As we prepare for the 32nd Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA, Backstage is breaking down this year’s film and television ensemble nominees for your consideration.
Main cast: Benicio Del Toro‚ Leonardo DiCaprio‚ Regina Hall‚ Chase Infiniti‚ Sean Penn‚ and Teyana Taylor
Casting by: Cassandra Kulukundis
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Distributed by: Warner Bros.
In this blockbuster inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” Paul Thomas Anderson fills every frame with characters who capture the author’s zany spirit and leave an immediate mark. From the French 75 guerrillas and the stragglers left in their wake, to the heavy-handed authorities on the group’s tail, to the bystanders just trying to get by, each performance pops with specificity and charge.
Losers dot this American landscape, including drug-addled activist has-been Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio, doing what he does best: pratfalling) and the racial-purity crusaders whom Sean Penn’s twitchy Col. Steven J. Lockjaw hopes to impress. (As the white supremacists, Tony Goldwyn, Jim Downey, and John Hoogenakker exude a comically casual menace.) Yet just as many characters are trying to make a difference. Teyana Taylor’s fearsome Perfidia Beverly Hills electrifies the film’s first hour before Chase Infiniti takes over as Perfidia and Bob’s headstrong daughter, Willa, now a teenager finding her way in a fascist state and a paranoid home. Regina Hall brings a deftly reserved turn to protector Deandra, and Benicio Del Toro’s eccentric Sensei Sergio St. Carlos offers guffaw-inducing relief as a cool-as-ice community leader working from the shadows.
Each interaction feels dialed to 11, thanks to Anderson’s knack for distilling his characters’ political and personal essence through dialogue, gestures, and hilarious misunderstandings. He’s equally adept at transforming words on the page into living, breathing dioramas of mood and theme, making this a vibrant performance showcase.