2019 was a great year for acting, with far too many impressive performances to recognize at the Oscars and other awards shows. My original plan was to make a list of my top 10 performances of the year, but I quickly realized that would be a ridiculous task — so instead, I decided to highlight ten performances that didn’t receive Oscar nominations and generally aren’t getting enough attention as a result.
Check out my list below and keep an eye out for my best films of 2019 list, which will be posted here in about a week.
Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse)
The Lighthouse takes place in a single location with only two characters. This puts a lot of pressure on the actors to carry the movie, but thankfully they’re up to the task. While Robert Pattinson deserves accolades for arguably his best performance to date, this movie truly belongs to Willem Dafoe. Absolutely feasting on the role of aging lighthouse keeper Thomas Wake, Dafoe turns what could have been a laughable sailor cliche into a multi-dimensional and unforgettable character.
Best of all, Dafoe isn’t so serious that he loses sight of how absurd the script is. Watching him tell Pattinson’s character to swab the deck until it “sparkles like a sperm whale’s pecker” is as funny as anything I saw last year. It’s not easy to be hilarious, repulsive, disturbing, and somehow likable all in the same role, but Dafoe does just that. If you want a sample, watch his epic monologue about halfway through the film and try not to marvel at the sheer power of his acting.
Robert De Niro (The Irishman)
If any performance on this list was truly “snubbed” by the Academy, this is it. Robert De Niro, on the shortlist for greatest actor of all time, delivered his best work in decades as “house painter” (code for hitman) Frank Sheeran in Martin Scorcese’s crime epic. When you consider that the film received 10 nominations, including deserving Supporting Actor nods for Joe Pesci and Al Pacino, it’s genuinely baffling that De Niro didn’t make the cut.
Maybe it’s because this is an unusually subtle performance for De Niro, a far cry from his explosive work in previous Scorcese films such as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Sheeran is a quiet and stoic character, rarely expressing even a hint of emotion through most of the movie. However, this is what makes the performance truly brilliant and one of De Niro’s best – it’s a slow build that pays off during the film’s sensational climax, as Sheeran slowly gets old and regret starts to seep in. The Academy voters who overlooked this performance deserve to get their houses painted.
Paul Walter Hauser (Richard Jewell)
Before Richard Jewell, I mostly knew Paul Walter Hauser as the juggalo kid from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (juggalos for life!). I never could’ve predicted that he would star in such a meaty role, let alone that he would deliver a powerhouse performance of this magnitude. Though he’s backed up by a strong supporting cast, Hauser has to carry the film and it’s primarily his work that makes this movie memorable.
At first, you may assume Hauser was simply cast for his appearance — he looks quite a bit like the real Richard Jewell and his portrayal starts out as relatively one-note. But as the film goes on, he gradually adds layers to this misguided sad-sack character until he finally learns to defend himself from the cops he admires so much. It’s this sense of mounting tension that elevates Hauser’s performance to something special and shows that he’s a rising talent worth watching.
Shia LaBeouf (Honey Boy)
Unfortunately, Shia LaBeouf has become most famous for his often wild and unpredictable behavior offscreen. His performance in Honey Boy is a potent reminder that he’s a truly gifted actor when he wants to be, and it’s all the more impressive when you consider he’s playing his own father. LaBeouf wrote Honey Boy as a therapeutic exercise, a form of cinematic catharsis to examine his relationship with an abusive parent.
It takes a lot of courage to confront childhood trauma in such a direct way, and LaBeouf deserves credit for that alone. But he’s also genuinely great in the role, resisting the easy route of portraying his dad as an uncaring monster — instead, he shows him as a deeply flawed human being who you never doubt loves his child, no matter how much he’s hurting him.
Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name)
I wasn’t as impressed by Dolemite is My Name as a lot of critics seemed to be — in fact, I was a bit disappointed by it. However, Eddie Murphy delivers a strong comeback performance that makes the film ultimately worth seeing. Even better, it’s his first R-rated movie in 20 years, finally freeing him from the shackles of family-friendly entertainment.
Murphy is clearly having a blast as actor/filmmaker/musician Rudy Ray Moore, who created the legendary blaxploitation character named Dolemite. The performance isn’t frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious but he makes up for this with pure swagger and star power. Most importantly, Murphy brings a surprising touch of poignancy to the role of an aging outsider who desperately wants his chance in the spotlight before it’s too late.
Edward Norton (Motherless Brooklyn)
Motherless Brooklyn was one of several films with awards ambitions that got lost in the noise of the fall season — which is too bad, because it’s a really solid film. In addition to writing and directing this moody noir piece, Edward Norton stars as Lionel Essrog, a private detective who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome.
Lionel is the type of character who could easily become annoying or over-the-top very quickly, but Norton does a great job of making him feel believable and helping the audience understand how he sees the world. On the one hand, his Tourette’s is like a superpower that helps him notice details and put together clues that no one else can. On the other hand, he can’t help embarrassingly blurting out nonsensical words in the middle of every conversation. It’s a unique and challenging role, but Norton proves he’s more than up to the task.
Florence Pugh (Midsommar)
Florence Pugh earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in Little Women, but she may have deserved it more for her lead performance as Dani in Midsommar. I’ll start by saying that I don’t like this movie nearly as much as a lot of others seem to — I found it painfully slow and far too predictable. But Pugh’s performance is easily the most memorable part of the film and establishes her as a rising star to keep your eye on.
The main reason she leaves such a strong impact is her incredibly expressive face. Pugh has a rare knack for emoting and director Ari Aster exploits this by putting her through the wringer. I found Dani to be a relatively thin and underwritten character, but Pugh gives it her all and manages to add dimensions to the role that aren’t found in the script. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the next few years.
Margot Robbie (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood)
It’s easy to undervalue Margot Robbie’s performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In fact, I did so myself until I watched the film a second time. This is because she doesn’t have a lot of screen time and most of her scenes are virtually dialogue-free — but this isn’t Quentin Tarantino being sexist, as some critics would lead you to believe. On the contrary, Robbie aces the ultimate acting challenge of building her character primarily through gestures and facial expressions.
This actually lends a greater authenticity to the portrayal, as Sharon Tate very much seems like a real person living an average day in her life, rather than a scripted character facing imminent death. This is the first time Tate has been presented as more than a murder victim — instead, she’s shown as an exciting young star who was poised to make an impact in Hollywood until she was tragically robbed of the chance. Tarantino deserves props for changing the narrative around Tate, and Robbie is truly radiant in the role, lighting up the screen every time she appears.
Taylor Russell (Waves)
Waves has a brilliant ensemble cast and I could’ve just as easily given this spot to Kelvin Harrison Jr. or Sterling K. Brown. I ended up choosing Taylor Russell because she’s the true emotional center of this film, delivering a surprising performance that only grows in impact as the movie goes on.
It’s astonishing how much Russell is able to communicate without words. Her character is very introverted and spends most of the film in her own head, yet we never feel distanced from her at all. In fact, the pain, confusion, and loneliness she’s feeling are all too clear every time she’s on-screen. But she also manages to project warmth and kindness that feels unusually genuine, especially during her romantic scenes with the also-excellent Lucas Hedges. I hope this is only the beginning of a long and successful career for Russell.
Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)
Most critics and serious filmgoers dismiss Adam Sandler as nothing more than a popular clown who churns out forgettable comedies at a prolific rate. While that’s mostly true at this stage of his career, it’s unfair to ignore Sandler’s obvious charisma and talent. Even in his worst movies, he possesses a certain unique charm that makes it hard to look away whenever he’s on-screen.
The character of Howard Ratner weaponizes Sandler’s best qualities, getting audiences to identify with a pathetic and generally unsympathetic character who you likely wouldn’t root for in most circumstances. This is mostly due to the incredible humanity and authenticity Sandler brings to the role, making Howard feel alive and believable in a way that few film characters do. Props to the Safdie brothers for recognizing Sandler’s gifts and giving him his best role since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love.