We have yet to finish our annual “Breakthrough actors of the year piece,” we’re considering holding out until the year is done, but the NYTimes having already seen many of the big winter films of the year have already done there feature.
They laud performances by Freddy Rodriguez in the upcoming Latinos-like-Christmas too film, “Nothing Like the Holidays” (sure, we’ll take you’re word for it, we haven’t seen it, but the trailer is cliche gift-wrap), Alexa Davalos in “Defiance” (hmm, no clue, but we’re greatly looking forward to the Ed Zwick WWII film), François Bégaudeau of “The Class” (we’re totally with them here, he’s a marvel, the film is an A-grader) and Michael Shannon of Sam Mendes’ “Revolutionary Road” with Leo and Kate (InContention called this months ago, so if he’s that good, props go to them).
But wait there’s one more, Alison Pill from Gus Van Sant’s “Milk.” But in the immortal words of Michael Bluth to his son George Micheal, “her?”
Pill is capable in the film, but hardly revelatory, let alone remarkable. As the Times notes, “Pill plays Anne Kronenberg, the leather-jacketed, biker-babe lesbian whom [Harvey] Milk (Sean Penn) hires as campaign manager to whip his fourth try for city supervisor into shape.” Yes, this is all true, but if she stands out it’s basically because she’s the only female on screen. She’s a little bit tough and a little bit sassy, but she still has a warm smile that doesn’t really make her look all that scary.
“She invests the campaign manager with a low-key confidence that gives her all the authority she needs. Women are rare in this movie, but as the campaign gathers momentum, this one holds the screen like a channel swimmer chugging steadily along in a sea of testosterone-fueled flamboyance.”
Sure, we suppose so. She’s not terrible by any means. But really, in a film with star turns by Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Josh Brolin and James Franco (not to mention the amazing Penn), Pill kind of fades into the background. That’s too mean, she’s good, but breakthrough? Isn’t that a bit of an overstatement? Isn’t there another female we can add to this list? Frieda Pinto from “Slumdog Millionaire”? Evan Rachel Wood from “The Wrestler” (Yeah, we know who she is, but we didn’t know that she could be tolerable, let alone amazing). There’s others, but we’ll save for our own piece.