BEST ACTRESS
The recent rush of critics' prizes has catapulted three women to the front of the Best Actress race. JULIE CHRISTIE, who won this competition 42 years ago for Darling, has racked up 13 awards so far for her sensitive portrayal of an Alzheimer's patient in Away From Her. Close behind is Juno's precocious ELLEN PAGE, who has nabbed nine early awards and will surely become one of the youngest nominees ever in this category. And MARION COTILLARD's remarkable transformation into singer Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose has earned her the four critics' prizes Christie and Page haven't hogged.
That leaves six worthy actresses, all of whom have won or been nominated before, battling for two spots on the ballot. Keira Knightley exhibited new nuance as a 1930s ice queen in Atonement but lacks the screen time necessary to make a sufficient impression on voters. Likewise, Sweeney Todd's Helena Bonham Carter made for a wonderfully whimsical singing meat-pie maker, but her part was significantly cut down from Stephen Sondheim's musical in favor of Johnny Depp's title character. Cate Blanchett landed on the short lists of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the SAG Awards, and the Golden Globes for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, but the film's poor critical and commercial reception — not to mention her sure-thing Supporting Actress nomination for I'm Not There this year — means her feisty queen may not be re-crowned by the Academy. The biggest hit in the race is Enchanted, featuring the adorable Amy Adams in her first lead role, but voters may find the whole animated-princess thing too lightweight. In that case, two Academy favorites from smaller films may fill out the category: Eight years after winning Best Supporting Actress for Girl, Interrupted, ANGELINA JOLIE anchored A Mighty Heart with a performance so strong that it's likely to counteract the film's weak box office showing. And then there's LAURA LINNEY. She's been shut out of the pre-Oscar awards circle so far, but we're betting (and, okay, hoping) that once voters pop The Savages into their DVD players, they'll realize that although the twice-nominated actress has gone the brother-sister route before (in You Can Count on Me), she's never pulled off such an exquisite balance of acerbic wit and heartbreaking vulnerability.
DAVE KARGER'S PICKS FOR BEST ACTRESS:
Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno
NEXT PAGE: Best Supporting Actor
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