Next Up Is...

...Kate Winslet

in Iris (2001)

Performance Profile: Helen Mirren in Gosford Park (2001)

In recent years, there have been a fair share of "favorite nominees" -- those ladies who have proven to be generally much more popular among the blogosphere and Oscar/film freaks in their respective years. These performances were either considered "robbed" of the award, or they just simply have a huge, devoted fan base...and in 2001 one nominee (more than the others) fits under this coveted "general favorites" category, -- one that Andrew has proudly proclaimed his love for, the favored performance given by....

...Helen Mirren in Gosford Park (2001)

Helen Mirren plays Mrs. Wilson, the sternly devoted head servant at Gosford Park who runs a tight-ship below the stairs where the maids/servants living quarters are located below the snooty, fancy living above.

Because of the weekend shooting party, you would think that everyone and everything would be a big messy feast of getting settled in and such, but under Mrs. Wilson's control everything is tidy and neatly organized from the smallest detail to the largest. Almost nothing gets passed this lady unnoticed, and she has a sort of respected reputation for getting the job done and done well as she is technically her own boss even though she isn't "the (wo)man of the house".

From her very first entrance in the film, as everyone else is running around in a tizzy and chattying it up, Mrs. Wilson maintains a introverted, coldly, closed off presence which visually of course makes her distinctive and disconnected from her grand surroundings. She's a no-nonsense and grounded force amid a chaotic web of all sorts of people with all sorts of neuroses...but Mrs. Wilson is not quite the cold, blank slate the other characters (as well as the audience) perceives. The first crack in her "perfect" existence comes from hearing a guests name and vaguely recognizing him in a way which rings quite a few bells, and sets off a subtlety tragic character arc to follow.

Suddenly something coincides and coheres with Mrs. Wilson's job. Something which she has desperately tried to bury under her selflessly devoted services. Something which she simply can no longer ignore, as it now stares her in the face in a way she never believed would happen. Mirren takes on the role with a intuitive understanding and devotion -- just as Mrs. Wilson's devotion is something due to a certain "choice" -- that in a way breaks down a complex individual so that her enigmatic behaviors can be understood a painfully, privately and personal level.     

Throughout the film, Mrs. Wilson carefully watches over and communicates more with a man named Parks, than she does anyone else, and it's because being the overly workaholic servant she is, Mrs. Wilson has a keen "secret" ability for observing and studying others with them even knowing it. She's not as simple as she looks, and through Mirren's meticulous performance we come closer and closer to comprehending just what is happening behind that tough-cookie mask she has so carefully sculpted.

But the actress, at every moment, in itty-bitty ways, conveys that there's so much happening to Mrs. Wilson even as she maintains her loyal duties -- artfully projecting her dark, cavernous inner life. But it's this man, this guest, that she has a "closer" relationship to; more than anybody has ever known. It's this hidden relationship which brings something out in Mrs. Wilson, and Mirren uses little words to express this interior life. Instead, opting to make use of her body, eyes, and face -- each capturing flickers of trapped emotion (like as Parks tells about his childhood at dinner, or Mrs. Wilson getting a glimpse at her old picture on his side table). One reviewer compared Mirren's performance to that of Lily Tomlin's triumphant achievement in Altman's Nashville, both take us in the lives and psyche of their deeply complex characters as they begin to to have life-chaning experiences. I couldn't agree more.

On second viewing it became clear to me that Mirren's character thread seems to skirt the edges of Gosford Park's tricky narrative, almost like a ominous, ghostly creature who symbolizes some kind of foreboding downfall. Orginally, I had kinda-sorta dismissed Mirren's performance as an empty, uninspired shell of false intention and action; alot of craftsmanship but with little merit. But I now see another something, which boasts my appreciation for this celebrated work.               

As the story continues it is revealed that Parks is indeed Mrs. Wilson's long lost son, whom she had put up for adoption when her pregnancy interfered with her factory working job for her employer now, William McCordle. When he is killed twice...the answers may be kind of there, but the reasoning is left up to Mirren's Wilson who, in a startlingly (and intentionally) withdrawn monologue, begins to let those tightly colied springs slowly undue. 

It becomes clear that it had been Mrs. Wilson who had murdered Sir William in a sad attempt to save the little family she has left. Being the perfect servant means that she thinks like no other, and knowing that her son had been planning on murdering his father for ruining his childhood, she beat him to it by slipping poison to the old crab. It's her way of "acting out" to protect her son from being thrown in prison and for getting a kind of revenge on the man who placed in her in a sad desperation. Mrs. Wilson says, "I'm the perfect servant, I have no life..." -- these perfectly delivered words hauntingly echo in the character's final scene. 

Everyone is going for good now, and all that's left is the staff, including Mrs. Croft who finds her sister crying in her room.

She sobs and lets all of that trapped emotion flow out, not caring who hears, because she can no longer keep it to herself. Here, Mirren vividly and richly communicates a lifetime of pain and regret that had been bubbling to the top for years.

She now fully realizes her mistake of sacrificing her child for a job in which she seems to be forever stuck in...she has no life, and now she knows that she has lost a son, a family, a happy life she can never have back because of the choices she has made. It's haunting, deeply moving and rings true, and not just because of Mirren's gift of conveying the feelings, but because of the emotional architecture she had every so slowly built throughout her characterization. Crisp, efficient underplaying which culminates in this heartbreaking coda.

In a film which feels so emotionally shallow, Mirren's performance, which was once at the edges, has glided into the center; providing Gosford Park with an emotional core and heart which resonates in a way the rest have not.

For me, Helen Mirren's richly affecting work is in fact worth the hype and praise those fans, such as Andrew, had rightfully adorned her with, and her performance is a nearly diamond-perfect example of an performer channelling their actorly talent into fully rounded and fully effective service to their character. 

Helen's Coming Soon...

Don't want to wait too long....God knows what she might do to me....

Forgotten Film Gems: Carol Burnett in Annie (1982)

When I was a kid I enjoyed watching Annie on VHS over and over again, just loving every minute of the big, lavish musical and having the time of my life. I remember having the clamshell video and always watching it with friends and family -- even buying the soundtrack which somehow was not yet out of print. Then in 1999 when Disney released their maudlin and horridly uninspired version I would endlessly compare and contrast the two (at the time I did like it), but in recent years since everyone prefers and boasts Disney's crap over my Annie, then I got annoyed. How could anyone like it over the original I fell in love with? Especially when the original provides the kooky, total delight of...

...Carol Burnett in Annie (1982)

Even though the movie is called Annie, this film without question belongs to Carol Burnett's Ms. Hannigan, the mean, vindictive, bullying head mistress of a girl orphanage in New York during the early 1930's. She's just an awful, tacky woman who spends most of her time forcing the girls to clean and scrub and to do all sorts of manual labor that she doesn't want to do in the old, dirty orphanage that she isn't even close to capable of being in charge of. But Ms. Hannigan does more than just boss the cheerful little girls around -- she's also a 24/7 drunk who chases down her bathwater gin like there's no tomorrow and stumbling around in her bathrobe and slip making sure that there's no sign of happiness around her ("Do I hear...happiness in here?"). Also during her miserably free time (which is all the time) she also looks for a little hanky panky with any man, like the unfortunate laundry man Mr. Bundles, the snitching cop, and a little old geezer called "Little Ceasar" -- although according to Ms. Hannigan, he's "an uncle" -- yeah sure, an incestuous uncle perhaps.

In a word, Ms. Hannigan is, by design, a terrible and unappealing person -- the most unsympathetic and insensitive character in the film. But, somehow, in the skilled hands of Carol Burnett, the actress turns the old part of the scheming orphanage dictator into pure, shining gold. You see, this film version of Annie had drastically altered the original plot/songs of the Broadway play -- and it was all for the better. John Huston's movie -- which I find to be a huge success and a huge leap over the cloying, leaden, and (yuck!) sentimental Broadway production -- was received with little enthusiasm and bashed heavily by both critics and the public who deemed it as a total mess. I couldn't agree less. Huston's film is a totally fun blast of energy and dedication and that fact that Huston wasn't a musical director, I think, very much helped the story find a sturdy more believable balance between darker and lighter tones. His casting of Carol Burnett as Ms. Hannigan is surprising genius, but her playing more than doubles that.  

Burnett's performance -- based of a tiring old rerun of the same role -- is simply a treat.

So effortlessly hilarious and precise with the old-fashioned humor at hand that every moment is freshly taken advantage of. Burnett, gifted with a whole range of comic treats, is a master at broad physicality and possess a comedian's keen instinctive sense of timing and delivery, that ring so true you could watch it over and over and find something new to applaud. She burps, walks into walls, bumbles around, gets her foot stuck in walls, and delivers a whole barrage of some of the funniest, most side-splitting line readings that I've ever heard. She's goofy but never shrill, and Burnett never loses sight of the unappealing nature of the character by making her entertaining and watchable despite that she's just so bad. You almost want to see her be mean because it's just that fun. It's Burnett's genuine levity that works together with the film to almost completley dodge unwanted sentimental attachment that would bog the picture down.

But during the later stages of the film when Ms. Hannigan's true nastiness is brought out by her devilishly scheming brother and his gal (perfectly casted and performed by Tim Curry and Bernedette Peters), Burnett vividly conveys the darker shades of both the character and the film, while still maintaining a light comic touch -- take, for example, the total amount gusto and zest infused when the trio sing and dance to Easy Street (easily my favorite number) as well as Burnett's other show-stoppers such as Sign and Little Girls which are rousing crowd pleasers.

But as the story goes down a darker path, and Ms. Hannigan does along with the plot to kidnap Annie, it leads to a totally unexpected, heart stopping climax, which gives me goosebumps just as much today as it did back then. Its here when Rooster, after Annie escapes again, plans on really killing the little girl that Ms. Hannigan has a quick change of heart and can't let that happen. As Rooster chases her towards the train-bridge, Ms. Hannigan yells out "Rooster stop! Rooster she's a baby!" now realizing just how much she really did care for Annie even though a big part of her hated her. Burnett adds this new layer to the character and her newly found emotional vulnerability rings true and its quietly touching to see that Hannigan's heart isn't completely cold as ice as Annie warms it up for her. Perhaps it could even be that Ms. Hannigan is Annie's real mother (the red hair is noticeable), but she just couldn't let anyone know about her dark secret....think about it...

Carol Burnett's underrated performance is simply perfection, and especially compared to Kathy Bates' severe miscasting -- and bloated performance (both literally and figuratively) -- in the newer Annie it ranks among the most surprising and genuine work in any American musical.

Favorite Characters: Lana Tisdel from Boys Don't Cry (1999)

The Role: A young lady stuck in a boring, dead end existence until her life is forever changed by the discovery of love and direction thanks to her new lover who bears more life and compassion than she has ever known...though the situation unfortunately leads her into a tragic, spinning vortex that she'll never forget.

As Played By: Chloë Sevigny

Best Bit: Sharing that first, bashful kiss with the guy she's falling in love in the early morning, and bidding him a brief farewell as her eyes follow him out.

Best Quote: "Look how beautiful it is out there...that's us we can just beam ourselves out there..."

Why She's A Favorite: Why do you think?! After all Sevigny does give my favorite Supporting Actress performance of all time, so it seems mandatory that I include her beautiful character in the mix. I could praise the performance everyday for the rest of my life, but the character by nature is still something of a diamond. So incredibly humane and grounded in her reality, Lana isn't just another "girlfriend" part to be shoved aside, she's got a whole, rich characterization -- complete with a back story, inner life and full of engaging and enigmatic complexities. She's a real human capable of warmth in a story in which it is essential, and her escalating desperation is emotionally palpable with uncommon depth. Lana is a lovely, luminous counterpart to the gritty ugliness of the story, and this superb, surprising character transcends expectations and becomes one for the ages.    

Favorite Characters: Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Role: The crazy Chinese foreign exchange student who has a wild night of fun and hysterics with his new love and a lot of alcohol.

As Played By: Gedde Wantanabe

Best Bit: Partying hard at Jake Ryan's house with his girl and getting as drunk as a skunk.

Best Quote(s): "What's happenin' hot stuff?", "Sexy girlfriend...bonsai!", "She geta' married!", "Automobile?!"

Why He's A Favorite: In a film that's bursting with giddy fun and enjoyment at every corner, The Donger is a totally hilarious and delightful scene-lifter and Wantanabe finds humor in so many unexpected area's (even his outrageous laugh cracks me up!). His predicaments are so random and even though the role is written as a goofy stereotype, the actual performance never relies on them, and is nothing short of comic dynamite.

Favorite Characters: Linnea Resse from Nashville (1975)

The Role: The complex woman who balances being a loving mother, attending to wifely duties, having a steady gospel career, and being the maternal rebound gal pal for a horny rock star.

As Played By: Lily Tomlin

Best Bit(s): A tie; sitting in the back of a crowded room and watching her face ooze emotion while listening to "I'm Easy" being played just for her; and listening to her boy talk about his day at school.

Best Quote: "Do you believe in Jesus!"

Why She's A Favorite: It's a combination of the character as written and the way Lily Tomlin masterfully portrays her that makes this woman so resonant and enduring for me. Linnea has to maneuver her life so each separate part doesn't collide and the way she handles and treats each section differently continues to be so compelling and engaging to watch and think about. This is a woman longing for something to make her complete and who wants nothing but to overcome sadness and find affection and meaning. It's simply fascinating to watch Linnea blossom as she discovers herself and experience somthing life-changing. So simple yet so very complex all at the same time.

What do you think?? 

New Project: Favorite Film Characters

I thought up an idea to honor those especially favorite characters that you just love watching over and over in movies, whether they be heroes/villains to fun sidekicks and everything in between. If you want to join in on the fun, all you have to do is for each day pick a new character to post about in separate posts that just gives a little background on why they are favorites of yours and maybe a description of the character. It's not really like a meme where your restricted by some criteria -- just do it how you want. I'll of course be doing it and some picks may just surprise some people...who knows? Oh, and these characters don't have to be ranked from best to worst (mine will be just randomly posted), but if you want to, go for it!

Something Very Serious

So I was checking StinkyLulu's blog and I soon discovered his very last post.

I read it, and I was stunned to be honest. In this thought out post, he explains how a culmination of several different factors caused him to shut down and block his passion and drive for continuing his totally and utterly amazing blog. It is incredibly sad for me and every other devoted fan and reader in the film blogosphere who just couldn't wait for what 'ol StinkyLulu would come up with next. Like many others, StinkyLulu's blog was the main reasons about why I now simply love writing about and discussing film, instead of just watching it. His rich, unpretentious writing style had made me want to grow as a writer, and I even look back to the old Smackdown's just to read the wisdom over and over.

But then...I found out what the final straw was for Brian (Stinky)....me. Yes, I Brandon seem to be a unfortunate contributing factor in this sad situation. Brian writes, "The other blogger's (me) actions, however, did confirm that the moment has passed. I’ve moved on. You’ve moved on. Even the hearts of the Smackdown have moved on."

I would like Brian and everyone else to know that I am extremely sorry about what I have done. All this time I was wondering about why StinkyLulu hadn't come back and then to read that I was the "deciding" factor in this matter, is seriously disappointing to me. I had absolutely no intention to "steal" the concept in any way (there's only one StinkyLulu), but to rather continue this beloved tradition. I have kept the profile and Smackdown formats the same because personally they are pretty nifty and kind of awesome, but also to honor what Stinky would have done with his. My Smackdown's were never intended to be knockoffs even though I now realize it kind of is. I love what Brian did with the layout and I simply adore it -- even though it was lifted in many ways from what he had done. My goal was to create writing that was my own (and I do believe it is) and to express my own thoughts/opinions and not those of Stinky's (even though I did years he did not).

At the time being I was in the middle of S.A. year 2001, but now I'm thinking I just might take a little break from this project to pay my respects for something I partially blame myself for. I have some other things in the works (Performance Profiles -non smackdown ones-, and a new project) that I will talk about very soon.

I would lastly like to thank Brian for giving us hours and hours of his richly fulfilling material, hard work, dedication, and love to all the actress who deserved it.

Here's to the great StinkyLulu!

A Word About....

....Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (2010)

I'm here to report that the Disney movie sequel is actually, surprisingly very well done...even for a TV movie. I caught it on demand, and after hearing endless amount of hype, I thought this would be an interesting watch (Note -- I don't watch the seriously unfunny crap on Disney, but after witnessing the tiring cliched original one I was wondering if the House of Mouse could redeem themselves, and they sure did). Redemption here comes in the form of stepping up big time and delivering something much more mature and fresh than what expectations were for most.

So basically the gang is back at Camp Rock for another summer (by the way, why was this film released in September? It's about camp right? So why not give it a June/July release when summer is still young? Anyway...) but there's a new camp 'cross the lake called Camp Star (real inventive name, eh?) who stands as Camp Rock's competition as they face off for the final jam. The plot itself is actually kind of interesting, although the two leads -- Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas -- hardly have any spark in there intentionally limited screen-time, which helps because the two simply bog the proceedings down with there boring, charmless persona's. But those two aside, the movie bursts with a positive, refreshing, and vivid energy and feeling without ever cloying with sappiness or unbearableness -- both of which Disney is more than known for. The dancing and singing have a nice cohesive flow and the numbers are overall very solid and feel much more alive than previously. There's even a subtle, touching emotional core to Camp Rock 2, which makes the narrative feel even more engaging, and the climax feels somehow expected but the setup and resolution -- the slow-mo, silenced reaction to the outcome is palpably felt and well staged.

Though all give decent to really good performances, the standouts to me were Nick Jonas and his love interest Chloe Bridges. As Nate and Dana, two star crossed "lovers", they create the only real chemistry between them and there subplot was sweet, bashful, and interesting. Though they are stuck with limited, unjuicy dialogue, the two interact seamlessly to find real soul. Shout out to Nicky Nick -- its the guys 18th birthday after all! -- who's amateur acting still hasn't broken any kind of dramatic mold, but he nonetheless gives a superb musical performance. He has that certain brand of charisma and star-power that his elder brothers don't, and he captures both in this song Introducing Me which is a sweet ballad with silly lyrics that borrows its tune from the popular song I'm Yours. Because the two songs are so similar, I made this video which brings them both together.

Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam is just really a fun, fresh ride that I wouldn't mind taking again.  

Performance Profile: Maggie Smith in Gosford Park (2001)

With a legendary reputation such as those Dames which came before and after her, this next nominee stands among over a dozen cast members, but has an uncanny ability (like a Whitty or a Dench) to stand out above the rest with barely having to "actively" do much. But this Grand Dame never just sits back and wallows, she jumps above expectations and continuously surprises with all sorts of goodies - so its no surprise that with tea at four, dinner at eight, and...murder at midnight that Oscar went on to nominate the wicked shenanigans of...

...Maggie Smith in Gosford Park (2001)

Maggie Smith plays Constance, Countess of Trentham, one of the many guests invited to a wealthy English country house for a shooting party one weekend.

She's invited to this elaborate get-together because she just happens to be the aunt of Sylvia McCordle (a sly Kristen Scott Thomas) who's the wife of William McCordle who's hosting the party. Because her late husband left her nothing when he passed, Constance has been receiving money from William, and that's why she (as well as everyone else) hates him but attends; because they are all looking out for themselves and trying to get all they can out of the sitatution they agreed to become involved in.

Of course, it doesn't help her situation that Constance is, well lets say, at bit...snobbish? Yessire, this old biddy has got a bit of an attitude when it comes to just about everything, and therefore the film uses Smith for two main tasks -- to be another possible suspect in a tangled web of party guests, and to be the central, main source for some delicious comic relief amid the stuffy Britishy-ness (she, too, is of course British but you know what I mean).

To simply put it, Maggie Smith does her Maggie Smith-thing here, by delivering a hefty dose of genuine comedy, with the actress deriving the laughs from Constance's prickly situation (when William is planning on cutting off the alimony) which makes her stubborn, unsatisfaction all the more hilarious. Instead of just playing the character as just a snobby rich-bitch, Smith channels her comedic gifts through the character instead of over her, where therefore keeps Constance in the same game as the others around.

Whether she's insulting guests at the dinner table ("but none of us will be seeing it"), or...

...or trying her hardest to ignore the awful piano playing by distracting herself with a game of Bridge...

...or just kickin' back and ordering her maid around, Smith is, as always, a genuine treat. Her trademark, sharp timing combined with some gut-busting line readings, makes for some serious fun while being around an enviorment that tries its damnedest to be funny but sinks into overall dullness. (The film has its moments of greatness, no doubt, and its expertly crafted, but the pacing and narrative just become -- for me -- rather exhausting and cloyed it is own stuffiness; unlike Altman's Nashville).

Smith gives the proceedings a more inviting feel, and its that levity which keeps her afloat when some of the others have sunk below because they simply miss what Smith infuses into Constance; a sharp, yet light comic edge which helps keeps the character from shriveling up into some obnoxious caricature.

It's a thin role with hardly any meat on its bones as written, but Maggie Smith, like the pro she is, elevates both the character and the film by making full use of her gifts as a comedienne. She milks the part in every way, and ends up giving a vividly rich comic performance.

Snobbish perfection in its finest form, and even, indeed, in every bone of her body.

Hey Guys...

...so sorry again for the extended delay!

But 'ol Maggs is comin' up soon!

Delay

Hey sorry guys for the profile delay....with school starting at everything I haven't had alot of time on my hands to get 'em done. But look out this week because I can probably get one or two done and posted. Oh, and if you have any random requests for a Performance Review (not any particular year) than let me know, because I might have some surprises for some people coming!

Stay Tuned!

Performance Profile: Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

This decade's winners have been spotty in terms of quality ranging from respectable but flawed to flat-out awful -- but some have found have found a spot smack dab in the middle of this erratic ten years of Supporting Actressing. One of those someones has suffered the "curse" of Oscar by following her career in a disappointing nose dive towards medioracy from which she has yet to escape. She won the Best Supporting Actress trophy when her film hit it big with Oscar, and she's since had a bad reputation with OscarLovers and cinephiles who look for something else within their winners, and I agree. But Oscar has done worse far more times, and he played it safe in 2001 by giving the award to....

...Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Jennifer Connelly plays Alicia Larde, an intelligent, young MIT student who falls in a strange kind of love with her professor John Nash (an obnoxious and self-indulgent Russell Crowe).

First things first: A Beautiful Mind is simply an awful movie -- the whole production is one big glossy Hollywood crapfest designed and tailored for a date with Oscar, that plays everything safe, and never takes any kind of chances with its narrative, never gives any real insight on its central character, and never tries to steer clear from gloopy melodrama which is what it shrivels up into. But there are two main positives about the movie; 1) the majestic, beautifully composed scoring, which keeps even the most emptiest of scenes flowing and 2) Jennifer Connelly's performance as the suffering wife. 

The story follows John Nash, a brilliant and ingenious mathematician whose prodigal reputation becomes threatened when he slowly falls into paranoid schizophrenia. He begins to hear things, see images and people who only exist in his confused mind, and soon his line between distinguishing reality from fantasy becomes blurred. At this time when he enters his illness he meets the lovely Alicia when the student takes a peculiar interest in this strange man. This platonic relationship leads to little romantic courtships from outlining the stars in the night sky...

 ...to tardy dinner dates...

...to having a sexually frank conversation while picnicking. 

The film does a pretty lousy job (of course) of laying out the early stages of their relationship and on page they are just not as fleshed out or as interesting as they should be. Its here where the only real seems in Connelly's performance are visible; she ably conveys Alicia's fascination to John and his abnormal idiosyncrasies yet her confusion is mistaken for underplaying. When she should be sharp and alert she's dull and mushy -- never quite rising to the occasion to make Alicia more than just a woman with a school-girl crush on the "different" guy. She should be making her presence much more vivid and bold for the following narrative threads to come, where finally, she's up at bat and knocks the ball out of the park.

The story progresses and Alicia becomes Mrs. John Nash, and just when things are looking settled for the couple, John's "involvement" with cracking cryptic codes/getting stuck in a sticky web of danger and his escalating schizophrenia send his marriage and life way off balance and he fears of putting his beloved wife in jeopardy.

It's at this point where Connelly's characterization seriously changes for the better as she steps up her game and actually gives the cliched role of the suffering wife a personality and life that the film never scripted her to have. As John's condition worsens and Alicia's life is turned upside down, Connelly conveys her constant anxiety and confusion about what is to become of their love together. To watch the secrets and lies unravel before Alicia's eyes is just heartbreaking, and she makes us feel genuine sympathy for a woman whose just as lost as her husband. 

In Connelly's admirable playing, Alicia never succumbs to messy, mannered theatrics because the actress infuses the tired role with a specific intelligence and determination that rings true in a film that rings so false. But even when interacting with the turgid Crowe, Connelly maintains dignity and plausibility, making this wobbly and unfocused scenario seem real enough to believe that she's going through it. Even more remarkable is how the actress' emotional clarity not only anchors the film, but her character's actions even as the script mires the Alicia into little more than just a maudlin, sloppy obstacle in the story.

 As the only saving grace of A Beautiful Mind, Jennifer Connelly not only rises above stock cliches but crafts a full, humane and only slightly flawed characterization that defies expectations and with this I give the haters of this performance something to ponder as Connelly is a perfectly respectable nominee who gets alot of slack for doing so much right.