20 Best Movie Performances Of 2020
3. Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Chadwick Boseman's final performance is without question one of his very best, playing doggedly ambitious trumpeter Levee in this spirited adaptation of August Wilson's play.
If the film's title might suggest that the film belongs to Viola Davis' Ma Rainey, it's actually Boseman's to lose.
Making the most of his prominent screen time, Boseman is electrifying as a man happy to play the game in order to further his career - the game being both the music industry chess match and playing nice with white record industry honchos.
It is a performance undeniably layered with sadness given Boseman's shocking passing earlier this year, but also an exceptional demonstration of everything he was ever capable of.
When Boseman ends up with a posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination for his work, it won't be for purely sentimental reasons: it is a fantastic feat of acting on its own merits.