Best Actor 2012

Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man)- What else can you say about Downey’s performance as the brilliant, arrogant, billionaire inventor turned super hero.  Honestly, I don’t think he’s doing much acting here if you know what I mean.

 

Chris Diamantopoulos (Moe Howard)/ The Three Stooges- While Sean Hayes and Will Sasso did more than credible jobs as Larry and Curly, the standout here was Diamantopoulos as Moe.   His mannerisms, facial expressions, and physicality are classic Moe.  He hasn’t received nearly as much attention as he deserved for this.

 

Dane DeHaan (Andrew Detmer)/Chronicle- DeHaan’s performance tells the sad tale of what a lonely, bullied teenager can do if he gains incredible power.  The power corrupts him completely and DeHaan deserves credit for depicting Andrew’s slow descent into madness.  The most powerful scene?  Andrew sitting cross-legged in a junkyard telekinetically crushing a car while looking blankly into space.  It’s sad and frightening at the same time.  I haven’t seen an expression like that since Vincent D’Onofrio first showed signs of losing his grip on reality in Full Metal Jacket.

 

Bradley Cooper (Pat Solitano)/Silver Linings Playbook- Cooper really displayed some acting chops here playing the bipolar Pat with both gut-wrenching and comic results.  He had great chemistry with his co-lead, Jennifer Lawrence.  It was just an all-around enjoyable performance.

 

Andrew Garfield (Peter Parker/Spider-Man)/The Amazing Spider-Man- I have heard every excuse for why people don’t like this movie or Garfield and very few of them have anything to do with the movie/performance itself.  Garfield is not Tobey Maguire.  That’s not a good or bad thing.  It’s just different.  Garfield plays the part edgier than Maguire did while still retaining the character’s heroism and sense of responsibility.  If you have not seen Garfield as Spider-Man, you are doing yourself a disservice. 

 

Jason Statham (Luke Wright)/Safe- Statham is a double nominee for me this year.  In Safe, he takes the lead role in what I believe is his most nuanced performance.  Yes, it’s Statham, so there is slam-bang action galore in the film, but I actually think he shows a little range as a haunted ex-cop who finds a level of redemption protecting a young girl.  I was impressed.

 

Daniel Craig (James Bond)/Skyfall- In my opinion, the ONLY James Bond!  I mentioned in my review of Skyfall that Craig’s Bond does what he does out of a sense of duty, not because he enjoys the life.  You get the sense that he would gladly do something else if it were an option.  That’s what makes Craig’s Bond different.  That’s what makes him the most layered James Bond there has ever been.

 

Karl Urban (Judge Dredd)/Dredd- The best part of Urban’s performance is it’s not Sylvester Stallone’s awful portrayal of Dredd.  All kidding aside, Urban plays the character perfectly, grimly speaking his lines in the low growl that fits a no-nonsense butt-kicker like the Judge.  Another good thing is he never removes his helmet to mug for the camera.  More evidence that Urban at least took the character a lot more seriously than his predecessor. 

 

Sacha Baron Cohen (Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen)/The Dictator- Pure comedic roles are rarely recognized by the Academy, particularly, completely raunchy ones.  Genius, madman (very likely both), Cohen is bad taste personified.  And you know what else he is?  Extremely funny!

 

Denzel Washington (“Whip” Whitaker)/Flight- Washington’s rendition of an airline pilot struggling with alcoholism is gut-wrenching and hard to watch  because his character can never quite get his act together.  There aren’t many actors that could have brought home a performance that elicits an equal amount of sympathy and disgust.  Washington pulls it off.

 

Seth MacFarlane (Ted)/Ted- OK, I admit this is way outside the box, especially since we are only talking about MacFarlane’s voice.  However, the rude, crude, lewd teddy bear come to life is arguably the best creation of 2012.  And MacFarlane’s irreverent humor proves he still knows how to be funny even if he doesn’t do it with Family Guy consistently any longer.