Film Feature: The Best Lead Performances of 2010

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The Best Lead Actress Performances of 2010

The diversity in the leading actress category for 2010 is a thing of a beauty. There are the icons, the ladies who we love nearly every time they head in front of a camera like Catherine Keener (“Please Give”), Diane Lane (“Secretariat”), Isabelle Huppert (“White Material”), Julianne Moore (“The Kids Are All Right”), Naomi Watts (“Fair Game” and “Mother and Child”), Patricia Clarkson (“Cairo Time”), and Tilda Swinton (“I Am Love”). There’s something heartwarming about seeing the actresses widely considered as among the best working continue to cement their reputations. During the truly dark days for good female roles in the ’90s and most of the ’00s, it would be easy to pick five of those performances as the best of the year but they’re all runner-ups for 2010.

Other runner-ups for 2010 include a few wonderful young British actresses in Sally Hawkins (“Made in Dagenham”), Carey Mulligan (“The Greatest” and “Never Let Me Go”), and the most natural newcomer of the year in Kate Jarvis (“Fish Tank”).

The final four “runner-ups” come from all corners of the world and a variety of age groups.

There’s something riveting about what Noomi Rapace brings to “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” despite the franchise as a whole being remarkably overrated and another memorable foreign performance came courtesy of the great Korean director Bong Joon-ho, who directed a living legend of his country, Kim Hye-ja to an award-winning turn as the title character in his “Mother.”

Finally, there were three young actresses, one well-known already and two who should have become household names in 2010 — Dakota Fanning continued to display the depth that will treat her well as she ages out of “kid roles” in “The Runaways” and the amazing Chloe Grace Moretz brought so much to her turn in “Let Me In” that she nearly made the top five this year and would have in many others. And then there’s Hailee Steinfeld, a young lady who went into “True Grit” and stole it from the more well-known stars like Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. She’ll be Oscar-nominated in Supporting Actress but considering the fact that she’s in nearly every scene and opens and closes the movie, she’s obviously a lead. And, like Chloe, nearly broke into a very crowded top five. (As for one more category controversy that you may be questioning as a snub…you’ll find Lesley Manville of “Another Year” in supporting actress where she belongs when that piece runs.)

Annette Bening as Nic in “The Kids Are All Right”

Annette Bening
Photo credit: Focus

There’s a scene in “The Kids Are All Right” that features a meal, a song, and a devastating revelation and this sequence could be used in acting classes — just watch Annette. Nic goes through roughly a dozen emotions as she swallows her pride and tries to keep her family happy and then is faced with the realization that it may be too late. But Bening internalizes it all. In that one stunning shot of her face as her perceptions of her relationship collapse, Bening delivers an amazing performance with no words. Of course, a lot of the impact of that moment is due to the build-up. Throughout “The Kids Are All Right,” Annette Bening delivers a perfectly fine tuned personification of a woman who loves her family but has arguably started to take them for granted. She’s spectacular and if it wasn’t for one young lady delivering a timeless performance, she would probably finally win that Oscar. She may still.

Nicole Kidman as Becca in “Rabbit Hole”

Jennifer Lawrence
Photo credit: Lionsgate

The loss of a child is not something that most of us can possibly comprehend. Consequently, bringing that unspeakable tragedy to life on film can often feel fake or melodramatic. Too many writers and actors think that the only weight to convey the weight of unimaginable pain is through histrionics. Director John Cameron Mitchell and Nicole Kidman go the other way with “Rabbit Hole,” mesmerizingly conveying a woman who disappears into herself after the death of her son. There’s no rulebook for this kind of thing. When do you give away the clothes? When do you renovate his room? And Kidman expertly captures something that’s usually missing from these melodramas — the confusion. How are you “supposed to act” when life has been turned upside down? It’s an amazing performance and one of the best of this Oscar-winner’s career.

Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly in “Winter’s Bone”

Jennifer Lawrence
Photo credit: Lionsgate

Debra Granik’s highly-acclaimed “Winter’s Bone” places an incredible amount of dramatic weight on the shoulders of its breakthrough star and Jennifer Lawrence carries it brilliantly. Think about how much of this story would fall apart if you didn’t find Lawrence genuine. With a false performance in its center, the whole movie would collapse. But Ree Dolly NEVER feels false. The key to Lawrence’s performance is in how she balances the strength of a woman who has basically raised her siblings with no help from her parents combined with the fact that she’s still a young girl. It’s the blend of vulnerability with her drive to save her family that make Ree so memorable. And it’s a much more multi-faceted and difficult balancing act to pull off then it might first appear to be. But, weeks later, when you can’t shake the memory of the saga of Ree Dolly, you’ll realize just how good Lawrence is in “Winter’s Bone.”

Michelle Williams as Cindy in “Blue Valentine”

Michelle Williams
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

If Gosling is the best actor of his generation, he may be matched in the actress department by the amazing Michelle Williams. Like several of the stars on this list, Williams finds ways to make her characters unique while also never losing their realism. There’s a deep sadness in her portrayal of Cindy, a woman stuck in a marriage she clearly hates and that she ended up in more through circumstance than romance. Even as the relationship of Cindy and Dean begins, Williams finds shades of darkness in this character that hint that things won’t end well (perhaps due to the awful home life hinted at with her father). Williams takes roles and gives so much more than what’s on the page. She goes deep enough that you almost always believe her characters existed before the credits and go on after the movie ends. And she’s only getting better.

The Best Actress of 2010: Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers in “Black Swan”

Natalie Portman
Photo credit: Fox Searchlight

Let the hyperbole flow. There’s nothing about Portman’s amazing performance in “Black Swan” that can be overstated. It’s the best performance of the year — male or female, lead or supporting — and will be studied for years. It’s one of those rare turns that is both stunning in its physical demands but also as emotionally complex as they come. And while Aronofsky deserves a lot of credit for the vision of “Black Swan,” Portman is the one on-screen putting herself on the line. It is raw, emotional, devastating, genuine, and surreal all at the same time. She finds the way to balance the dream-like symbolism of a character who may be losing her mind with the believability of a young lady giving everything, including her body and even her identity, to her craft.

Stay tuned to HollywoodChicago.com for the best supporting performances of 2010 later this week along with our choices for the best films on Monday, December 20th, 2010.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com