(My) Best of 09: Supporting Actor.

5. Matthew Newton in "Three Blind Mice" (read my review)

One would think an actor/director who directs himself would always get the lead role but Matthew Newton proved us wrong in "Three Blind Mice".
He plays one of three sailors on leave in Sydney and as the crass, loud one of the group he seems at first to serve only a comedic purpose.
His baby face and relentless malice make him both charming and scary (think Richard Widmark) but it doesn't take long before we are forced to observe him under a completely different light without his character ever going through a life changing situation as the other two do.
Newton's performance is a fascinating study of concealment and facades as a way of life.


4. Peter Capaldi in "In the Loop" (read my review)

There are actors who react and others that act and put everything in motion. In this film Peter Capaldi is a combination of both.
Almost Tati-esque in his effortlessly precise comedic timing, he plays Government Director of Communications, Malcolm Tucker who puts everyone to shame with his efficiency and cursing.
He finds beauty in the profane and while looking terrifying as a boss provides us with delicious sadistic pleasure in his treatment of others.
He might also just be the most quotable character of the year.


3. Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds" (read my review)

In a movie filled with dozens of great parts and splendid actors, Waltz practically walks away with the show as SS Colonel Hans Landa.
From his first scene where he interrogates a French farmer (played by Denis Menochet) he makes us laugh and gives us goosebumps.
As the movie advances he often borders on caricature but pulls back just in time to creep under our skin and become a vessel of pure nightmare. The thing with him is that you can never really hate him completely because Waltz makes Landa so real that for a second or two we even understand that his evil is rooted in obligation and even loyalty.


2. Paul Schneider in "Bright Star" (read my review)

As Charles Armitage Brown, best friend of doomed poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw), Paul Schneider gives a performance so subtle that it might take you more than one viewing of the film to see the effect he has on everyone.
He's at his best in scenes with Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) who he tortures childishly out of unsaid love. When he finally puts his feelings on paper and becomes the victim of a quiet love triangle we are too swept away by Fanny and John to even remember his pain but he lingers in the background to make the beauty of the romance ache more because of those who can't have it.
His accent might not be perfect but Schneider brings Armitage a sense of bruised pride, sorrow and brutish tenderness (see when he delivers the news of Keats' death) that make us appreciate the delicacy of the movie even more.


1. Michael Fassbender in "Fish Tank" (read my review)

From the second Connor (Fassbender) walks into Mia's (Katie Jarvis) kitchen we know he's just no good.
"You dance like a black" he tells her, holding up his loose pants while stretching his tiger like body as he makes coffee. He later clarifies he meant it as a compliment. For the fifteen year old girl who barely gets attention from anyone else, it's delightful to see that her mother (Kierston Wareing) finally brought home a man that might act as a father figure.
He takes them out, listens to fancy music (for her at least) and takes an interest in her dancing career. But there's something about the way he looks at her, the proximity with which he shows her things and the kindness he gives her that make us mistrust him.
Connor is not a villain in the "movie" sense of the word, the nature of his acts doesn't make him evil and he's capable of making us wonder how much did we help him succeed in his actions.
Fassbender gives him an almost predatory quality as he seduces us before seducing Mia. That he does so without recurring to cheap techniques is surprising but that he sees Connor and recognizes him first as a human being is nothing short of courageous. Few working actors push the limits of right and wrong like Fassbender.

Three Blind Mice ***1/2

Director: Matthew Newton
Cast: Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, Matthew Newton
Gracie Otto, Barry Otto, Heather Mitchell, Pia Miranda
Jacki Weaver, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, Alex Dimitriades

It's been more than sixty years since Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra played jolly sailors on leave in "Anchors Aweigh" and "On the Town". While their kind of sailor sang a song to score a date and wore a smile as they got back on their ship, the Australian navy officers in "Three Blind Mice" are far from that.
Perhaps, they too grew up watching those musicals and romanticized the idea of being a sailor which is why on their last night of leave on Sydney they plan to have the time of their lives.
We all know how it goes, they drink, they relief their six months of blue balls, they party and then go back to the ship.
Dean (Schmitz) is eager to see his fiancé Sally (Miranda) and have dinner with her parents (Otto and Mitchell). Loud mouthed Harry (Newton) wants to get it on with a "skanky" hooker and get his buddies into as much trouble as he can.
Sam (Leslie) on the other side, is contemplating going AWOL after being brutally tortured by higher rank officers.
The three friends will have a life defining night that results surprising because the movie doesn't just feel like one of those movies with "life defining nights".
The cultural background might have something to do with that, because it usually results more affecting to listen to non-Americans talk about their involvement in the Afghan invasion because unlike the USA's direct link, other countries' participation gives way to more political and ethical dilemmas.
It could also be out of the distinctive personalities Newton (who also wrote the screenplay) gives every character. Even a prostitute gets to deliver a hilarious, profound line in this movie.
But Newton's best work is with the three main characters.
Dean becomes someone trying to collect a debt out of life. Schmitz plays him with enough contempt to make us both like and feel bad for him.
Watching him try to behave with his future in-laws reveals someone absolutely lost, when we learn he's carrying something akin to a secret, his character reveals unexpected layers.
Sam has to endure the fact that he might never live up to what his mom (Weaver) expects him to be. On his night out he meets Emma (Otto) an outgoing waitress moved by his lack of confidence.
Otto and Leslie's chemistry is a joy to watch. They share a conversation that on lesser hands would've come out as painfully unnatural. With Sam, the movie asks about the navy's policies and how much is too much when enforcing the law.
It shouldn't be too much of a surprise that Newton saved the film's best character for himself. With the strange charm, and looks, of a less obnoxious and more attractive Ricky Gervais, the blond actor/writer/director establishes himself as the film's presence.
It really doesn't take much for you to figure out that this young man's involvement went beyond what we see onscreen as he's the one who moves and talks with absolute naturality, even in moments where he should be invisible.
His crassness and loudness are obvious signs of someone putting up a show to conceal something. That we never learn exactly what it is yet are enthralled by this man is just one of the many things the movie gets so right in the weirdest of ways.
The energy Newton injects into it sometimes recall an all male version of "Sex and the City"-complete with jazzy score and walks through the park at night-but within the enjoyable nature of the film there lies a profound examination of male codes of conduct and an ending that might just go and break your heart.