Did They Get it Right? – Best Supporting Actress – Oscars 1987

Here are the five nominees: (Winner in Bold)

Norma Aleandro (Gaby: A True Story)
Anne Archer (Fatal Attraction)

Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck)

Anne Ramsey (Throw Momma from the Train),

Ann Sothern (The Whales of August)

Biggest Snub:

Jessica Tandy – *batteries Not Included

My Overall Thoughts:

This is a year with 4 ok nominees and one very powerful one who gave us some an amazing performance.

My Rankings:

Supporting Actress

5. Ann Sothern
4. Anne Ramsey
3. Norma Aleandro
2. Anne Archer
1. Olympia Dukakis

Movies

5. The Whales of August – Mediocre story that is helped immensely by the performances of screen legends Davis, Gish and Southern. The story itself is somewhat boring and meanders along throughout since it fails to really give us something very interesting. The dialogue is what holds things together but things move much too slowly which hurts things a lot. Southern was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance here.
4. Gaby: A True Story – Interesting story that moves along much too slowly. The story is presented well but they don’t manage to find a way to keep the characters intriguing enough because the story is edited very sloppily and things jump a bit too much along the way. Nice seeing Loggia here, but he doesn’t have enough to do. Aleandro was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the family servant who does all she can to help the disabled daughter of her employer.
3. Throw Momma from the Train – Hilariously done modern adaptation that in some ways does it better than the original. Crystal and Devito are amazing together.
2. Moonstruck – This film is quite good, but it’s slightly over-rated. Cher and Cage have no chemistry together what so ever and it’s kind of torture watching them act together. Gardenia, Mahoney and Dukakis are the true stars of this film and are all wonderful in supporting roles. The idea of the love in the atmosphere comes across really well and is mostly believable. Perhaps if the leads were played by better actors, it would have been even more enjoyable to watch.
1. Fatal Attraction – Was much more controversial back when it came out, but the premise is quite tame compared to today’s standards. Douglas is ok here, but not convincing enough, but Close is scary as his one-night stand. The story is quite universal tho and it’s a bit understanding how this could get nominated for Best Picture. Gives people even more reasons to stay away from extramarital affairs than just the normal moral ones.

Do I agree with the Oscar winner? – Most Definitely!  OD was superb in MS and gave a much better performance than any of the other nominees who were all just fine.  AR stands out among them, but it wasn’t really an Oscar worthy performance, just a fun one to watch.

Let me know what you think about these films and my rankings!