McDormand vs. Day: One will win the Oscar for Best Actress

“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (US Rated R)

Cast: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Da’Vine Joy Randolph

Genre: Biography, Drama, Music

Where to watch: Hulu

Dwight’s Rating:

“Nomadland” (US Rated R)

Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn

Genre: Drama

Where to watch: Hulu

Dwight’s Rating:

Vanessa Kirby pulled at our heartstrings as a woman dealing with grief following a traumatic home birth in “Pieces of a Woman”.

Carey Mulligan displayed some impressive layers, playing against type as a vengeful and deeply troubled “Promising Young Woman”.

And Viola Davis gained quite a few pounds and a whole lot of attitude to become the titular character in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”.

All three were rewarded this week with Academy Award nominations for Actress in a Leading Role. And in any other year, any one of these ladies would be the frontrunner for the Oscar.

Unfortunately for that trio, but quite fortunately for us, there are two other people in that category, and they’ve essentially made this a two-woman race.

In one corner, we have one of the most celebrated actresses of our time: Emmy-winning, Tony-winning and two-time Oscar-winning Frances McDormand. In the other, a novice, making her acting debut: R&B singer and songwriter Andra Day.

Their journeys to their roles couldn’t be more different. Yet both performances represent master classes in acting.

Both of the films they are headlining couldn’t be more different either!

With “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”, Lee Daniels (“Precious” and TV’s “Empire”) directs this adaption of the book “Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs”. The book outlines the United States’ (US) more than a century-long “war on drugs”, and features, among others, profiles of Holiday, who becomes one of the first public targets of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

Day plays Holiday, and the movie involves an undercover sting operation against the legendary jazz singer. Race is a major factor, as is her very powerful 1939 song “Strange Fruit” – which might be even more difficult to listen to today than when it ruffled feathers throughout the 1940s and ‘50s.

“Nomadland” is also based on a book – “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century”. McDormand plays Fern, a woman in her 60s, who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, while living in her van.

“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” suffers from what is ultimately a lack of focus, and is hampered by uneven and abruptly shifting tones, as it tracks back and forth between the drug story, the race issue, the legal matters, and Holiday’s extremely tumultuous life, including substance abuse and other apparent and implied addictions.

It may simply be trying to do too much.

On the other hand, “Nomadland” is consistently quiet and introspective.

It is also deeply sad and depressing, although that opinion is likely subjective. I suspect it is actually aiming to be life-affirming.

What cannot be argued, though, is that it’s beautifully directed by screenwriter Chloé Zhao, with astounding cinematography featuring stunning vistas of the American West.

It also feels remarkably like a documentary. Indeed, most of the cast features actual nomads – “real people” playing themselves. McDormand and David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck”) are among the few “actors” in the picture.

Regardless of how you feel about the films, it’s the stellar performances of the lead actresses that will be the real draw.

McDormand doesn’t seem to be acting at all. It’s so effortless that it’s as if someone put a camera in front of a totally unaware person, capturing their every expression and utterance. Watching it will make you realize most actors are probably incapable of “acting” like a “real person”. It might be one of the hardest things for a performer to do.

It’s also incredibly hard to become someone else. Day transforms herself into Holiday – the speaking voice, the singing voice, the swagger – and has to maintain all of that when playing her high as a kite too. Despite the challenges with the movie, Day shines and owns every moment she’s on the screen.

The Academy Awards love when an actor plays a singer or actor with a drug/alcohol problem and legal woes and/or financial problems – just ask Jamie Foxx (“Ray”), Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), or last year’s winner Renee Zellweger (“Judy”).

With this year’s nominees, these same five women – Kirby, Mulligan, Davis, McDormand and Day – were nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. Day ultimately won that award. And my money would be on Day for the Oscar as well.

But even if you care not one iota about awards shows, you must watch “Nomadland” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” to see two of the greatest acting performances we’ve seen in a long time.

• Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of “Morning Blend” on Guardian Radio and station manager. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.

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