformative performance in
Monster. Her work in
North Country is certainly not that same level of acting. I can't see them bestowing another statue to her already, and really I'm a bit surprised she was even nominated. But it goes to show how few good lead roles there are for women each year...or at least how small the field is that they draw from for nominations. I thought there were lots of more extremely worthy performances to choose from, I guess the Academy voters just didn't see enough of them: Maria Bello in
A History of Violence, Miranda July in
Me and You and Everyone We Know, Joan Allen in
Yes, Patricia Clarkson in
The Dying Gaul, Claire Danes in
Shopgirl...they were all great. And so was Gwyneth Paltrow in
Proof, easily a much more impressive performances than
Shakespeare in Love, who somehow got lost in the shuffle this year. But hey, let's give the nod to Charlize. I guess. Doesn't matter, as she's not going to win anyway.
Keira Knightley's slightly suprising nomination, coupled with last year's supporting nod for Natalie Portman, tells you who the Academy has pegged as the most promising actresses of the under twenty-five set. She's not going to hear her name called to the stage this year, but for a nineteen-year-old who came out of nowhere a few years ago in
Bend it Like Beckham and
Pirates of the Caribbean this is a pretty cool ride to be on. But I have a better chance of winning Best Actress this year.
It is definitely a two-woman race.
Reese and Felicity, both first-time nominees, have split or shared just about every major award leading up to the Oscars. The 29-year-old Witherspoon has been acting in movies for about fifteen years now. She might have been nominated in years past for
Election or
Freeway, but her performance as June Carter Cash is definitely the highlight of her career thus far, and from learning how to sing (which she did very well in the movie) to matching the intensity of Jaoquin Phoenix on screen, she definitely deserves the nomination and to be in the running to actually win it. Fans of
Walk the Line will feel it was a bit snubbed by not garnering noms for Picture, Director or Screenplay, and since Philip Seymour Hoffman is such a clear favorite against Phoenix if the voters want to reward the movie come Oscar night, Reese would be the way to do it.
Felicity Huffman is forty-three, with most of her best work before this year coming on television (I fell madly in love with her and her talent on the brilliant but short-lived
"Sports Night").
Transamerica is her first leading role, but it is a stunning performance. Playing a man who is one operation short of making the full transformation into a woman, it's a role that could have easily been overwhelemed by histrionics and prosthetics. After the initial shock of the opening scene of how different this beautiful woman looks as the character, you hardly notice again for the entire film that Felicity is acting, or doubt that this person was born a man. You can draw a comparison to Hilary Swank's Oscar-winning performance in
Boys Don't Cry, the kind of believeability she brings to the difficult role. It's very impressive work, on a techinical level and an emotional one, and Felicity pulls it off perfectly.
As much as Reese is beloved and as great as she was as June Carter, I think the Oscar voters are going to look at the two women and give the slight edge to Huffman. The work is great, plus Witherspoon will be back as a nominee another year. She's not yet thirty, and she already has a proven track record as a box office draw in comedies, so she's going to continue to work and get better roles because of
Walk the Line. As great a job as Felicity does in
Transamerica and as successful as
"Desperate Housewives" is, who knows the next time she may get another showcase role in a feature film again? And don't forget, the Academy is made up of a whole bunch of actors and actresses who work in television and dream of getting their big break in film. For many it never comes, so when they do have an opportunity to reward one of their own, they take it. And Felicity is married to one of the most respected actors in town in William H. Macy, another element that tips the scales in her favor since the only thing the voters like more than seeing the joyous recipient on stage is seeing their famous spouse in happy tears in the audience. It's all going to factor in to Felicity Huffman's name being called on Oscar night.
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