Blake Lively Deserves an Oscar Nom

Blake Lively's Oscar Campagn Starts Here

 I detailed that I thought Blake Lively gave an amazing performance in “The Town.”  While she didn’t have much screen time (probably around 15 minutes maybe), every second she was on was a scene stealer.

I have never paid much attention to Lively and only heard the name in passing from her fame on ‘Gossip Girl.’  Matter of fact, I was surprised when I looked it up to find out it was her, somebody from that show can actually act?  Color me surprised, but she really can act.

From her fist scene in the movie she looks like nothing more than the filmmakers trying to cash in on her ‘Gossip Girl’ fame and a good way to show some solid T&A.  I am not sure the character she plays on her show, but she NAILED the “trashy hot” look in the movie and everything about her was authentic and believable from a character standpoint.

When I realized that she was giving a phenomenal performance was in her second major scene.  Jon Hamm's FBI character approaches Krista in a bar.  At first when she is approached by Hamm, Lively's character plays up the flirtation angle.  Here is a good looking man, who is obviously more successful than 90% of those from "The Town" and he looks more genuine and honest than most men she is used to encountering.  You can see the excitement in her eyes.  I imagine it to be the excitement she gets every time she meets a new stranger, possibly this is the one that will take her away from it all and give her the happiness she desires and feels she deserves.

Jon Hamm's character tells her he is from the FBI, and she continues to flirt thinking this is a new angle nobody has tried before with her, but you can see the apprehension building.  Then it hits, when Hamm's agent flashes the FBI badge: the look in her eyes.  This is where I was sold on her performance.  I am a big believer in that the greatness of acting is in everything but the spoken word.  I believe the best performances are the one's where I can actually feel the emotion of the character, and that is what happened in this scene.  Lively, with just one subtle look, was able to get me to completely feel and identify with her character and how she was feeling at that moment.

She follows it up with another brilliant scene in the hospital when she knows that her world has come crumbling down and it is now time for her to accept that she will never get out of her town and she has to cut a deal with the FBI.
  
Basically, every scene in this movie that she is in is amazing.  This performance alone is worth the price of admission and you even get a good movie to go along with it.  I am convinced the Academy won't give her the nod, but they would be doing themselves a disservice.  Lively has instantly jumped into the category of "will give a solid performance."  Hopefully, she will make good career choices from here on out that will help her showcase this talent she has.  And other things....