2006 Goaties: Best Actor

Instead of following my old format, which consisted of a simple list of categories, winners, and runners-up, I'm going to discuss each winner individually, in hopes of explaining why I chose him or her. I'll post a compilation on my review site when I'm done. Who knows how long this will take.

Most awards shows devalue comedy. Heck, I tend to devalue comedy: in the six years I've been doing this internet criticism thing, I've granted my prestigious first- or second-place awards to only nine comedic performances. I think I'm still doing better than Oscar, but it's a pretty sorry total. Perhaps to make up for it this year, or perhaps because I really think he delivered the best performance by a leading actor (I hope it's more the latter), I'm giving Sacha Baron Cohen my Best Actor goatie for his work in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

If anything, Cohen had to work harder than most dramatic actors. He had to create a complete character from scratch. He had to know exactly what that character would do in any given situation. This wasn't just Method character development, but necessary for the film to even exist. No matter what happened, he had to stay in character, reacting to unpredictable situations and people. The entire success of the film depended on it, even more than many films depend on their dramatic performances. There are usually other levels of support, from supporting players to the musical score to the cinematography. In Borat, Cohen stood alone, naked (often literally). He was side-splittingly hilarious throughout, which, contrary to popular belief, takes incredible skill as an actor.

Runner-up: This is hard. The Last King of Scotland provided two towering performances, one from Forest Whitaker and the other an even more magnetic and accomplished James McAvoy, but I'll have to go with Ryan Gosling, who was phenomenal as a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson.

Posted by mike, January 28, 2007 12:48 AM