Bale, Leo have a fighting chance at Oscars
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Where's Justin Timberlake?
In "The Social Network," he had the small but crucial role of a slick-talking dot-commer who walked away with a slice of the Facebook pie. Critics were impressed, but when Oscar nods were announced, Timberlake's name was not called. In the meantime, Timberlake will surely be graciously cheering for his colleagues in this year's best supporting actor category. Here are the contenders:
THE ACTOR Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
THE DEAL And in this corner, it's not the movie's star, Mark Wahlberg, but Bale who seems destined for an Oscar knockout. Bale dropped 30 pounds to play a crack-addicted former boxer, and his performance has made him the heavyweight in this fight.
THE ACTOR John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
THE DEAL John who? Think of him as a male Melissa Leo. After years of hard work in the bit-part trenches, he lands a major role in this gritty indie drama and now, at 51, finds himself in need of an Oscar-night tuxedo. He won't win, but he's worth rooting for.
THE ACTOR Jeremy Renner, "The Town"
THE DEAL Renner followed up his reckless Army bomb defuser in 2009's "The Hurt Locker" with a trigger-happy bank robber in this crime drama from Ben Affleck. Renner again drew fine notices, but his rising star hasn't yet hit the firmament.
THE ACTOR Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"
THE DEAL Call him the straight man in this comedy-drama about a lesbian couple. Though widely considered a top-notch actor, Ruffalo has a natural, deceptively easy style, which may explain why he had never previously gotten an Oscar nomination.
THE ACTOR Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech"
THE DEAL In any other year, Rush would win for his terrific portrayal of real-life eccentric vocal coach Lionel Logue. The movie will likely win many awards, just not this one.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The winner seems already decided, but this year's list of supporting actress Oscar nominees is still full of surprises.
One is Jacki Weaver, an Australian few Americans had heard of until she earned a nod for playing a crime-family matriarch in the thriller "Animal Kingdom." Another is young Hailee Steinfeld, who plays a little girl gunning for rough justice in "True Grit," the Coen brothers Western that has done unexpectedly well at the Oscars with 10 nominations, second only to "The King's Speech" with 12.
There's also the Melissa Leo question. The front-runner's unorthodox Oscar campaign, in which she took out her own ads in trade publications, has raised enough eyebrows that a last-minute win for Helena Bonham Carter ("The King's Speech") almost seems possible.
Leo remains the front-runner, but the mini-scandal has at least helped spice up this particular race. Here are the ladies in waiting:
THE ACTRESS Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
THE DEAL As the chain-smoking mother of a crack addict, Leo delivered such a spot-on performance that this race seems hers to lose. And could she, given her rogue Oscar campaign? Either way, let's hope for a close-up when the winner is announced.
THE ACTRESS Amy Adams, "The Fighter"
THE DEAL As a no-nonsense bartender, Adams delivered one of this film's best performances. But just as Mark Wahlberg paled next to Christian Bale, Adams has been outshone by Leo.
THE ACTRESS Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"
THE DEAL After a long stretch of cartoony roles in the "Harry Potter" films and partner Tim Burton's 2010 version of "Alice in Wonderland," Bonham returned to classical form as the young Queen Mother. The contrarian view says that this could be her year.
THE ACTRESS Hailee Steinfeld, "True Grit"
THE DEAL The bad news: She won't win. The good news: She's now an Oscar-nominated 14-year-old whose first major role came in a Coen brothers film alongside Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin.
THE ACTRESS Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom"
THE DEAL This film has earned just over $1 million in ticket sales, according to BoxOfficeMojo, which means few people have even seen it. Luckily for Weaver, academy voters were among them.
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