The giant Mumakil in the room of the 2002 Oscars is Lord of the Rings. The conundrum is, for every devotee of Middle-earth who knows Aragorn's Black Gate speech by heart, there's a Randall from Clerks II who insists Peter Jackson's fantasy epic is a mind-numbing pedestrian exercise. With the Tolkien trilogy finally in our rearview mirror, it's time for a rational debate about the film's legacy, beginning with Gandalf, the Fellowship's wizened leader.
Best Supporting Actor
WINNER: Jim Broadbent, Iris (1st nomination)
Notable recent work: Gangs of New York, Around the World in 80 Days, Art School Confidential
What we said then: ''When Bayley calls Murdoch 'my cat,' you hear limitless tenderness, but Broadbent's at his best showing the husband groaning under his load.''
Ethan Hawke, Training Day (1st nomination)
Notable recent work: Before Sunset, Taking Lives, Assault on Precinct 13
What we said then: ''Those little-boy-lost eyes register — sometimes simultaneously — fear, resentment, and guilty, grudging admiration. And beneath his trademark hangdog vulnerability lurks a hunger for self-promotion that drives the action-hero heroics.''
Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast (3rd nomination)
Notable recent work: House of Sand and Fog, Oliver Twist, BloodRayne
What we said then: ''Simply to watch Kingsley as Logan is to feel violated by his rusty-scalpel gaze, his filthy, goatee-wreathed snarl of a mouth, his uninterrupted spew of carbolic invective.''
Ian McKellen, Lord of the Rings (2nd nomination)
Notable recent work: X-Men, Lord of the Rings, The DaVinci Code
What we said then: ''That McKellen can convey such shocked anxiety is all the more impressive, considering he had to emote from under facial prosthetics, a profuse beard, and an oily wig.''
Jon Voight, Ali (4th nomination)
Notable recent work: National Treasure, Holes, Pope John Paul II (TV)
What we said then: ''[He] nails Howard Cosell's insidious vacuum-salesman whine but also gives him a softer, more engaging private side.''
Upon Further Review: No disrespect to Oscar winner Broadbent, but he'd only get my vote today if we were deciding which actor had the best all-around year (He was also superb in Moulin Rouge! and Bridget Jones's Diary). The fashionable choice then and now was Kingsley, who played a pit bull of a gangster in Sexy Beast. His malevolence is only whispered about in the film's first act, and by the time he finally appears, you're expecting Lucifer himself. Instead, it's Gandhi with a goatee. Kingsley quickly dismantles that virtuous perception with one profane alpha-dog rant after another. It's a vitriolic performance that has many fans in EW's home office, but I feel oddly similar to Tom Hanks' character in Big when his rival pitches the stupid robot toy that turns into a building: ''I don't get it.'' Kingsley's one-note, blustery performance makes Robert Carlisle's equally ferocious turn in Trainspotting look textured, and is the total antithesis of McKellen's. As the Fellowship's warrior sage, McKellen serves not only as Frodo's guide to Mordor, but also as our guide into Tolkien's imagination. His gentle spirit and authoritative presence lend the film credibility, but he never condescends to the fantasy. The first Rings installment is really Gandalf's story, and McKellen's heroic performance set the tone for the two films that followed.
