Best Supporting Actor 1999: Results

5. Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules- Caine with a strange accent gives a dull sometimes almost lifeless performance that never seems to bring the genuine emotions one would for a part that seems like it is only ever trying to be emotional.

4. Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile-Duncan achieves this well with his performance by finding just the right sort of characterization for Coffey all the way through the film.

3. Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley-  Law gives an performance effective because he never only seizes one note with his performance and realistically portrays both Dickie's cruel and charming side equally well.

2. Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense- It would have been very easy to lose the human element to the horror that comes into the film, but Osment always is able to keep the humanity in his character alive throughout the film in his performance.

1. Tom Cruise in Magnolia- Cruise might not be my favorite actor, but he is absolutely brilliant here absolutely succeeding with a character that could have gone wrong in a great number of ways but never does. He turns his bizarre guru in a memorable and very intriguing character.

Deserving Performances:
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Magnolia
Alan Rickman in Galaxy Quest

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Best Supporting Actor 1999: Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Jude Law received his first Oscar nomination for portraying Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The Talented Mr. Ripley details Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) a strange young man who sent to Europe return a rich man's son, but does far differently than what was planned.

Jude Law portray Dickie Greenleaf the rich man's son who is a rather shallow character. The whole point of his character though is this fact as he is not a very depth filled man in the least. Dickie is far more of just a spoiled rich brat who wants to just sort of live his way no matter what the consequences may be to others, or how he treats some of the various people around him. Portraying a shallow character actually can be more difficult that it might seems because one must avoid only giving an entirely shallow performance as well. Law though avoids this portraying the rather shallow Dickie creating a realistic portrait of a shallow man.

In his early scenes when he first meets Ripley there the right sort of welcoming quality in Law's performance. I would not say a warmth but most certainly there is a great deal of charm Law has as Dickie. He effectively does make us like him even if he really is lacking in likable qualities simply because of this charm that is present in Law's performance as Dickie. He makes it entirely believable that everyone around him is basically swept up by him whether it be Tom, his girlfriend Marge (Gwyneth Paltrow), or his other friend Freddie (Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Dickie though is in a way just a charm though that can only last for so long as he still is a shallow man who most certainly uses whatever he wants out of other just like Tom Ripley. The difference though between he and Tom though is that Law shows Dickie manipulations of still a man rather than the calculated villain that is Ripley. What makes the the cold side so effective though is the way Law's completely authentic fashion in which he portrays this coldness. He shows it as just a part of the spoiled brat that is Dickie it is just something he does and barely even thinks about.

Law effectively portrays this cruelty he is just as believable in causing Ripley's alienation as he was in bringing him in with his charm. Law is effective because he never only seizes one note with his performance and realistically portrays Dickie many sides of his personality well. He can go from absolutely charming to absolutely cruel in just a few moments believably because of Law. Dickie is indeed a shallow individual, but Law never portrays him in shallow way. He realizes a fully fledged character in his own right that fulfills his role in the film.

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Best Supporting Actor 1999

And the Nominees Were:

Tom Cruise in Magnolia

Jude Law in The Talented Mr. Ripley

Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules

Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile

Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

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