The Final Conclusion - Best Actress 1992

1992

So the much anticipated ranking is:

5. Michelle Pfeiffer in Love Field

I'm a bit clueless about how I felt about this performance. I mean, I really liked it and it was surely very entertaining as I was watching it but it was not something that really blew my socks off. Michelle is very good as Lurene, making her a very likeable person despite the fact that we shouldn't really like her. I appreciate the effort, it just didn't blow me away. But there's something about her that makes me really like her.

4. Susan Sarandon in Lorenzo's Oil

Just like her whole performance, as Susan Sarandon is really memorable and moving as Michaela Odone, a woman who refuses to give up on her son's life. Although she's nothing truly mindblowing, she works extremely well with the characters and shows her emotions exceptionally. Really great work.

3. Catherine Deneuve in Indochine

Sorry haters, I'm not one of you as I was totally taken by Catherine Deneuve's wonderful performance in Indochine. Catherine put on an incredibly subtle but extremely haunting performance that is unforgettable for me. She got everything right and despite the screentime issues she really amazed me.

2. Emma Thompson in Howards End

Although Margaret Schlegel is a sort of unspectacular character, the performance of Emma Thompson in Howards End is nothing short of spectacular. Despite the little bit slow beginning, I found this work of hers fantastic and I was totally taken by her. It's a true testament to her greatness that the performance is still growing on me and I think so much about it.

1. Mary McDonnell in Passion Fish

This is a wonderful performance that I loved from the beginning to the end. Although it's not a mindblowing piece of work, it's still exceptional and should be much more often talked about. Mary McDonnell created a very memorable and much more layered character than one would expect. She excellently shows this character's pain plus she's a real treat to watch.

So I can proudly announce

the winner is...

Mary McDonnell

in

Passion Fish

This one was very close.

Final thoughts: This year was way better than I expected. Surprising outcome, even for me. I thought Emma would be a shoo-in (and I thought only Catherine could upset). Although none of these performances was an amazing achievement, they were all impressive. Ranking the Deneuve-McDonnell-Sarandon-Thompson qurtett was incredibly difficult. Then it came down to Catherine vs. Mary and it was even harder. I really did not know how to decide but I hope I made the right decision. In the end, I went with Mary's adorably bitchy and heartbreaking performance as the daytime actress. Somehow she stayed in my mind the longest. Michelle was really good though I found her a bit lacking, many are criticising Catherine in Indochine but I loved her. The other ladies were all wonderful.

Omissions:

• Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 
• Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns
• Tilda Swinton in Orlando
• Alfre Woodard in Passion Fish  *My Pick*

About the next year: It's no secret that it will be 1962. :)

What do you think?

Mary McDonnell in Passion Fish

Mary McDonnell received her second Oscar nomination for playing May-Alice Culhane, a paralysed and quite bitchy soap opera actress in Passion Fish. I guess McDonnell was not a major player for the Academy Award in 1992. Although many people must have liked her, she wasn't famous enough to get ahead of Michelle or Susan. I guess she had to settle for a comfortable fourth placed and she had to say eventually that it's an honor just to be nominated.

Passion Fish was the most pleasant surprise of the films I've seen for this year. I didn't expect anything but a lame, boring TV movie and yet I saw a beautiful, humorous and lovely film that I would gladly rewatch any time. Everything is so relaxing about it: it's excellently written (might have deserved the Oscar) and directed plus it has a wondeful soundtrack. Overall, it's a wondeful experience, especially if we take a look at the performances. Alfre Woodard is nothing short of amazing in her role. In my opinion, she should have won the Supporting Actress Oscar (she wasn't even nominated). But Nancy Mette's cameo is also brilliant.

Mary McDonnell (in my opinion) is a really good actress. I wouldn't say that I'm a fan of hers but I've never been disappointed by her performances. I loved her as Donnie Darko's worried mom, she was reat in Battlestar Galactica (at least in the 5 minutes I saw) and I also loved her in Dances with Wolves (I know, I know). So I didn't expect a towering achievement from her in Passion Fish, only a very entertaining piece of work that relaxes me. And hold on to your seats: she lived up to all of my expectations. In fact, she went beyond them. But more on that later.

McDonnell plays May-Alice, a bitchy soap opera actress who's forced to live in a wheelchair, depending on nurses and she's a bit fed up with the whole situation. In fact, none of the nurses is able ti put up with her, except for Alfre Woodard's character. First we see how they are getting to know each other and such things. Their relationship doesn't go the way one would expect and yet everything is believable about them. Both actresses are at the top of their game, so they work wonderfully together. I felt no competition between them and they really seemed to be very supportive of each other. They were never trying to play each other off and that's really great, in my opinion. I think this works mostly with women. I think male actors tend to be much more competitive in movies than female actors and this movie was another proof of that thought of mine. Alfre Woodard is amazing (as I said) but she never overshadows Mary McDonnell and steps over at her big scenes.

Mary McDonnell's performance as May-Alice (just like Passion Fish) is a very interesting mix of comedy and drama. I would say it's very bittersweet. When I read the story and the reviews about her, I thought that she was going to be much more bitchy and mean and yet I really liked her character. There was something adorably human about her. I don't necessarily think that she's that much of a bitch. Her behaviour was understandable in that situation, I guess. However, the bitchy scenes are nailed by McDonnell. She's so incredibly entertaining there and the touch of irony that she gives to the character makes it all perfect. I loved the scene where she's visited by two women who made her life hell at school and then they sucked up to her. McDonnell excells there: the way she says "it was me" or "It's a joke, precious." is hilarious.

A somewhat similar scene comes where she meets her castmates from the soap opera. Their conversation is really heart-breaking actually (that "anal probe line" that comes from Nancy Mette is indeed great) and Mary had very much to do with it. The development of May-Alice was best shown there by McDonnell. Somehow, I felt that May-Alice became a different person by her accident. Overall, this character had much more layers than one would initially think. McDonnell was very tricky that way but I did not really mind. It was just excellent.

And I didn't even mention the tender scenes with her and David Strathairn. I loved how Mary suggested that May-Alice begins to fall in love. And the scene with the passion fish is indeed great. Somehow, May-Alice seems to be much calmer and kinder in time.

Overall, this is a wonderful performance that I loved from the beginning to the end. Although it's not a mindblowing piece of work, it's still exceptional and should be much more often talked about. Mary McDonnell created a very memorable and much more layered character than one would expect. She excellently shows this character's pain plus she's a real treat to watch.

Final prediction time! :)

The Next Year

1992

So the nominees were:

• Catherine Deneuve in Indochine
• Mary McDonnell in Passion Fish
• Michelle Pfeiffer in Love Field
• Susan Sarandon in Lorenzo's Oil
• Emma Thompson in Howards End

This one is said to be a weak year but to me all fields are interesting, so let's see how these great ladies will do.

What do you think? What's your ranking? What's your prediction for my ranking?