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BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
This year, the question ''Who will get a Best Supporting Actor nomination?'' ought to be replaced by ''Who are the four poor shlubs who'll have to compete against JAVIER BARDEM?'' Having racked up 18 critics' prizes to date, the No Country for Old Men villain is without a doubt the cattle-killer-thingy-wielding guy to beat.
Not that there aren't other worthy scene-stealers to fill the rest of the slate. Two years after taking home the Best Actor prize for Capote, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN was a walking firecracker as a short-fused CIA agent in Charlie Wilson's War. TOM WILKINSON, a past lead-actor nominee for In the Bedroom, was equally memorable as Michael Clayton's brilliant, disturbed corporate attorney. And although he doesn't even show up until almost the two-hour mark of Into the Wild, 82-year-old veteran HAL HOLBROOK should finally earn his first Oscar nomination for his heartrending turn as a retiree who befriends a doomed young traveler.
But what about that last slot? John Travolta picked up a Globe nomination for his gender-bending work as Hairspray matriarch Edna Turnblad, but the performance may be too divisive to make the top five. A year after playing Little Miss Sunshine's mute big brother, Paul Dano ranted and raved impressively as There Will Be Blood's hellfire preacher, but his costar, Daniel Day-Lewis, seems to be the focal point for that film's buzz in the acting categories. Max von Sydow made the most of his limited screen time as the estranged father in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, but an extra scene or two would have helped. Ben Foster's vividly freaky turn as Russell Crowe's loyal henchman in 3:10 to Yuma has been overlooked by all the major pre-Oscar groups. Jason Bateman's turn as Juno's conflicted husband is perhaps too understated for the Academy. Rescue Dawn's POW Steve Zahn would have been a stronger contender if there had been any campaign at all for the film. Perhaps the last slot goes to Bardem's No Country opponent, the perfectly droll Tommy Lee Jones, who's had a stellar year. But CASEY AFFLECK, who's picked up SAG and Globe nods for his shifty killer in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, should score what's so far eluded his big brother, Ben: an Oscar nomination for acting.
DAVE KARGER'S PICKS FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James...
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
NEXT PAGE: Best Supporting Actress
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