Oscar Countdown: Supporting Actor
Can anyone challenge the 82 year-old co-star of ‘Beginners?’
In advance of the Academy Award ceremony on Sunday, Screen Grab will predict the winners in all categories.
Supporting actor: Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn; Jonah Hill, Moneyball; Nick Nolte, Warrior; Christopher Plummer, Beginners; Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Frequently this category goes to movie veterans who’ve given strong performances and have excellent careers, like Michael Caine with The Cider House Rules or Alan Arkin with Little Miss Sunshine. Two of this year’s competitors are 82 years old this year: Christopher Plummer, at the center of both a fatal disease story and a coming-out story in Beginners, and Max Von Sydow as a melancholy, mute neighbor and the best thing about Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Compared to them, Nick Nolte and Kenneth Branagh (as Laurence Olivier) are still whippersnappers, and Jonah Hill, despite giving a nicely understated performance in Moneyball, seems conspicuously out of place.
Prediction: Plummer, who’s never won an Oscar yet done excellent work, particularly in recent films like The Last Station. And he’s the obvious favorite.