Muriel Award: Best Supporting Actress

This category tends to be a fairly wide-open field, but granting even that, I can't say I expected our winner to emerge as she did. Goes to show what I know.

Third place:



Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom [63 points / 10 votes]

Second place:



Olivia Williams, The Ghost Writer [67/10]

And your winner....





Greta Gerwig, Greenberg [74/11]

"Greenberg’s Florence Marr could have been like her omnipresent, pure-hearted cinematic sisters who are deployed with their strong, blind love to rescue male protagonists from their insecurities. She could have been, but she isn’t. Instead, Greta Gerwig offers a portrayal of a 25-year-old woman just as confused and searching and wounded as the 40-year-old man whose life other films would insist she is to set straight. Florence has a hard enough time keeping her life in line, let alone being the beacon for someone else.

Gerwig plays this aimless assistant with an endearing awkwardness that attracts precisely the kind of men who prey on her self-doubt to forget their own - men like Ben Stiller’s title character, who reflexively criticizes Florence for qualities he dislikes in himself so he can feel better. Gerwig colors Florence’s responses to such feedback not with a victim’s resigned weariness but rather a student’s genuine desire to process his insensitive remarks to achieve self-improvement. It’s an unusual choice but one that gets to the core of the character in a subtle and beautiful way.

For all of the uncertainty she feels and exhibits, Florence is perceptive at seeing others for who they are underneath their defense mechanisms. She approaches her disappointments and setbacks head on with unguarded optimism and tries to learn from her mistakes even if she repeats them. This coping strategy makes Florence vulnerable, but her approach presents a healthier alternative to dealing with existential bruises than Greenberg’s penchant for stewing over them.

The film is open-ended regarding what lies ahead for Greenberg, but he’s likely to be less angst-ridden if he follows Florence’s example. Perhaps Florence is a redemptive figure after all. It’s to Gerwig’s credit that she never gives the impression of being one." - Mark Pfeiffer

See the full results.