Best Actor
 Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Liam Neeson, The Grey
Denzel Washington, Flight
The toughest and most crowded category by far – I could put five completely different people here and still be satisfied – I have ultimately chosen the five performances that simply hit me the hardest, each character defined by deep-seated damage that these incredible actors illustrated with grace and bravery. Logan Lerman’s work in Perks, for instance, absolutely devastated me from start to finish; I think we forget, in looking at so many big, ‘oscar-bait’ performances, that emulating real life, real emotions, and above all else, real pain is one of the toughest things an actor can do, and Lerman achieved all that and so much more in this breakout performance. Bradley Cooper also ‘broke out,’ in a different way, as Pat Solitano, a bipolar optimist trying to forge a better, brighter life path. His work is immediate and lived-in, authentic and engrossing in ways the actor has never achieved.
I also believe Denzel Washington delivered his best work to date in Flight, playing a self-destructive alcoholic who never seems capable of taking a firm step forward. It is truly special to see an actor of Washington’s caliber step so clearly out of his comfort zone, and his efforts more than paid off.
Daniel Day-Lewis’ Abraham Lincoln fits this same damaged mold, surprisingly enough, as he interprets America’s greatest president as a weary, worn-down man intent on making one final, moral stand. It is a terrific character creation, one of Day-Lewis’ typically immersive pieces of performance art, a riveting portrayal that commands the viewer’s absolute attention at every turn.
But the darkest character on this list is Ottway, a suicidal widower played by Liam Neeson in The Grey, and though the film has been criminally overlooked this awards season, there is no doubt in my mind that Neeson gave the year’s absolute best performance, male or female, lead or supporting. If you want a prime example of what it means to portray pain on film – deep, emotional, undying pain – look at what Neeson does here. As a man desperately searching for some semblance of meaning or logic to the harshness of life – and who ultimately discovers that the only answer may lie in fighting against the void, whatever the outcome – Neeson delivers a performance of brutal, unflinching honesty, one that struck a chord with me way back in January and refuses to dissipate.
Dream Winner: Liam Neeson, The Grey
Tough Omissions: Denis Lavant, Holy Motors; Jamie Foxx, Django Unchained; Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained; Joaquin Phoenix, The Master; Tom Hanks, Cloud Atlas; John Hawkes, The Sessions; John Magaro, Not Fade Away; Richard Gere, Arbitrage; Steve Carell, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World; Clint Eastwood, Trouble With The Curve; Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Looper; Tommy Lee Jones, Hope Springs
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