Today’s Recall the Gold examines the 1998 campaign for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The winner that year was James Coburn for his turn as Nick Nolte’s drunken, abusive father in Affliction. Coburn was a beloved Hollywood vet who’d never won an Oscar, and it seemed Hollywood was paying him tribute with an overdue honor. I think, however, that Coburn actually deserved the award that year for his truly frightening turn. His chief competition was probably Ed Harris as the godlike overseer in The Truman Show, the biggest hit among the Supporting Actor nominees. Harris did a typically fine, subtle job in the role, as did Robert Duvall as the wily corporate lawyer in A Civil Action; both men made sympathetic characters out of roles that, in lesser hands, could have been cartoon villains. Even subtler (and heartbreaking) was Billy Bob Thornton as the troubled simpleton in A Simple Plan; had more people seen the film, and had he not just won for writing himself a similar character in Sling Blade a couple years earlier, he might have taken home the trophy. Geoffrey Rush’s chances were probably hurt as well from his recent victory in Shine, but he was very funny (and broadly hammy) as the exasperated theatrical manager in Shakespeare in Love.
Looking back from today’s perspective, which of these performances doyou think is the best? Vote in our poll, and list your comments below.(For a refresher, watch the clips embedded after the jump, whichmay contain some NSFW language.) Remember, we’ll be running the Recall the Gold surveys every Tuesdayand Thursday until January, so you may go back at any time and vote inthe other polls (click hereto see them all), reexamining the Oscar races of 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25years ago. On Thursday, October 23, we’ll look at the 2003 Best Supporting Actresscompetition. Watch also for commentary and context throughout EW.com,including on Dave Karger’s new Oscar Watch blog.
James Coburn’s Oscar victory for Affliction, with short excerpts of all five nominated performances
Robert Duvall in A Civil Action
Ed Harris in The Truman Show
Geoffrey Rush in Shakespeare in Love
Billy Bob Thornton in A Simple Plan
UPDATE: A correction has been made to the text above, where I accidentally referred to Coburn’s movie once as Addiction. D’oh!
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I think there might be an inherent flaw in the polls here…people will naturally gravitate towards the films that are still relevant as opposed to focusing on the performances themselves. So I think down the line, you’re going to see a proportional vote to how the film did at the box office and its current place in the cultural pantheon. This is not necessarily problematic; maybe because Truman Show is still the most relevant of these films, Ed Harris should have been recognized for his part. But I’m not sure this results in a frank assessment of the actual quality of the performances.
First, Gary, you call the movie ADDICTION in your post, but it’s actually AFFLICTION…
And too bad you couldn’t find a Shakespeare in Love clip with more Geoffrey Rush! He’s fab in the movie, but he’s hardly in the clip… 
This is why I’m glad the public doesn’t vote on the Oscars.
Broadly hammy?
This might be the first time I’ve ever seen the words “Ed Harris” and “subtle” in the same sentence.
Coburn def deserved to win – his performance, the film itself, it so rough, its almost hard to watch. But would like to have given the other 4 smaller oscars -they were all sooo good – each def deserved to be nominated.
Geoffrey Rush is one of my real favorites, and is fantastic in “Shakespeare in Love”, but he was better in another film that year, “Elizabeth” .
Please do one of these “RECALL THE GOLD” on:
2000 Best Actress: should have gone to Ellen Burstyn for “Requiem for a Dream” NOT Julia Roberts for “Erin Brockevich”
Also, the 1980 Best Actress race: although Sally Field was amazing in “Norma Rae”, the gold should have gone to Bette Midler in “The Rose”.
Thank you.
uh joseph fiennes for Elizabeth or Shakespeare in Love. Poor guy got overlooked. I love Geoffery Rush though.
James totally deserved it for Affliction. Great performance.
I remember I didn’t see James Coburn’s performance til after the Oscars…and at the time of the Oscars, I thought “he won? no one was talking about him at all as a possible winner”…but once you actually saw his performance, he totally deserved it.
How about John Goodman in “Big Lebowski” or Bill Murray in “Rushmore.” Not even nominated. WTFF!?
This is the first do-over that I haven’t repeated the actual winner. Billy Bob got robbed.
Ed Harris gave a superb performance in “The Truman Show” IMHO. I think the Oscar belonged to him in ‘98.
James Coburn totally deserved that award.
theres something about mary – bret favre
James Coburn deserved his win for sure. Having read the Russell Banks novel on which the movie is based, I reviled and feared his character so much, but was quite chilled to the bone by the menace and sadism Coburn brought to this bitterest of characters.
I still cant believe Jim Carrey never got a nod for HIS role in The Truman Show. Honestly, the mind boggles. Let’s recall the Best Actor from that year as well please.
I would have been perfectly happy with either Coburn or Thornton winning that year.
This one doesn’t deserve a recall. Coburn won, justifiably so. A wonderful, terrifying performance. While I love “The Truman Show” and Ed Harris, Coburn’s turn was spectacular.
I agree with Alex that Carrey was snubbed that year. He gave “The Truman Show” its heart, and was similarly the emotional core of “Eternal Sunshine”. Ah well.
This is actually a rare case where I got around to seeing each of the nominated performances.
While Coburn is certainly a worthy winner, I thought the winner then should’ve been Thornton, and I think the winner now should’ve been Thornton. He’s absolutely heartbreaking in what I think is Sam Raimi’s best movie.
James Coburn def deserved the win. Affliction has the honor of being my favorite movie that I don’t like to see. It honestly depresses me for days afterwards – THAT’S how good both Coburn & Nick Nolte were. Amazing, heartbreaking, soulful and true cinematic gold all around. It should have won Best Picture.
I too would’ve been happy with either Coburn or Thornton. I wonder if Billy Bob would be doing more compelling work these days if he’d been honored for those many breakout roles he was playing around this time.
I voted for James Coburn, but only but default. This, to me, seemed like a “career achievement” selection, considering that there weren’t any other notable performances in this batch.
I saw “Affliction” at the show – I remember thinking, “what a mean, rotten, SOB this dad is.” But today, I can’t recall the “Oscar moment” that makes this character stick in my memory.
Regarding the other choices – Geoffery Rush – you just got an Oscar 2 years earlier – besides, you KNEW that Judi Dench was going to win – so, we need to spread the wealth around. Billy Bob – you just got an Oscar 2 years earlier (can others get one)- besides -at the time, wasn’t he going on A.Jolie (so,backlash). Duvall – you were a better lawyer in “The Godfather.” Voting for you here means “we’re sorry you lost in 1972.” At leaves – Harris – you were good, your time IS due – but, this movie was a DOWNER and you were in cahoots against Truman, so, NO! So, mean ol’ Coburn, you get my vote for those reasons.
Coburn’s performing was astonishing, but Ed Harris has the one people will remember long-term. All-in-all, not a real memorable contest, although the performances were excellent.
I’ve seen every performance in this category except for James Coburn’s, unfortunately. Of the four that I did see, I thought Billy Bob Thornton’s was the best. His dim-witted/greedy performance really scared me.
What a stupid, pointless feature this is turning out to be. If it were in a paper magazine, I would call it a space filler. But the only reason I can think for its existence is as a viral advertisement sponsored by Netflix or Ballbuster. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit.
I have to argue that this is pointless. It’s like pointing at an Olympic winner and saying -”You should’ve got 2nd, because the French judge votes Anti-American” or “If those 2 runners didn’t collide – you would’ve gotten 4th.” They won, why not spotlight the positives of their performance? Its not like these people injected “performance enhancing drug” that makes them cheaters.
Actually, this was the year that Geoffrey Rush’s slot in the supporting actor race should have gone to Bill Murray in ‘Rushmore’..
Of the 5 actual nominees, a slight edge to Thornton(he truly was heartbreaking) over Coburn(who gave me the creeps and nightmares). Overlooked was Barry Pepper’s memorable performance as a sniper in “Private Ryan”. But my absolute first choice was Edward Furlong as Ed Norton’s younger brother in “American History X”, possibly the most stunning film of that year. He at least deserved a nomination!
It’s hard to say since I only saw “The Truman Show” and “Shakespeare In Love” but I have to go with Ed Harris, I don’t know why, but it just gets me!