2. Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Prior to picking up the lead role in the Coens' excellent portrait of a failing 1960s folk singer, Isaac hadn't seen many leading role opportunities come his way, building a reputation in supporting roles and turning heads along the way (such as his performance as Standard in 2011's Drive.) But given the opportunity to shine, Isaac found his star power to play the titular "hero" for the Coens, balancing Llewyn's vulnerable side with his creative persona and his many, very obvious wounds. He could have become a stereotype of the couch-surfing musician, ungrateful and unsuited to integration into society, but instead Isaac offered a nuanced, emotionally engaging performance, which is helped entirely by some excellent musical performances, and the film rides high on the back of his performance. Others come and go in the film to try and steal his thunder - including eye-catching turns by Coens favourite John Goodman, and Garrett Hedlund, who play almost mystical wandering minstrel types he meets on the road, but ultimately Isaac keeps Llewyn front and central, generously allowing those characters to flourish, but never to steal his thunder. It's a star-making performance from the actor, and hopefully he can now make the step up on the back of the film's inevitable success.
Read the full Inside Llewyn Davis review here.
1. Michael Douglas - Behind The Candelabra
In some ways, it is a major shame that Steven Soderbergh had to take his Liberace biopic to HBO, since neither the director nor the stars will be able to enjoy the Academy Awards attention that could well have come off the back of it. But HBO offered greater creative freedom, and who is to say that the film would have turned out so well, if it had gone through a studio as initially planned. There is no doubt Douglas' performance as the flamboyant musical icon deserves that kind of lauded praise - while there was no doubt some temptation to play the pianist as a pantomime caricature, Douglas instead, thankfully, chose to offer a note perfect celebration of the man. As a result, Douglas' Liberace is a wonderful contradiction - a man bound by conflicting desires to be both father and lover to Scott Thorson, to have intimate friends, and still enjoy the isolating limelight, and to be committed but also sexually promiscuous. He is a broken soul in many ways, and Douglas allows us to see the human behind the candelabra and the ostentatious costumes, while never dropping the grotesque mask that confirms who removed from "normalcy" Liberace and his younger lover were. Hopefully, Douglas will be rewarded for his performance here at Cannes, and if not, it's likely the TV Awards bodies will, because the performance is a powerhouse one that is both entirely enthralling and oddly sympathetic.
Read the full Behind The Candelabra review here. Which performances from Cannes are you most looking forward to seeing? Share your own picks below in the comments.