Why Hilary Swank's New Flop is Good News for Annette Bening

Oscar night, 2000: Despite overwhelming acclaim for her turn as an embittered, adulterous realtor in American Beauty, an exceedingly pregnant Annette Bening loses the Academy Award for Best Actress to relative newcomer Hilary Swank, who plays martyred transgender teen Brandon Teena in the powerful drama Boys Don't Cry. Oscar night, 2005: Despite overwhelming acclaim for her turn as an aging stage star in Being Julia, Annette Bening loses the Academy Award for Best Actress to Oscar-winner Hilary Swank, who plays a martyred butch boxer in the powerful drama Million Dollar Baby. What will Oscar night, 2011 bring?

Well, probably not a scenario like that. They'll never say so publicly, but you just know that Conviction's fast fade at the box office had to be source material for at least one toast at Warren Beatty's dinner table. Especially since Bening's performance in The Kids Are All Right (now available from Universal Studios Home Entertainment) ranks among this accomplished actress' best work ever.

In what could have been the thankless role of a cranky cuckold, Bening turns her character -- a lesbian doctor who likes control and red wine in equally large doses -- into a funny, vulnerable, and utterly real creation. Whether she's trying to keep her cool as the parent of two adolescents or crooning Joni Mitchell in an attempt to win the friendship of the bio-dad (Mark Ruffalo) of those kids, Bening never makes a false move in one of the year's best films to date.

Is it a coincidence, then, that Bening adopts the short haircut and no-frills wardrobe that have served Swank so well during awards season? (Up to a point, anyway; Swank playing Amelia Earhart was an obvious Oscar-bait bid that went nowhere.) One wonders if that was Swank's secret weapon against Bening all along...