The Best Supporting Performances of 2017

Since this is my first Best of post for the year, just wanted to quickly start off with the films I unfortunately didn’t get to before the end of the year, that likely would have factored into my lists: The Shape of Water, Phantom Thread, and The Post. Now, onto the best supporting performances I saw in 2017:

The Men

(5) Patrick Stewart, Logan

You know, Logan…this is what life looks like. A home, people who love each other. Safe place. You should take a moment and feel it.

In what seems like (but probably won’t be) his final performance as Professor X, Stewart brings to the forefront a sense of world-weariness, and a sense of sadness, that was always there under the surface with this character. Whether or not we’ll see him again on the big screen remains to be seen, but if not, this is a beautiful send off for one of the greatest characters to grace the pages of Marvel comics.

(4) Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name

I wish everyone was as sick as you.

I’ve felt, ever since The Social Network, that Armie Hammer hasn’t really gotten the respect he deserves as an actor. He did a great job playing dual roles in that film, and has put in good work since in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Free Fire, and he gives his best performance yet as the object of Timothee Chalamet’s affections Oliver. It’s nice to see someone with leading man looks willing to step into the background and make good movies great, rather than feeling the need to take them over.

(3) Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

Why don’t you get the fuck off this property, and don’t let me see you here again.

Dafoe’s performance in The Florida Project is one of those that’s so brilliant and seamless, you don’t really notice how shockingly good it is until a second viewing. He BECOMES this hotel manager. It’s also nice to see Dafoe playing someone so goodhearted, after a career playing villains. He’s going to win an Oscar for this, and I couldn’t be happier, even if it’s ultimately not my #1 of the year.

(2) Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Hate never solved nothing…but calm did. And thought did. Try it. Try it just for a change. No one’ll think you’re gay.

As a huge fan of his previous two films, In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, I found Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to be a pretty huge disappointment. It’s all over the place. It relies on language for shock value alone, whereas previously he used it in almost an operatic way. And let’s not even mention its murky racial politics. But Woody Harrelson’s performance as the subject of the titular billboards is lovely. In a town full of Trump’s, he’s the Obama; quiet, thoughtful, an ultimately tragic character.

(1) Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name

Nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spot.

All of the buzz for Stuhlbarg’s performance mainly seems to circle around the speech he has near the end of the film. And rightfully so. It’s one of the most powerful scenes of the year. But the entire performance is wonderful, instantly one of the best fathers ever put on-screen. Stuhlbarg will get his due at some point, but for now, I continue to marvel at how this screen genius continues to go under the radar.

Women

(5) Dafne Keen, Logan

There are no more guns in the valley.

This is the best possible future for the X-Men franchise. Remember that, Disney.

(4) Sienna Miller, The Lost City of Z

A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?

As the wife abandoned for years at a time by Charlie Hunnam’s restless explorer Percy Fawcett, Sienna Miller’s performance could have so easily drifted into parody. Hell, this is a role she’s played a million times before; I wouldn’t have entire blamed her if that’s what had happened. But thanks to Miller, Nina Fawcett is fully her own woman; if it weren’t for the times, she makes it clear she’d be right there alongside her husband, floating down a South American river. It would really be nice to see this undervalued actress get some better roles thanks to this great performance.

(3) Ari Graynor, The Disaster Artist

Graynor’s performance as Juliette Danielle, while not as nuanced and well-rounded as James Franco’s turn as Tommy Wiseau, is nonetheless worthy of praise for just how studied and measured it is. She nails every single mannerism about Juliette, something you don’t fully grasp until the ending credits that compares scenes side-by-side from the original film and ones shot for this movie. It’s almost eerie how accurately her impersonations are.

(2) Catherine Keener, Get Out

Sink…into the floor.

This performance is truly a marvel. From her first appearance on-screen, she simultaneously gives off a sense of welcoming warmth and just, like, uber-creepiness.

(1) Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

I want you to be the very best version of yourself you can be.

I don’t feel like I can really add anything to the conversation about this performance. Maybe my favorite of the year, overall, full stop? It’s the work of a seasoned veteran somehow still on the top of her game.