Michelle Williams was recently nominated for her fifth Oscar for her role in The Fabelmans, a movie that is kind of a biopic made by Steven Spielberg. Many people think that Williams’ work in the movie is one of her best, and it will put her in the running for the Lead Actress award.
Williams has been in movies for almost thirty years. During that time, she has played both the main character and a supporting role. Williams has an impressive list of well-known and diverse films, many of which rank highly on the review site Rotten Tomatoes. She has been praised for her versatility and intensity as an actress.
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‘Blue Valentine’ (2010)
In Blue Valentine, a romantic drama by Derek Cianfrance, Michelle Williams gives a performance that will make you cry. The actress stars with Ryan Gosling in a movie about a couple’s love story. It starts with their early days together and ends with their marriage falling apart.
Critics were very enthusiastic about Blue Valentine. Williams and Gosling’s performances were praised, and Williams was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. Like many of Williams’ other movies, Blue Valentine is hard to watch. However, its thoughtful look at emotional turmoil and the performances of its two main characters make it a must-see for fans of romantic dramas.
‘Brokeback Mountain’ (2005)
In Ang Lee’s groundbreaking romantic drama Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play two cowboys with a complicated relationship that lasts for twenty years. The wives, played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway, are smart and wise.
Critics loved Brokeback Mountain. They liked Lee’s direction, the music, the screenplay, and the performances by the cast. Williams got her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the movie. Most people thought Brokeback Mountain would win Best Picture at the Oscars, but the Academy famously made the wrong choice and gave the award to Crash instead.
‘Certain Women’ (2016)
Williams and Kelly Reichardt worked together on the 2016 film Certain Women for the third time. The movie is about the lives of three women living in the American Northwest. Williams, Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone, and Kristen Stewart lead the cast. Williams plays a housewife who is unhappy at home and wants to make things better for her family.
The critics liked Certain Women, especially the screenplay that Reichardt wrote. Certain Women, like many of the director’s other works, is a slow-moving movie that tries to find beauty in the everyday lives of four women trying to make the most of what they have.
‘Lassie’ (1994)
Williams’ first movie was Lassie, a family movie directed by Daniel Petrie that came out in 1994. The movie is about the friendship between a young boy named Matthew Turner and a stray dog named Lassie. Gretchen, Matthew’s next-door neighbor and a girl he likes, is played by Williams.
Lassie is a great family movie with a lot of heart, even though it is safe and too sentimental. Every human actor in the movie does a great job, including Robin Williams, who steals every scene he’s in. But Lassie is the real star of the movie. Every fan’s heart will be taken by the dog, and it won’t give it back.
Manchester By The Sea (2016)
Williams got her fourth Oscar nomination for her supporting role in Manchester by the Sea, a drama by Kenneth Lonergan that came out in 2016. In the movie, Casey Affleck plays Lee, a sad man who accidentally killed his three children. After his brother’s sudden death, Lee must take care of his nephew. Randi is Lee’s ex-wife, and Williams plays her.
Manchester by the Sea was praised by critics all over the world. Lonergan’s direction and screenplay, as well as the acting of Affleck, Williams, and Lucas Hedges, got a lot of praise. They were all nominated for Oscars, and Lonergan won Best Original Screenplay and Affleck won Best Actor.
‘Meek’s Cutoff’ (2010)
For the historical fiction movie Meek’s Cutoff, Williams worked with Kelly Reichardt, who she has always worked with. In 1845 Oregon, Bruce Greenwood plays Stephen Meek, a guide who takes a small group of settlers to their deaths. When the group captures a Native American man, Williams plays a woman who stands up for him against Meek’s mistreatment. This makes the man agree to help the settlers find their way.
Meek’s Cutoff is loosely based on a real-life event. Critics liked how well it was made and how it took a different approach to the Western genre. The movie was also praised for its tone and tense atmosphere, and many people thought it was one of the best underrated Westerns of the 21st century.
‘Showing Up’ (2022)
Showing Up is the fourth and last time that Williams and Reichardt have worked together so far. The movie is about a sculptor named Lizzy who is about to have a big show that could change her life. At the same time, her personal life is a mess, and she has to deal with both.
The first time people saw Showing Up was at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was up for the Palm d’Or. The movie got good reviews, with the most praise going to Reichardt’s writing and directing, as well as Williams’ performance. With Showing Up, Reichardt solidifies her reputation as an emotional director by telling stories that are deep and thoughtful about the power and meaning hidden in everyday life.
‘The Fabelmans’ (2022)
The Fabelmans by Steven Spielberg is Williams’ most recent movie. The movie is kind of a biopic about Spielberg’s childhood. Williams plays a made-up version of Spielberg’s mother. Also starring are Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Gabriel LaBelle.
Critics loved The Fabelmans. They said it was one of Spielberg’s most personal and emotionally rich movies. Williams’s performance also got good reviews, and many people thought she was a shoe-in for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. However, she surprised everyone when she said she would be running for the lead role. Some experts said Williams might be cheating in her category, but many others thought the opposite and said she was a real leader. Williams got nominated for Best Actress in the end, so she got the last laugh.
‘The Station Agent’ (2003)
In The Station Agent, a drama by Tom McCarthy from 2003, Peter Dinklage gives the best performance of his life. The main character of the movie is Fibar McBride, a lonely train fan who moves to an empty train station in New Jersey after his boss dies. There, he makes friends with the locals and starts to live again. Emily, the librarian who falls in love with Finbar, is played by Williams.
Critics loved Dinklage’s emotional and raw performance in The Station Agent, which was praised by everyone. Critics also liked how the movie’s cast worked together and how it took a funny look at loneliness and human connections.
‘Wendy And Lucy’ (2008)
In Kelly Reichardt’s movie Wendy and Lucy, Michelle Williams plays Lucy, a drifter who is almost broke and takes her dog Lucy on a trip to Alaska. After Wendy gets arrested for shoplifting, she finds out that her only friend, Lucy, has gone missing. She starts a desperate search to find her only friend.
Wendy and Lucy is a story of hopelessness that breaks your heart, and Williams’ work makes it even better. The movie isn’t for everyone because it’s sad and has no happy ending. In fact, after seeing Wendy and Lucy, people will want to give their dogs a big hug. But Williams’ performance is good enough to make you cry.
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