Tomei To Me

I watched a video on the top ten worst Oscar wins for Best Actress or Supporting Actress.  Some I agreed with, some I didn't, but one of the worst things was the lack of memory.  Most of the choices are from the last 30 years or so, because I guess no one remembers anything older.

But the main reason I watched was to see if they included the one choice that always seems to make such lists.  And I wasn't disappointed. (Or, to put it another way, I was disappointed.) Sure enough, at #3, was Marisa Tomei winning Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny (1992).

Why is this on the list?  She's great in the film.  A comic dynamo.  Her scenes are memorable and she definitely adds something to the proceedings--something I'm not sure too many other actresses could have pulled off as well.

The video complains her performance is not layered enough.  Well, as the award says, it's for a supporting role--her job wasn't to carry the film, but to add some fun, which she did exceedingly well.  The video, in fact, seems to make the common mistake of preferring drama (with all those layers) over comedy (and doing something cheap like getting laughs).

Let's look at Tomei's competition.  There's Judy Davis, who was good in Husband And Wives, but not overwhelming (partly because the film is a bit overrated).  There's Vanessa Redgrave, who actually I found kind of weak in Howards End.  There's Joan Plowright, who was fun in Enchanted April, though really, that film is as slight as My Cousin Vinny, maybe slighter.  And there's Miranda Richardson in Damage, a performance I don't even remember.

Sure, they were all British, and perhaps split to vote, allowing Tomei to slip through.  But who cares what the reason?  The Academy, for once, got it right.