Leigh Paatsch rates the nominees for Best Supporting Actor at the 2019 Academy Awards

Film reviewer Leigh Paatsch says there are several Oscar-worthy Best Supporting Actor performances — and one that has no place at this year’s Academy Awards.

There are four strong contenders for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor — and one that maybe should not have made the cut.

Best Performance by an Actor In a Supporting Role

THE NOMINEES

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell, Vice

Overall calibre of nominations: Good (with one glaring exception).

Adam Driver is unlikely to win for his fine portrayal of Flip Zimmerman (left, with John David Washington as Ron Stallworth) in BlacKkKlansman. Picture: Supplied

Hey, it’s a night out, isn’t it?: At 74 years young, Elliott scores a well-deserved first-ever Oscars nom. An acceptance speech in that mouth-full-of-road-tar voice of his would be something to behold, but it won’t be happening here. Driver was a sterling secret weapon in the triumph that was BlacKkKlansman, but the role ain’t showy enough for voters. Rockwell was fairly awful in Vice. How did he ever make the cut?

Richard E. Grant with Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?. Picture: Supplied

Deserves To Win, But Won’t: Grant has a faint chance of becoming a surprise benefactor of a phenomenon peculiar to the ‘Supporting’ categories, where Oscars voters sometimes elect to reward a popular veteran for services rendered across a long career. It also helps that Grant’s scurrilously erudite effort in Forgive Me? is not unlike his iconic work in Withnail & I. His acceptance speech would rock, too.

Mahershala Ali hopes to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in Green Book to match his BAFTA award in the same category last week. Picture: Joel C. Ryan/Invision/AP

And the Winner Is ... Mahershala Ali. Already a past winner here – for Moonlight two years ago – Ali is close to unbeatable. His performance as conflicted jazz pianist Don Shirley was typically flawless. However, what really puts Ali a cut above the rest is the scale of his performance – it’s just as much of a leading role as that of his co-star (and Best Actor nominee) Viggo Mortensen.

Australia’s Joel Edgerton as Victor Sykes in Boy Erased.

UNLUCKY NOT TO MAKE THE FIELD:

Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther

Josh Brolin, Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Steve Carell, Beautiful Boy

Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased

Stanley Tucci, The Children Act

RECENT WINNERS:

2018: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

2017: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

2016: Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies