Steven Yeun – “Minari”
Jacob Yi (Steven Yeun) is a Korean American father who takes pride in his achievements and sees hope on the horizon. He often displays blind faith in tomorrow considering his homeland hardships, but this comes in conflict with the cautious uncertainty that seeps into his day to day life as a freshly soiled farmer. Subverting the stereotype of stern Asian dad incapable of uttering praise such as: “good job,” Yeun’s multilingual performance in Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari,” exudes contemplation and compassion, tapping into incredible tonal range and his talent for organic human register. In one scene, Yi becomes frantically concerned with a tornado on the way, culminating in a loud kitchen argument; another, taking place in a bathtub, features such tremendous internal acting you can practically feel emotions trembling through the screen, desperately needing to bare deep-seated vulnerabilities, but wanting to maintain headstrong dedication. A portrait of a hard-working father who cares deeply about his family, torn and exasperated by the extreme religious dedication within his insular Arkansas community, Yeun’s spectacular work couldn’t be farther removed from the chauvinistic, smirk and talk smack as soon as your back is turned, dude she told you not to worry about he played in “Burning,” confirming what a prodigious talent he is. – AB
Andrea Riseborough – “Possessor“
Playing sociopathy and making it not only interesting but sympathetic isn’t an easy feat. Fortunately, Riseborough is a rare empath and a chameleon; just as she’s preternaturally gifted at disappearing into roles and almost literally becoming someone else, she’s handy at making blank, emotional voids read as human. This is an even greater feat considering “Possessor’s” anti-humanity: Brandon Cronenberg’s film is determinedly wretched, scrubbed of warmth and goodness in favor of showcasing humanity’s absolute worst instincts. But Riseborough, as the cerebral assassin Tasya Vos, acts through her eyes, her lips, her damn nose to purchase the audience’s pity for her existential plight. Tasya might be a near-merciless killer, but the film’s FX do such a good job actualizing the experience of being trapped in another person’s mind, and Riseborough does such a good job communicating Tasya’s suffocated panic, that we find ourselves feeling worse for her than for her intended target. – AC
Mads Mikkelsen – “Another Round”
You’re probably a fan of steely, villainous Mads Mikkelsen, but have you ever tried sad and soused Mads Mikkelsen? Thomas Vinterberg isn’t accustomed to making bad movies, so the fact of “Another Round”s ecstatic greatness isn’t a surprise. But “Another Round” feels in so many ways like the movie Vinterberg’s career has been building up to, and couched within that escalation is Mikkelsen’s lead performance, which takes his own roots full circle: From gymnast and dancer to one of cinema’s preeminent actors, and briefly, at the film’s end, back to gymnast and dancer once more for some of the most abandoned and joyful minutes you’ll catch in any movie released this year. As hangdog teacher Martin, Mikkelsen mines middle-age disaffection and comes up with middle-age functioning alcoholism, which sounds like a terrible thing but turns out to be much more of a “some good, some bad” thing instead. Not Mikkelsen, though. His work here is entirely good, and should send a message to Vinterberg to cast him as his leading man in perpetuity going forward. – AC
Luca Marinelli – “Martin Eden”
Luca Marinelli has a face born for cinema. Early on in “Martin Eden,” his character – an aspiring writer, with little education at this point – stares intensely into a painting, and you can see his eyes aiming to piece through the canvas; studying it for craft, care, and the reason for being brought into being. In a single close-up, we feel his thoughts darting between brushstrokes, pupils dilating via desire and ambition, body rocking, ever so slightly as he ponders the creation. He steps back, out of focus, to get a better vantage, realizing he’s not alone. He falls in love (perhaps for the first time) in this scene, and across the film, we’ll watch his heartbreak. Entering his most impressionable years, the young Italian’s confidence grows, less afraid to express how he sees the world. The more he travels – a bustling Baudelaire in transit – but, personal refinement can come at an alienating price. By the end of the flick, scrutiny overcomes inquisition, a once impassioned man having valued himself into isolation, Martin Eden’s journeyman transformation resembles something like “Barry Lyndon,” Marinelli now wearing weather on his face, self-expression morphing into decorative alienation, a painterly snapshot of what chasing one’s dreams can cost. – AB
Orion Lee – “First Cow”
After mistaking him for an “Indian,” Otis Figowitz (John Magaro), a.k.a. Cookie, asks the shivering man hiding in the brush if he’s alright. “Hungry,” mumbles back King-Lu (Orion Lee), a Chinese Englishman concealing himself from a group of Russians. Crossing paths with Cookie again, King-Lu invites the cook back to his humble abode. Checking squirrel traps on the path home, an acute ability to brainstorm business ideas tips its hand. “We all want that soft gold,” so goes King-Lu’s quiet wisdom. An effortlessly understated performance that exudes raw empathy, Lee’s calming work in Kelly Reichardt’s “First Cow” is a thoughtful look at hospitality, friendship, and near invisibly hands-on ingenuity, embodying the sentiment: actions speak louder than words. Never flashy but continually leaving a lasting impact, one patient montage finds the frontier gentleman waxing on about how to make capital, debating whether it to try and get beaver oil onto trade ships, and sharing superstitious folk tales about weather stones. His work blends right into the historical period, a slight air of flippancy to never feel too solemn, his performance hitting like an arrow to the heart in the film’s closing minutes. – AB
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