Underrated Film Performances of 2024

A colleague and acquaintance of mine Jesse Hassenger wrote a great piece in the Guardian on underlooked performances of 2024 so I thought I’d follow suit:

Glenn Powell of Twisters-If Tom Cruise can garner a slight bit of Oscar buzz just for being a matinee idol and holding together a popcorn movie on pure charisma, Powell deserves the same. It’s a good reward for a prolific last 18 months, and his performance is based on an actual character, so he should get that non-fiction bonus.

Dolly De Leon-Between the Temples-As a practicing Jew who has been around all sects of the religion, she taps into a fairly wonderful experience of converts who don’t fit the traditional mold embracing the religion. She embodies traditional judaism so wonderfully that no one gives a second thought to see a Filipino being a Jewish mother

Jodie Conner, The Bike Riders-Her accent work and her gradual shift in attitude are impressive here.

Kate Winslet, Lee-The story behind the story matters, and she did pretty much everything for this film, including paying the crew out-of-pocket for a couple weeks when financing fell through, mico-managing various departments, and keeping this project going for eight years. I hate to give too much credit to things like make-up and such, but it’s certainly a complete transformation.

Sidenote: And no, Andy Samberg doesn’t deserve credit here. Even if he did serviceably, that was a bizarre casting choice. Watching the Lonely Island’s poster…