MOVIES: Best of 2005 -- supporting actress

Not a good year in this category, I thought. Of those being touted as likely nominees, I thought Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and Catherine Keener (Capote) were good, but neither struck me as awards-worthy. Scarlett Johansson (Match Point) and Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) were the weak links in their movies; Williams' big scene ("You didn't go up there to fish!") was the worst-played big scene of the year.

The runners-up:

• Kathy Baker, Nine Lives
• Emily Mortimer, Match Point
• Robin Wright Penn, Nine Lives

The finalists:

• Maria Bello, A History of Violence -- Bello uses space very precisely; there's as much being said in the constantly shifting spatial relationship between her and Viggo Mortensen as there is in any of the movie's dialogue.
• Lisa Gay Hamilton, Nine Lives -- from the moment she walks through her sister's front door, we know her scene isn't going to end well; Hamilton radiates anguish and pain, and her final moments are a marvel of tormented indecision.
• Thandie Newton, Crash -- I think less of the movie as time goes on; its characters seem less human and more like jigsaw pieces that the script is moving around to make its points. But it's Newton's performance that sticks with me, and gives the movie whatever moments of emotional honesty it has.
• Celia Weston, Junebug -- The men in Junebug's family are a quiet, uncommunicative bunch, but one look at Weston is enough to explain why. Her lips pursed in perpetual disapproval, she's an intimidating figure, and we sense that her son has risked a great deal in coming home to her smothering, possessive arms.

The winner:

• Amy Adams, Junebug -- She's the emotional center of the movie, vibrant and glowing (and not just from the pregnancy). Ashley is both strong and sweet, a combination we don't often see; it would be fascinating to look in on her in ten years to see whether Peg's soul-crushing presence has changed her at all.