Best picture
And the winner: Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s caliche-hard tale about a satchel of cash, a relentless killer and America’s moral frontier has its detractors (I’ve got the e-mails to prove it). But the Coens have made a film of disquieting splendor that moves with stealth and rings with Sheriff Bell’s pained wisdom.
Spoiler alert: If academy voters want to combat the notion they are prone to the unremitting dark, they may choose to honor “Michael Clayton” for best pic and give the Coens the director statuette.
Best actor
And the winner: Oh to live in the era of the savant Daniel Day-Lewis. His oilman Daniel Plain view is an impossible character to warm to. The best you can do is observe him like a therapist amazed at the gnarled psyche that Day-Lewis makes so manifest. His act of contrition — or just plain act — in Eli Sunday’s Church of the Third Revelation is a revelation of the first order.
Spoiler alert: There isn’t one. Day-Lewis is far too gracious to do any podium grandstanding. But were he to pull a James Cameron, he might bellow, “To my fellow nominees, I drink your milkshake.”
Best actress
And the winner: It’s unbelievable that Cate Blanchett is here for the “Elizabeth” sequel. Oh, if only voters had done the right thing when she ruled in the original. But enough with the battle-ax grinding. Julie Christie’s turn as a woman afflicted with Alzheimer’s in “Away From Her” is a work of lovely calibration. Her character may succumb, but she doesn’t surrender.
Spoiler alert: It’s just as easy to see Christie as the spoiler to “La Vie en Rose” star Marion Cotillard as the other way around. While the film about “the Little Sparrow” Edith Piaf flew below the radar, Cotillard’s praises have been sung from the start.
Best supporting actor
And the winner: Javier Bardem’s march toward the Kodak Theatre podium has been as unrelenting as Anton Chigurh’s through Texas. When the Spanish actor finally ends his trek, he can take pleasure in knowing he got there wearing a frigid grin and a Prince Valiant ‘do.
Spoiler alert: After best picture, this is the Oscar’s richest slate. And, honestly, Bardem’s chilling performance is the least surprising of those nominated. From the moment Tom Wilkinson’s insistent, mad monologue began “Michael Clayton,” the actor felt like a lock. He wasn’t, and now the upset could come in a wave of sentiment for Hal Holbrook’s role in “Into the Wild.”
Best supporting actress
And the winner: Ruby Dee’s turn as drug dealer Frank Lucas’ not- so-naive mama in “American Gangster” won the SAG award. That may give Oscar voters permission to go with Dee, and pass on Cate Blanchett, whose drag-king turn as Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There” long ago was the performance to beat.
Spoiler alert: Forget Blanchett. When Warner Bros. rereleased “Michael Clayton” into theaters a few weeks ago, that breathed life into Tilda Swinton’s chances. Her Lady Macbeth-as-corporate- counsel was perfectly Shake- spearean.
Original screenplay
And the winner: Attending the Boulder International Film Festival last weekend, director Jon Poll mentioned he’d read Diablo Cody’s “Juno” script before it was attached to Jason Reitman. So how good was it? Precisely as good as we now know it to be, he said. “What’s the prognosis, Fertile Myrtle?” Indeed.
Spoiler alert: Word for biting word, there’s much to celebrate in Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton.” But over the past few years, this is the category that the little indies that could win, do win.
Lisa Kennedy
