| The year's 10 most notable
performances (The London Free Press)
Scenes of brilliance (The
Californian)
Brightest characters of 2005 (The
Olympian)
Top 10 overlooked performances of 2005 (The Montgomery Advertiser)
By JAKE COYLE
The Associated Press
Forget Oscar, these were the year’s most fun and
lively performances — the ones we actually can’t wait to watch again.
• Pierce Brosnan, “The Matador.” As hit man Julian
Noble, Brosnan sheds the 007 tux for some stubble and a Speedo as the most hysterically
unlikeable character of the year. Brosnan clearly is having fun as he masterfully explains
is “gotta pee” theory of assassination: Nab ’em at the little boys’
room.
• Oliver Platt, “The Ice Harvest.” Platt is a pure injection of life
into this dark John Cusack comedy. Impressively, he is falling-down drunk the entire
movie.
• The Penguins, “Madagascar.” A team of four waddling, conspiring
penguins plot their zoo escape and take over an ocean liner with relative ease. Led by
“Skippa,” the well-coordinated gangster-birds hide their true nature:
“Remember, cute and cuddly, boys.” Honorable mention to the bunnies in
“Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.”
• Val Kilmer, “Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.” In a film that upended most
film noir conventions, Kilmer’s gay private eye (actually named Gay Perry) stood out.
The key, though, is that Kilmer doesn’t alter his terse, masculine style —
making the jokes all the better. Alongside Robert Downey Jr. he announces a new shakedown
routine: “This isn’t good cop, bad cop. This is fag and New Yorker.”
• Vince Vaughn, “Wedding Crashers.” 2005 was Vince Vaughn’s
year. Not only did he steal “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” from Brad Pitt and Angelina
Jolie (a pair that is somewhat watchable), but he ruled the year’s hit comedy. Vaughn
has perfected a character who is lurid-but-moral (“Grab that net and catch that
beautiful butterfly”) and supportive-but-honest (“Please don’t take a turn
for negative town”). This year, Vaughn lived by Rule No. 76 of wedding crashing:
“No excuses. Play like a champion.”
• Gilbert Gottfried, “The Aristocrats.” Who knew the high-pitched,
squints-so-much-you-wonder-how-he-can-see Gottfried might be the funniest man on the
planet? Comedians view his telling of the Aristocrats joke just weeks after 9/11 as a
watershed moment in comedy. As always, it’s all in the timing.
• Larenz Tate, “Crash.” Paul Haggis’ ensemble cast drew rave
reviews — especially for Matt Dillon and Terrence Howard. But Tate, who plays Don
Cheadle’s wayward brother, had some of the film’s best moments. In the otherwise
somber rumination on racism, Tate played off racial stereotypes for comedy. He
incredulously deadpans: “I love hockey.”
• Joan Allen, “The Upside of Anger.” There’s no reason Allen
shouldn’t be nominated for an Oscar (she has been three times before) except that
“Upside of Anger” came out in the spring — not December. In one of the
year’s most underrated movies, Allen, whose husband has disappeared, oozes resentment
for anyone she comes across: her daughters, the courting ex-ballplayer (Kevin Costner) and
especially the cradle-robbing radio producer (Mike Binder).
• Nathan Fillion, “Serenity.” Like Harrison Ford did three decades
ago, Fillion plays a bemused, roll-with-the-punches spaceship captain. There aren’t
awards for such performances, but they help remind us that sci-fi and action movies can
actually be good.
• Gerry Bednob & Shelley
Malil, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.” The ratio of belly laughs to lines
of dialogue for this pair, playing Steve Carell’s Pakistani co-workers, may have set
a record. Most notable might be Bednob’s disgusting laundry list of what love is NOT.
But, ultimately, you love them for their frequent suggestions to, well, enjoy the company
of a goat.
|