One of the wearying things about the sheer multitude of critics’ awards (next up: the Northwestern Topeka Women Film Critics Society awards) is that there is dispiritingly little variety in their picks. I love “Man on Wire” too, but it’s hardly the only award-worthy documentary out there. Ditto “Let the Right One In” in the foreign-language field, or various other names we’ve been hearing an awful lot of this past fortnight.
So it’s worth noting when one organisation throws up a different name to stem the unanimous tide in a certain category, and even more so when others latch onto it, forming something of a counter-wave.
Such is the case with Marisa Tomei, whose wonderful performance in “The Wrestler” has garnered no fewer than three critics’ prizes (San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix) in the past 24 hours — an intriguing new mini-trend in a category that has hitherto been pretty much one-way traffic for Penelope Cruz. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that makes Tomei and Cruz the two most lauded Supporting Actress contenders, surging ahead of Viola Davis.
Granted, they’re not the most high-profile awards, but I’m still pleased by this turn of events — and not just because it shakes things up a little. Tomei’s performance in “The Wrestler” is a beautifully judged, lived-in portrayal, an exemplary supporting performance in that she reflects and responds to Mickey Rourke’s powerhouse lead turn without ever feeling the need to show off against him.
Flashy scene-stealing performances, like Cruz’s admittedly dazzling turn in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” tend to hog the attention in the supporting races, so I’m glad to see some factions acknowledging Tomei’s humbler, more delicate work. She would get my vote.