Now that I’ve seen most of the major acting performances in contention for the Best Actor Oscar —save for “Napoleon” and “All of Us Strangers” — I’m going to be pulling for either Cillian Murphy or Leonardo DiCaprio to win the Oscar.
I have 11 Best Actor contenders on my predictions list. I can’t see anyone else being added. They are as follows:
Cillian Murphy — “Oppenheimer”
Leonardo DiCaprio — “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Jeffrey Wright — “American Fiction”
Paul Giamatti — “The Holdovers”
Colman Domingo — “Rustin”
Bradley Cooper — “Maestro”
Jamie Foxx — “The Burial”
Nicolas Cage — “Dream Scenario”
Joaquin Phoenix — “Napoleon”
Andrew Scott — “All of Us Strangers”
Teo Yoo — “Past Lives”
It’ll be hard to beat Cillian Murphy. It’s such a tour-de-force performance and he’s practically in every scene of the 3-hour “Oppenheimer.” I’m still thinking about his work as Robert J. Oppenheimer in Nolan’s film. It’s practically flawless work on his part.
DiCaprio’s performance isn’t being talked about enough because, well, he doesn’t have much of a narrative. He already has an Oscar. If quality is actually a factor in winning awards, then DiCaprio’s rich work in ‘Killers’ would have a major shot at Oscar gold.
Whenever the topic of DiCaprio’s acting talents comes into conversation, it’s either he’s overrated or underrated, there’s no in-between. Forget about the star power, or good looks, for a second, there’s no doubt in my mind that DiCaprio is one of the most talented actors of his generation.
Eight years ago, I had listed DiCaprio’s performances for Sasha Stone’s Awards Daily. My ranking has somewhat changed since then, his essential performances are as follows:
(1) The Wolf of Wall Street (2) The Aviator (3) Killers of the Flower Moon (4) What’s Eating Gilbert Grapes? (5) Catch Me If You Can (6) Titanic (7) The Departed (8) Django Unchained
Dicaprio is astonishing as the useful idiot in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” David Ehrlich believes it’s the best performance of his career, but has he forgotten about “The Wolf of Wall Street”? That’s the performance DiCaprio was born to play.
Regardless, DiCaprio’s work in ‘Killers’ is up there in his top three. In the film, Dicaprio’s Ernest and Lily Gladstone’s Mollie have this completely twisted relationship — the bond between an Osage woman and the white man who murders her entire family. It’s literally that.
And yet, as human nature has a way of doing, Ernest still has this sweet-natured love for Mollie. You almost can’t help but like him as his every move is being controlled by his madcap and greed-loving uncle (played by Robert De Niro).
You don’t even realize the overall impact of Ernest and Mollie’s messed up union until the very end. It’s complex stuff and DiCaprio absolutely nails this role. He’s not a hero nor is he some kind of one-dimensional villain, but rather an unreflective, naive henchman, whose actions inspire revulsion.
Of course, as mentioned, DiCaprio already won an Oscar, but for the wrong film (“The Revenant”). He actually deserves to win for ‘Killers,’ one of the best performances of his career.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.