Oscarwatch: Albert Nobbs

[apocalypsos]

First off, the acting is exemplary. Glenn Close is always wonderful, but here she does deft work with touchy subject matter. Janet McTeer is also fascinating. I found myself amazed at a point in the movie where both Albert and McTeer's character Hubert go out in dresses, shawls and hats for the first time in the film. The two characters have two very different experiences in regards to why they're in hiding and it shows in this one sequence. Albert begins to feel free to enjoy wearing dressing in a more stereotypically feminine manner, becoming so relaxed that toward the end of the scene there's a flash of the woman Albert must have been before. Hubert, on the other hand, is Hubert in a dress. He stands like a man, he walks like a man, etc. By the end of the movie, at least to me, Hubert read more as transgender than Albert, who read more as the woman in hiding he was discovered to be.

I really do think that if it were any other year, they'd both make a good run for the Oscars they're nominated for. But Octavia Spencer's a (well-deserved) lock for Best Supporting Actress, and I'm fairly sure Best Actress is going to either Meryl Streep or Michelle Williams (I'm thinking Williams, but we'll see).

Ten more to go, aaaaaaaand I've cleared off all of the movies in Best Supporting Actress. :)