Best Actress Period (There haven't been enough strong performances by women yet {as of
October 23}) 2003
Marcia Gay Harden - Mystic River (plays what might seem as a clueless
character
as a sympathetic, tenderhearted
woman, and does it well; great Boston
accent; look of fear on her face made me
frightened even though I was so far
removed from the action that I was
looking at it on a screen)
Allison Lohman - Matchstick Men (works as a fourteen year old to the point
that you never question her age, though in
real
life the actress is in her twenties; plays
the complex emotions of a teenager
exceptionally well; too cute for words)
Jennifer Connelly - Hulk (she lent creditability to a film threatening to be
too
outlandish to watch; amazingly, she was able to
play her reactions to what her boy toy was doing
(i.e. - destroying tanks, battling mutant dogs) with
believability; there was a sadness (maybe it was
anxiety) that she played played so well that I could
not question its authenticity)
Lucy Liu - Kill Bill (quite honestly, I never thought I would put her down for a
wish list of any nature, but she earned her early selection
with a expertly played protagonist; played her role with the
right mix
of restraint and menace that made the character
work; fought well, holding her own against those who
obvious sword fight in movies for a living)
Bridget Moynahan - The Recruit (I know it's from so long ago that
nobody can even remember the film, but she
was quite capable in the it; when it looked
as though she would be forced to muddle
through
a standard damsel in distress role,
she took the part and made her love
interest mysterious and unbelievably alluring;
she took her character's emotions seriously
and it showed; made espionage look sexy)
