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Top Five Male Performances of 2019

The actors had a strong year in 2019, but I myself diverged from the awards quite a bit as I found some lesser mentioned actors more deserving of the top five slots. In particular, this was a strong year for international actors, and leading actors as the supporting roles were immensely weaker in comparison.

5. Bartosz Bielenia – Corpus Christi

One of the most underappreciated, lesser mentioned performances of 2019 belongs to this central performance from Corpus Christi, a very strong Polish Oscar nominee. The film is an interesting, thought-provoking drama that benefits from a truly outstanding, revelatory work from Bartosz Bielenia who is a highly promising young talent. His work here is believable, moving and subdued.

4. Brad Pitt – Ad Astra

For the life of me, I cannot understand the love Pitt got for ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ when in reality his work in Ad Astra is infinitely better. This is a serious film with a very well developed central figure who was brought to life stupendously by Brad Pitt in what is his most nuanced, most realistic and ultimately the best performance of his entire career.

3. Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory

This one grew on over time. At first, I did not appreciate Banderas’ performance as much, but later I came to the conclusion that this was his greatest role and performance so far in his career. Pain and Glory is a very sweet, moving film, and Antonio Banderas is so great because he is immensely believable in such a vastly different turn from his usual roles.

2. Adam Driver – Marriage Story

Adam Driver unfortunately ended up losing the Oscar to Joaquin Phoenix, but it was to be expected, and he is still young, and I have hopes that he will get it one day as he wholeheartedly deserves it. This is one consistently terrific actor with great roles almost every year, and here he was phenomenal and so real as very relatable, well developed Charlie.

1. Willem Dafoe – The Lighthouse

The best actor of last year was Willem Dafoe as he killed it in ‘At Eternity’s Gate’, and once again he is the scene-stealer. He was shamelessly snubbed at all of the major awards, but what he did here is truly remarkable. The Lighthouse is an artistic masterpiece of a film that is not only visually arresting, but populated by two unforgettable characters. Thomas Wake curses a lot, he farts, he is stinky and messy, and thus one instantly memorable, archetypal sailor. The fact that Willem Dafoe literally became this character and was extremely believable in every single moment, especially at portraying madness, needs to be respected more. He’s had two amazing years, and for this one, he gets the second consecutive first spot.

Honorable Mentions:

Joaquin Phoenix – Joker – Yes, I do find Phoenix’s work in Joker excellent. He is memorable and quite powerful, but he is also overly calculated and over-the-top, and to me quite overrated.

Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems – Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems is so good that it’s a shame he was snubbed by the Academy. This was the only truly great thing in that messy flick.

Robert Pattinson – The Lighthouse – Not quite as great as Willem Dafoe, but still delivering his best work so far, Robert Pattinson killed it in The Lighthouse, especially with his striking, crazy eyes.