2017 Oscar Predictions: Best Actor

The Oscar is Casey Affleck's to lose--but Denzel Washington is coming on strong.

“Manchester by the Sea”

Steady as he goes is Gotham, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle and Critics Choice winner Casey Affleck, who carries Sundance debut “Manchester by the Sea” as a capable Boston janitor weighed down by sadness, anger and depression. What happened to make him this way? That is what Lonergan’s precisely crafted movie carefully reveals. While Affleck has delivered many fine performances, often supporting, and was nominated eight years ago for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” he has never taken on such a complex and emotional role.

His main competition comes from fellow Critics Choice, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominee Denzel Washington, who directs himself in the film version of August Wilson’s Tony-winning play “Fences,” as a Pittsburgh ex-baseball slugger turned garbage man who is angry at the world. He knocks it out of the park.

READ MORE: 2017 Oscar Predictions

“Fences”

Joel Edgerton flirted with the Best Supporting Actor race for his strong turns in “The Great Gatsby” and “Black Mass,” but his lead role in Jeff Nichols’ “Loving” had many at Cannes calling an Oscar nom a certainty. Playing Richard Loving, Edgerton brings muscular conviction to this strong but tender man who wants nothing more than to be able to take care of his wife and family. It’s an internally rich performance that landed Critics Choice and Globe nominations but no SAG slot.

“Hacksaw Ridge”

Mel Gibson’s bloody World War II drama “Hacksaw Ridge” scored with critics and audiences in Venice, who praised Andrew Garfield’s performance as a Pacifist medic trying to save his fellow soldiers on the battlefield; he landed a Critics Choice, Golden Globe and SAG nominations. The movie also hit big at the box office. Lending him added momentum is strong reviews for his role as a Portuguese Jesuit priest in Martin Scorsese’s Christmas drama “Silence.”

Breaking out at Telluride was Oscar-winner Tom Hanks as heroic pilot “Sully” in Clint Eastwood’s drama and nominee Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson”) as a singing, dancing, piano-playing jazz man in Damien Chazelle’s audacious reinvention of the musical, “La La Land.” Both nabbed Critics Choice mentions, nut Hanks was snubbed by the Globes and SAG.

The Screen Actors and Globes both nominated “Captain Fantastic” star Viggo Mortensen for his role as a beleaguered single father raising his sprawling brood in the deep forest. That will make many Actors Branch voters catch up with the indie.

Alphabetical listing below.

Frontrunners:
Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”)
Joel Edgerton (“Loving”)
Andrew Garfield (“Hacksaw Ridge)
Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”)
Denzel Washington (“Fences”)

Contenders:
Tom Hanks (“Sully”)
Viggo Mortensen (“Captain Fantastic”

source 

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/12/2017-oscar-predictions-best-actor-1201687982/