2007 Performances I Love

by Brian Zitzelman

2007 was full of powerful, moving and impressive acting. The following are not the best or most challenging performances of the year, just ones that for whatever reason, stuck with me, despite little to no chance of award's being presented to those mentioned..

Emily Mortimer - Lars and the Real Girl: Emily Mortimer has been stringing along a series of excellent roles in recent years and with Lars and the Real Girl, she reveals a soft, joyous side which is accompanied by a massive heart. Mortimer could have easily played her part as overly sensitive but forges a strong, if mousey, woman whose affections are impossible to ignore.

Liev Schreiber - The Ten: A man known for his heavyweight performances delivers one of the silliest of 2007 in The Ten. Schreiber is Ray Johnson, a suburban dad who envies and feuds with his neighbor in an endless escalation of materialism, building to a fight over who can have the most Cat Scan machines. Schreiber let's his tension boil over, seething and boasting his growing collection in each frame with comic precision. Add a silly mustache and you have comic gold.

Imelda Staunton - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Fans of the Potter franchise giddily awaited a nasty piece of work for the fifth film's villainess Dolores Umbridge. Uptight, tidy and with a prickly laugh, Staunton answered those dreams fervently, imbuing in Professor Umbridge a devilish smile that only seemed genuine when admiring her favorite pieces of cat memorabilia. A stuffy performance in all of the right ways.

Owen Wilson - The Darjeeling Limited:

Wilson has starred in nearly all of Wes Anderson's pictures, yet, the actor has never felt as genuine and moving as he did in The Darjeeling Limted. As Francis, the oldest of the Whitman brothers, Wilson gives possibly the most nuanced work of his career. Francis is an optimistic man, longing to reconnect his family, even if his faith in others remains lackluster. Wilson's comedic energy is in full swing but melds with a brew of desperation and hope, that could have easily slipped into cloying melodrama. Instead, he allows Francis to have a go with the flow vibe which lingers far after the film ends.

Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in Knocked Up: Judd Apatow gets a lot of credit for his comedy gems of late but one should not forget how mighty his acting troupe can be. Rudd and Mann's married couple in Knocked Up is brittle, pissed and hilarious, as thorny as they come without being cruel. The duo release one-liners that land dead on each time, whether it's Mann's rant about "skanky little bitches" at the club or Rudd's musings on the secret life of chairs, the hardest laughs are bound to happen when they are on screen.

Gerard Butler - 300 There are quite a few things which did not sit well with me about 300, the breakout smash hit from the spring. Gerard Butler is most definitely not one of those things. Where writing and directing may have faltered a tad too many times in creating the film's aura, Butler never did. His King Leonidas was an impassioned, juggernaut of a man, one whose most dangerous of orders would appear achievable if stated so by Butler. Shouts and bolstering ought to grow old quickly, yet, Butler's voice was unceasingly invigorating. A star making performance that unquestionably deserved to be one.