6. Robert Duvall - The Great Santini
Most films that receive Oscars are made to be "Oscar-bait." Such films are released during the late winter & early spring (so that they'll be fresh in Academy members' minds), are filled with A-list actors, are written by respected screenwriters, and are directed by top-shelf directors. However, occasionally, a film will come along that was made on a shoestring budget, was written and directed by unknowns, and is peopled with actors who aren't "superstars" but lesser-known character actors. Rocky is probably the most famous of such films, but another good example is The Great Santini, the 1979 film adaptation of Pat Conroy's novel. Santini was made with the intention of being solely for pay-TV channels like HBO and as an in-flight movie. After an ecstatic review from the New York Times, however, Orion Pictures slapped together an ad campaign and gave the film a theatrical release. The film continued to get wonderful reviews. It received two Oscar nominations: one in the Best Supporting Actor category for Michael O'Keefe and a Best Actor nomination for Robert Duvall as Lt. Col. "Bull" Meechum, the best fighter pilot in his Marine Corps squadron and the "Great Santini" of the title. The description on the back of my paperback copy of the novel says, "Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meechum.. .a man you should hate, but a man you will love." Duvall pulls off both sides of this complex character perfectly. Meechum sees himself as a great warrior. However, it's 1962, and there are no wars for this warrior. Meechum is lost in a peacetime world. He presides over his family in the same way he directs his squadron, but it results in him becoming an abusive father. The film particularly focuses on Bull and his son, Ben (O'Keefe), as they struggle to understand and respect each other. Duvall portrays both the abusive and heroic sides of Meechum's character with equal depth. It's easy t0 sense the frustration Meechum feels as he struggles to lead his family. We can also relate with Meechum in the end, when he makes the ultimate sacrifice in order to save lives. Like Jeff Bridges' performance in True Grit, it's easy to forget that we're watching an actor as we watch Duvall. While Robert De Niro's portrayal of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (the part that did win the Best Actor award) is wonderful, it doesn't touch the soul as strongly as Duvall's performance, and that automatically makes De Niro's work lesser than Duvall's. After all, one of the purposes of acting is to touch an audience, and Duvall achieves that goal magnificently.