2006 Diva Cup Awards: Best Actor

And the nominees are...

Matt Damon, The Departed

A brilliant performance that, for some reason or another, was never given any respect. Damon is transfixing as this dirty cop posing as a good cop and finally proved to me that he is a fantastic actor.

Key Scene: Raiding Costello

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed

With The Aviator, DiCaprio proved (to me anyways) that he could act. With The Departed, DiCaprio proves why he is one of the most respected actors in his age group. This is one hell of a knockout performance.

Key Scene: The final showdown on the roof

Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking

Being the lead of an impressive cast is never easy, but Eckhart does it flawlessly and easily shows us why everyone falls for this tobacco lobbyist's line.

Key Scene: Speaking at his son's career day

Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson

I wrote about this performance before, but let me just remind you how awed I was by this stunning, haunting and altogether brilliant performance...from the star of The Notebook no less.

Key Scene: Being found in the bathroom by Dre

Edward Norton, The Painted Veil

Norton keeps on surprising us with unusual projects and interesting characters. His performance here as the quiet and shy doctor who turns cold and bitter once he finds out about his wife's affair is startling and another brilliant performance for him.

Key Scene: Telling his wife he knows about her affair

If Only There Were Six: Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat: hilarious, but also insightful- a rarity nowadays

Rest of the Top 10: Gael Garcia Bernal, The Science of Sleep: effectively keeps the surrealism grounded in reality...Patrick Wilson, Little Children: another fine performance ignored by critics- when will they learn...James McAvoy, The Last King of Scotland: there really is no way he should have been campaigning for supporting because he is the whole show...Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland: an effective scene stealer and scarily mad

BRONZE
Aaron Eckhart, Thank You For Smoking
SILVER
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
GOLD
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed

An Open Apology to Ryan Gosling

Dear Ryan,

I am deeply sorry for not believing that you would get an Oscar nomination for your accomplished performance in Half Nelson.

But, you see, I had my reasons. I first heard about Half Nelson in a little blurb on Moviefone while looking up times for Talladega Nights (don’t judge). It talked about Ryan Gosling in some small indie film in which he plays a drug addicted teacher- and, here’s what really got me, how he could win an Oscar for it. Yeah right. Like that douche from The Notebook has the talent to even be considered for an Oscar. And since when is Moviefone predicting the Oscar. I thought their job was to give movie listings, not act like Roger Ebert.

So basically I dismissed you and didn’t think much of it until I got the chance to see Half Nelson back in November. And let me tell you Mr. Gosling…I was impressed.

In what I thought would be a totally clichéd-ridden performance, you rose above the script (which wasn’t too shabby to begin with) and gave a scarily human performance. You weren’t a saint and didn’t try to pass it off as if you were one. You had real flaws and were even funny (One of my favorite scenes is when you keep catching one of your students cheating on a test). Plus, Half Nelson has the distinction of being the anti-Music of the Heart. Sure you’re a white guy teaching in a poor black neighborhood, but that’s where all comparisons end. You don’t change your student’s lives for the better- you were merely a good teacher who taught them what they needed to know and moved on (all while on coke, bravo). Even the one student who you may have reached, Shareeka Epps’ Drey, was portrayed realistically without schmaltz.

So, in short, congratulations on your well deserved Oscar nomination, and although the chances are slim that you’ll beat both Forest Whitaker and Peter O’Toole, I would be totally happy if you won the Oscar. Continued luck with your future projects (including an upcoming film with Sir Anthony Hopkins and David Strathairn)!

Sincerely,
James Henry