2. Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Playing the stricter, more responsible half of a lesbian couple, Annette Bening's role is one of the keys to the success of The Kids Are All Right. Bening basically plays the consistently underrated role of the "straight man" (I promise you no pun is intended), while all the more care-free characters, such as the two children, Julianne Moore, and Mark Ruffalo, are wrecking her most carefully laid out plans. In any comedy, this is a tougher role to play than people tend to think, because while you must appear exacerbated by all the mishaps caused by the people around you, if you come across as too much of a downer, it becomes impossible for the audience to sympathize with you. The role is made all the more complicated by the fact that The Kids Are All Right is not a straight up comedy, but a dramedy, which means Bening also had the responsibility of bringing at least partial realism to the character, and this is where her performance shines the most. I imagine it was very tempting to portray her character as a holier-than-thou individual who is nothing but a complete victim in the narrative's tale of infidelity and betrayal, but Bening smartly resists these urges and instead opted to create a fully functioning human being, flaws and all. Bening's character is quite annoying at times. She nags at everyone in the household and meets the textbook definition of a control freak, but it is actually these flaws that allow the audience to relate with her character (even if they don't particularly like her) and then sympathize with her later on. When she discovers her partner's unfaithfulness, instead of righteous indignation (an all too common choice for film and television shows dealing with infidelity), Bening's character is genuinely hurt and lost for answers. The reaction yet again humanizes her character, showing a vulnerability and weakness we did not see before. Smart decisions and believable execution such as these examples illustrate fine craftsmanship on Bening's part. She did not quite make it to the top of my list, but had she won, it is a turn that would have been worthy of the saying "Academy Award winning performance".