The Halfway Report Card – the best actor performances of 2020 so far

The Halfway Report Card – the best actor performances of 2020 so far

The following is a handful of stand-out performances from the first half of the past year. They mix lead, supporting, and cameo performances in mainstream, independent, foreign, streaming, or theatrical film releases. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, they will be remembered when the awards season (whenever that may be) run comes around (next Spring?).

Here are ten performances, in alphabetical order, that had stuck with me from the 100 or so films I have watched so far this year:

Ben Affleck, The Way Back

Ben Affleck has had a well-documented substance abuse problem of his own and gives a career performance in The Way Back. There wasn’t a moment I didn’t buy him as a bloated, puffy drunk who is in a constant self-destructive mode and ready to hit rock bottom at any moment. Even his take on a tough-as-nails basketball coach is gripping and has such a sharp bark that it would make Bobby Knight take a step back. However, by the end of the film, you watch Affleck tell someone the source of his constant inner torture in a scene of great tenderness. The visual is a moving one, redeeming his character, unlike anything he has ever done.

Mamoudou Athie, Uncorked

Mamoudou Athie plays a young man in Uncorked, who would instead become a sommelier than taking over the family business — an established barbeque restaurant. Whether you are like me and know how to pair what beer with smoked sausage (IPL) or my particular smoked Cuban pork shoulder (Guinness) than with what wine, Athie brings a quiet dignity and intelligence to the role and insight into a world that is made relatable to a mainstream audience. I look forward to the day Athie is given more opportunities to play more lead roles.

Pierfrancesco Favino, The Traitor

The imposing Pierfrancesco Favino fills the camera’s every frame with a star presence that few can match. Favino, who was so good in one of my favorite films of the decade, Suburra, brings to life a real anti-hero that doesn’t have the last name Soprano, Mackey, or White. It’s a three-dimensional performance, likable one minute, sad the next, but you never forget he isn’t quite the man who found the error of his ways. He, after all, has been convicted of drug charges and admitted carrying out murders, decided the mafia changed the rules, and lost its way by killing members of their own working family. His performance in The Traitor takes the stand that the man who found a moral compass has its price.

Michael Huisman, The Other Lamb

Huisman, the Shepherd in The Other Lamb, leads dozens of women and tends to his flock in the sadistic belief that these women are put on earth to tend to his own needs instead of theirs. It’s a patient, deliberately paced film that slowly has the Shepherd start to unravel as events unfold, as he can’t control the outside world, so he does it through his flock. It starts as a magnetic turn. Then he gently slips into a man full of rage that is spiraling out of control. There hasn’t been a better turn of a sadistic cult leader on film since John Hawkes Patrick in Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Hugh Jackman, Bad Education

While I reserve Prisoners as his finest performance, many are touting this Hugh Jackman role in Bad Education as the best of his career. If this is not Hugh Jackman’s career-best turn, it’s undoubtedly his most nuanced. He plays a man who started to teach English when he was younger and ended up controlling the purse strings, which will do anything to keep his status, job, and school district at the top by any means necessary. The shades of virtue and idealism are often different shades of grey that can easily slip into cognitive dissonance, and that’s precisely what Jackman accomplishes here.

Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods

There are three performances here that I hope will be remembered later this year from Da 5 Bloods, but one I am sure will not be forgotten. Delroy Lindo has been one of the most underappreciated actors of his generation. His studio ignored him for a Cider House Rules by the Emmys for his role in The Good Fight, and his performance in Lee’s Clockers is now legendary. He carries the film with a burning intensity and ferocious anger demanding to be heard.

Tzi Ma, Tigertail

Tzi Ma’s role in Tigertail is a sorrowful East Asian one– deeply felt, that breaks you down, allowing you to appreciate what you have and long for what you don’t. His turn isn’t flashy but thoughtful, and you may have to look closely, and there is a great deal running under the surface that goes on to the naked eye. That doesn’t make its impact less meaningful and reminded me of ’90s arthouse independent cinema that’s upfront, and its visceral, moody score highlights honesty. Ma brings Grover’s tale to life no different from thousands, which is far too often forgotten. It’s an East Asian story that’s as American as apple pie.

Ben Mendelsohn, Babyteeth

Mendelsohn is so many things in Babyteeth— funny, moving, ever so touching as a father struggling with his daughter’s demise (so much so, as you’ll notice, he sweetly tries to capture almost every moment of her with countless pictures from his camera that he always keeps handy). His role, like the film, can seem a bit oddball at first — but that would be a mistake, and if you watch it again, you’ll find some of the offbeat humor and actions aren’t really what they appear to be at all. It has to do more with dialogue being wrapped with textured visuals and sincere emotional reactions. It’s the unfiltered honesty of a group of people not knowing when their time is up because there isn’t any time for bullshit at the moment.

Denis O’Hare, Swallow

Veteran character actor Denis O’Hare has only a minor role here, but it’s extraordinarily effective in Swallow’s final act. His character is responsible for Haley Bennett’s, not closure, but the healing process, and while listening, his measured responses manage somehow to be insightful while still being contemptible. It is an award-worthy turn by a great veteran character actor that leaves the viewer satisfied with their closure, which is remarkable.

Vince Vaughn, Arkansas

Sure, Arkansas has its flaws, but it’s a southern crime saga that practically drips with intrigue style and contains a Vince Vaughn performance that very well might be his best since brooding ’90s film Return to Paradise. The main reason to see this film is how Vaughn’s character gets a broader look, and you completely forget it’s the man you’ve loved in Wedding Crashers, Old School, and Dodgeball. As the film flashes back to his days as a pawnshop owner who takes it upon himself to become the mysterious Frog, the tall, gangly comedic actor is almost gone, and the brooding actor morphs into the intelligent, ruthless Dixie’s drug kingpin. It’s a story I wish the film centered around, using Vaughn’s character throughout the film, folding in the flashbacks, with the newcomers more as supporting players.

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