Updated by Colin McCormick on January 22, 2020: The awards season is wrapping up with the Oscar ceremony not too far away, airing on February 9. As everyone makes their predictions about who will be taking home trophies, it feels like the right time to look back on some of the amazing performances of 2019 while acknowledging a few more. Some will be there on Oscar night while others got snubbed, but there is no denying these performances will be remembered for years to come.
2019 is a year that saw legendary actors come together on the big screen for the first time. From Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt to Christian Bale and Matt Damon, there have been several actor duos impressing the world with both their individual performance and their unmatchable chemistry.
In between all the upcoming award shows, there has been a lot of talk about the nominees for the various actor categories. While some agree with the Golden Globes nominations and some don't, everyone is equally impatient for the release of the nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards. Amidst all the assumptions about who the nominees deserve to be, here are those who we think have delivered the 10 best movie performances of the year.
George McKay: 1917
Many see Sam Mendes' 1917 as the new frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Oscars, but while everyone praises the amazing filmmaking on display in the war film, George McKay's incredible performance has sadly been overlooked by the major awards.
McKay is the heart of the grueling and intense movie as Scofield, the young and traumatized soldier we follow on his perilous journey to deliver a message to the front line. Without McKay's heroic, authentic and powerful performance the movie would not have been nearly as interesting.
Jennifer Lopez: Hustlers
Jennifer Lopez can sometimes be viewed more as a superstar than an actor, however, she reminded the world of her amazing acting talent in 2019 with her amazing performance in Hustlers. The wildly entertaining crime film finds Lopez playing an exotic dancer who leads a team of fellow dancers in a scheme to get rich by ripping off the men they dance for.
Lopez commands the film as this take-charge woman who can be intimidating and unethical but is also a genuinely good maternal figure to her friends. Lopez's performance displays the immense charm she is known for while showing amazing depth she is not always given the chance to do. And her physicality in the role is mind-blowing.
Song Kang-ho: Parasite
Despite being one of the most acclaimed films of the year and winning the SAG Award for Best Ensemble, Parasite didn't receive any acting nominations at this year's Oscars. However, one performance that has nonetheless gotten plenty of attention is from Song Jang-ho.
Jang-ho plays the father of the Kim family, a man who wants to see his family prosper but doesn't have the means to do it. Song communicates so much with just his face making us sympathize with him at one moment and be appalled at his actions the next moment. Parasite walks a fine tonal line and Song really helps to keep things balanced.
Florence Pugh: Little Women
In a cast filled with acclaimed actors like Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern, and Meryl Streep, relative newcomer Florence Pugh managed to steal the show in Little Women. Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the beloved novel adds so much to the story and Pugh does an incredible job bringing the character of Amy to life.
With the film told at various stages of the girls' lives, Pugh's performance changes so perfectly from young Amy to older Amy, showing just how much the character has changed over the years. She is hilarious and heartbreaking, providing some of the film's most memorable moments.
Adam Sandler: Uncut Gems
Adam Sandler's performances can often be brutalized by critics but even the most cynical among them must admit that he has proven himself to be quite impressive in a handful of dramatic roles. With his role in the wild Uncut Gems, many are saying it is Sandler's best work to date.
Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a New York City jeweler and compulsive gambler working on his biggest score to date. Sandler gives a tour-de-force performance as the destructive man who cannot help but make his situation work. It is exhausting following this man around but always thrilling.
Al Pacino: The Irishman
It is no secret that Al Pacino shines effortlessly in any movie he is in, regardless of how big or small the role. Therefore, nothing other than splendid acting was expected from Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, which reunites Pacino with the equally legendary Robert De Niro.
Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa, the head of a labor union, in this lengthy crime drama. It was the actor's first time starring in a Scorsese movie, and he manages to draw us in and capture our attention for the 3 hour 30 minute running time of the movie.
Robert Pattinson: The King
It is about time that Robert Pattinson's impressive acting be recognized by critics and the general public. If his performance in the Netflix original movie The King proves anything, it's that Pattinson has the potential to be an Oscar-winning actor. The King is a historical drama about the Prince of Wales struggling through war and ruling.
Playing the Dauphin of France, Pattinson is as scary as he is amusing, and he emerges as the most convincing actor in the movie. Just as when he mastered an American accent for several other movies, Pattinson's French accent is impeccable.
Scarlett Johansson: Marriage Story
Despite being an A-list actor, Johansson's acting talents have been snubbed by the Academy Awards. However, 2020 could be the year where this stops. Acting alongside Adam Driver in Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach's latest movie, Johansson conveys the internal pains and conflicts of a woman whose marriage is falling apart.
Her character, a movie-turned-theater actress, is plagued by resentment for her cheating husband, and the regret of having sacrificed a part of her career to be married to him. Johansson captures these feelings so well that she will make you cry.
Adam Driver: Marriage Story
Adam Driver is one of those extremely talented actors who often fall victim to the curse of poorly written characters. Sadly, a bland character with little depth and bad dialogue holds an actor back from reaching their full potential. But that was not the case with Driver's role in Marriage Story. Baumbach gave the actor a phenomenal opportunity to show the full range of his acting skills.
There is a scene in the movie where Driver's character breaks down crying in the middle of a fight with his wife. It's a heart-wrenching transition from rage and frustration to complete sorrow, and it is a great example of the strength of Driver's performance.
Brad Pitt: Ad Astra
With two major feature films out this year, Brad Pitt's acting skills have been talked about a lot. And while his performance in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood proves once more how good the actor is at comedy, it's Ad Astra that best shows the extent of his talent.
Despite being set in space, Ad Astra is more of a drama about loneliness and family. Pitt's character embarks on a trip to space on his own, which means that the movie relies heavily on good acting to be successful. Pitt finds a way of communicating emotions through his body language instead of dialogue, and it's unlike any of his previous performances.
Christian Bale: Ford v Ferrari
Christian Bale is a method actor known for the ease with which he can completely transform his appearance to fit the part. While his technique is often reduced to how much weight he can gain or lose for a role, he is also incredibly good at altering the sound of his voice, his way of speaking, his facial expressions and even his stance. Ford v Ferrari is a prime example of this.
The movie is based on the real-life story of Ken Miles, who has to collaborate with Carroll Shelby to build a Ford vehicle but finds creative differences, physics problems and personal issues getting in the way. Bale does the racecar driver justice by reflecting his unique way of thinking.
Leonardo DiCaprio: Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood
Leonardo DiCaprio has played a lot of good guys, and some bad guys, and he excels at both. Yet his performance in Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood stands out as one of his best. His character, Rick Dalton, is a former television star struggling with his career in Hollywood.
The character has mood swings; he's stressed one minute and happy the next. He's insecure and frustrated one moment, and in the next scene, he's confident and proud. DiCaprio perfectly captures the emotional struggles of a man who worries about his future, and whose friendship with his stuntman (Brad Pitt) is the only stability in his life.
Taron Egerton: Rocketman
Taron Egerton's stardom grew immensely because of the biopic Rocketman, in which he portrays legendary music superstar Elton John. Taking on the role of such an iconic and respected artist is a bold move. Before this movie, Egerton was known mostly for his role in the Kingsman films, a blend of spy an comedy genres.
Whoever doubted that Egerton could live up to the expectations set for him has been proven wrong. He is able to reflect Elton John's artistic talent, his energy, his ambitiousness, and even his stage presence.
Lupita Nyong'o: Us
Even after having won an Oscar for her performance in 12 Years A Slave, Lupita Nyong'o continues to exceed expectations, as evidenced by her performance in Jordan Peele's Us. The movie follows a family under attack by their doppelgangers, and Nyong'o flawlessly embodies two different women who are funhouse mirror images of each other.
She is able to express the women's two different mindsets: one has been living her life pleasantly and feels unfairly attacked, while the other has been condemned to a miserable existence and is seeking revenge. The raspy, strangled sound of Nyong'o's voice when she talks as the doppelganger sounds both scary and painful.
Joaquin Phoenix: Joker
The general opinion surrounding the best movie performance of 2019 seems to be that Joaquin Phoenix holds that title for Joker, and rightfully so. The Batman villain is an incredibly challenging role to take on, not just because of the complexities of the character, but because of the public expectations surrounding it. Phoenix accepted the challenge and delivered a performance that showed the gradual slip of Arthur Fleck, a struggling man who descends into insanity.
In Arthur, Phoenix captures a man exhausted and on the verge of breaking, and in Joker, he expressed the birth of a new kind of life in that man.