Oscars 2014: Predicting 10 Best Supporting Actor Nominees

8. Josh Brolin - Labor Day

The first time I remember knowing who Josh Brolin was came in his performance in the Coen Brother's Best Picture-winning adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel, No Country for Old Men. Despite the film's massive critical success and relative popularity, Brolin's performance largely went unnoticed. With the mesmerizing performance given by his costar Javier Bardem, it's somewhat understandable why Brolin's performance was relatively ignored (as protagonists roles often are when eccentric villains are involved), but his fantastically realized sense of desperation is at the heart of what drives the film, and it's a performance that I feel is still undervalued to this day. Since his breakout role in No Country for Old Men, Brolin has continued to give a number of strong (mostly supporting) performances, even earning a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Gus Van Sant's Milk. This year Brolin's best shot at becoming a two-time Oscar nominee is likely to come in Jason Reitman's Labor Day (sorry Gangster Squad). Based on a novel by Joyce Manard, the film sees a mother (Kate Winslett) and her son (Gattlin Griffith) unwittingly aide an escaped convict in his attempt to evade the law. Brolin plays the man on the lamb, and while I haven't read the book, the synopsis of the role sounds Oscar worthy, as the nature of the character's past life apparently becomes more clear as the film progresses. As I've stated in past previews, Reitman's films have been fairly successful at receiving Oscar nominations. Only when his films have been especially biting and satirical (Thank You for Smoking and Young Adult) has he missed out on Oscar's approval. In cases where Reitman's films have had a whiff of serious-mindedness and sentimentality (Juno and Up in the Air), Reitman has been successful in gathering awards kudos. Given the material he's working with here, I think it's safe to say Labor Day is in the camp of the latter, which is good news for Mr. Brolin's awards prospects. The other issue to consider for Mr. Brolin is categorization. I have seem some Oscar pundits list Brolin as a potential contender for the lead acting category, which may be a very real possibility given the fact no one has seen the film yet. My gut tells me we will probably have another Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in The Master situation on our hands, where you could really make a successful argument for the inclusion in either category. Given the likely crowded and more clearly defined candidates for the lead category though, much as with the two aforementioned examples, I expect strategically it will make most sense to campaign Brolin as a supporting actor, which is why for now I have included him in this list.