Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1983: Alfre Woodard in Cross Creek

Alfre Woodard received her only Oscar nomination to date for her performance as Geechee in Cross Creek.

Cross Creek is a very dull movie about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and the events that inspired her to write her novels, such as Jacob's Ladder and The Yearling. The movie is not completely awful as there are a few elements that are quite remarkable, such as the score and a couple of performances. Martin Ritt is obviously a good director and here is work is not at all bad as he actually manages to create a certain atmosphere around Cross Creek, but unfortunately the film is hindered by two - elements mostly: first off, the weak screenplay that leaves most of the characters extremely underwritten; secondly, and most importantly, Mary Steenburgen's leading performance: Steenburgen is in my opinion a very good actress who has given some strong supporting performances throughout her career but here performance in this is just lifeless and wooden and she is completely unable to carry the movie on her shoulders - she is the main reason why the movie ends up being such an unremarkable experience. I've heard some people saying that Dana Hill deserved a nomination for her performance: in my opinion, it's an okay performance but hardly anything that special. 

Alfre Woodard plays the role of Geechee, a woman who offers to work as a maid for Rawlings. Like almost every single character except for Rawlings and Marsh Turner (the Oscar nominated Rip Torn), Geechee is an extremely underwritten character and one that is presented as a stereotype for almost the whole movie: she spends much of her screen-time working at Rawlings's grove and making noises while she is trying to write her novel, which I guess was supposed to be a funny sketch but unfortunately it's not. Writing-wise, much of the character of Geechee sort of reminded me of Prissy from Gone with the Wind, which is not exactly a good thing. But what is that differentiates Alfre Woodard's performance in Cross Creek from Butterfly McQueen's performance in Gone with the Wind? Well, to a small extent I have to give a little credit to the script because it actually does give some depth to Woodard later on, but the main reason why Geechee manages to be a surprisingly affecting and memorable character is Woodard herself, who sinks her teeth into this thankless role and manages to really make something good out of it. Her aforementioned routine might not be funny, but the only reason why it's not cringeworthy is because of Alfre Woodard's dedication to the role and she deserves a lot of credit for that. There is a genuine and spontaneous quality to her performance that makes her naturally stand out within the movie and she easily brings to it a needed breath of fresh air. Her character is often hanging around in the background and she can't really do all that much but she nonetheless brings a great deal of life and energy to the proceeding, and her performance was one of the few things that made me want to finish the movie. Geechee is a rather simple-minded person but Woodard never makes her dumb and instead she shows exactly where the character comes from - unlike Rawlings, Geechee never had the opportunity to have an education but that doesn't make her stupid. 

Woodard's best scenes are in the middle of the movie when she becomes the center of a rather interesting subplot that involves Geechee's husband, who is in prison. Woodard is very moving in the scene in which she asks for Rawlings' help in gaining her husband's release, and I particularly love her natural and spontaneous reaction when Rowlings agrees to help her. Geechee's husband later comes to live with Geechee at Rawlings' grove but he is later asked to leave because he does nothing but drinking and gambling, and Geechee decides to leave with him. The storyline is extremely rushed as all of this happens in the span of five minutes at best, but the scene in which Geechee is about to leave is nonetheless the highlight of Alfre Woodard's performance in this movie: she manages to be truly heartbreaking as she asks Rawlings how could she let her go so easily and even if the two actresses don't really have any sort of chemistry because of Steenburgen's stiff performance Woodard alone managed to make the two character's supposed friendship completely believable. It's a beautifully acted scene and the moment in which Geechee decides to stay after all is surprisingly heartwarming. Unfortunately, the movie then just sort of forgets about Geechee, even if there was much more to tell about her: in her autobiography, Rawlings mentioned that after her husband left Geechee started to drink heavily and despite her best efforts to help her she was forced to dismiss her in the end. It's a tragic story in which the movie isn't really interested and it's a true shame. 

In the end this is a good performance by Alfre Woodard, who manages to make Geechee one of the movie's most memorable characters. I think that if the movie had given her more to do she would have been absolutely amazing but she is unfortunately trapped in a thankless part with a wooden co-star to act with. Nonetheless, it's a touching, natural performance that goes far beyond what the role required. 

3.5/5