Monday, Feb. 16, 2009

Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson, Michael Shannon. Fully a fifth of this year's acting nominations went to excellent performers who, to the moviegoing audience, were next to unknown. Shannon, like Davis in Doubt, got the nod for showing up briefly in the middle of a film and bringing a shadowy theme into brilliant focus. He's the emotionally fragile fellow who exposes the fissures in the marriage of Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio in Revolutionary Road. You could make a side bet that for Shannon, as for the other three long-shot acting nominees, this is the first time he's got tickets to the Oscar show. He'll have an aisle seat and, because Ledger is in the running, he'll remain seated. (Odds of Winning: 50 to 1)