A huffy Hanks and a hammy Hoffman among memorable moments at TIFF 2012

TORONTO – As the Toronto International Film Festival wraps Sunday, Canadian Press writers note trends and memorable moments at this year’s movie-marathon.

MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES:

Joaquin Phoenix — Four years after retreating into a bizarre alter ego that saw him hidden behind dark glasses, a wild beard and hazy stupor, Joaquin Phoenix arguably turns in an even more daring performance as the feral alcoholic Freddie Quell in P.T. Anderson’s epic period drama “The Master.” Driven purely by animal instinct, Freddie is all id to the calculating ego of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd, the founder of a cult-like spiritual organization not unlike Scientology. Freddie’s insecurities manifest in nearly every part of Phoenix’s compact frame: his face twists into a constant scowl, his back hunches forward in an awkward slump and his hands constantly seek refuge in the small of his back. It’s a risky performance that’s not easy to watch, but is always formidable.

Dennis Quaid — Best known for a string of romantic and hero-type roles in the ’80s and ’90s, Quaid reinvents his trademark Hollywood smile and leading man swagger to embody the awkward desperation of salesman Henry Whipple in the family farm drama “At Any Price.” There’s an anger seething just below the surface in just about everything Henry does, from glad-handing neighbours and business rivals to boasting about the exploits of his absent football star son, to superficial breakfast pep talks aimed at his equally disinterested youngest child, played by Zac Efron. Henry’s picture-perfect life is held together by sheer force of will, and its Quaid’s carefully calibrated performance that helps makes this unconventional drama one of the most memorable of the fest.

Onata Aprile — She’s just seven years old, but this saucer-eyed pixie commands the screen like a seasoned acting vet in “What Maisie Knew,” a well-crafted tearjerker about a young girl in the middle of a bitter custody battle. Onata steals the show from adult leads Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgard with her quiet presence, powerfully conveying the bewilderment, yearning and sadness of a child surrounded by selfish adults.

John Hawkes — This well-known character actor admitted during the fest that he’s still feeling the physical effects of contorting his body to play a bed-ridden polio victim desperate to experience intimacy in “The Sessions.” The payoff for his pain will very likely be an Oscar nomination. Hawkes portrays the late real-life poet Mark O’Brien with a masterful mix of shyness and humour. Helen Hunt, meanwhile, turns in a daring and raw performance as the sex surrogate trying to help him.

Robert De Niro — The two-time Oscar winner has taken roles in some questionable films lately, putting in dispassionate turns in such dubious fare as “New Year’s Eve,” “Red Lights” and last year’s festival dud, “Killer Elite.” But the 69-year-old seems positively rejuvenated in David O. Russell’s sensational comedy “The Silver Linings Playbook,” portraying a gambling addict and obsessive football fan who believes every factor in his environment — even the placement of his remote controls — affects how his beloved Philadelphia Eagles perform.

Marion Cotillard — The Oscar-winning stunner strips off her makeup and, dare we say, even looks a bit haggard (relatively speaking, of course) as a depressed orca trainer who loses her legs in “Rust & Bone.” Director Jacques Audiard deftly uses CGI tools to make her character’s amputation appear as real as possible, but it’s Cotillard’s powerful performance that allows the audience to fully believe her harrowing situation.

Rachel Mwanza — As Montreal-born writer-director Kim Nguyen put it, novice star Mwanza has a unique onscreen quality that he likely wouldn’t find in a professionally trained actor. That’s because the 15-year-old once lived on the streets in her Congolese hometown of Kinshasa and already had a sense of fearlessness before taking on the role of a child soldier in Sub-Saharan Africa. ___

LONG MOVIES: This year’s TIFF gave new meaning to the expression “movie marathon” thanks to a slew of high-profile titles that stretched well beyond the two-hour mark. The much-anticipated “Cloud Atlas” requires two hours and 43 minutes to cram six storylines into its centuries-sweeping, genre-busting tale, while Deepa Mehta’s big screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s book “Midnight’s Children” uses nearly two-and-a-half hours to recount the early days of India’s independence, as seen through the eyes of a magical child who comes of age at the same time. “The Place Beyond the Pines,” the second collaboration between director Derek Cianfrance and star Ryan Gosling, runs two hours and 20 minutes as it details an epic crime story over three acts. Meanwhile, Quebec phenom director Xavier Dolan cut his transsexual relationship drama “Laurence Anyways” down to two hours and 41 minutes.

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HOFFMAN HAMS IT UP: Just like his directorial debut “Quartet,” Dustin Hoffman was a charming highlight of the Toronto festival. The two-time Oscar winner was a flurry of energy during a whirlwind session with media, cracking off-colour jokes, singing in hotel halls and busting into interview sessions that were not his own. Most memorably, the talkative star insisted on answering a journalist’s phone when it rang during an interview.

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IN STITCHES WITH STRITCH: Stage and screen legend Elaine Stritch was also on fire during her trip to the fest for “Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky.” The 87-year-old Tony winner served up a golden punch line with every sentence as she conducted interviews with candour and enthusiasm in her hotel room — all while getting ready for the premiere wearing just black pantyhose, a white shirt, white slippers and hair pins. She even offered her slippers to a photographer who was admiring them.

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HUFFY HANKS:The usually genial Tom Hanks displayed a sharper edge during the news conference for his ambitious epic “Cloud Atlas,” bringing down the otherwise rollicking affair to lambaste organizers for the way they treated A-list guests. “Why do you run your celebrities through a pen like we’re bulls on the way to slaughter?” he asked. “It’s the narrowest … entrance to a theatre I’ve ever had. I thought someone was going to be on the other side with a club they were going to put through my head. It was a very, very scary enterprise.” Later, he slyly slammed reviewers by declaring his favourite “Cloud Atlas” character to be the gangster-author Dermot Hoggins “because he got to throw a critic off a balcony to his horrible crushing death.” Perhaps that impulse was what prompted him to grab a reporter’s smartphone on the red carpet and toss it a few feet away, causing its back cover to pop off and the battery to spill out.

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REIT-“MAN” ABOUT TOWN: Jason Reitman didn’t have a new movie ready for this year’s festival, but that didn’t stop him from soaking it all in. The “Juno” helmer delighted local cinephiles by organizing a table read of “American Beauty” at the Ryerson Theatre, with Bryan Cranston taking on Kevin Spacey’s role and Christina Hendricks portraying Annette Bening’s. Reitman gushed over the Ryerson, where he likes to premiere his films, and was spotted there hanging out later in the week — as well as at the Bell Lightbox, the festival headquarters that was partly funded by his famous family.

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LOVED IT OR HATED IT?: Some of the most loved films at TIFF this year were also among the most reviled. Terrence Malick’s followup to “The Tree of Life,” “To The Wonder,” stars big Hollywood names Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams and Javier Bardem — who barely speak at all during the nearly two-hour-long film. Some fans of Malick applauded, while many others simply seemed puzzled. Joss Whedon’s low-budget take on “Much Ado About Nothing” won much gushing praise but also failed to inspire some others, judging by a healthy number of walkouts. And then there was Brian De Palma’s “Passion,” also starring McAdams, which had its supporters but far more haters, including audience members who laughed — but weren’t quite sure if they were supposed to.

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A FAMILY AFFAIR: There are always plenty of actors and directors just going through the motions at the festival. So it’s endearing to meet talent who are genuinely excited to be presenting their films, so much so that they have their family in tow to share in the experience. “Looper” director Rian Johnson flew nearly two dozen family members from across the U.S. into Toronto for the world premiere of his film, which opened TIFF. And 22-year-old actor Caleb Landry Jones, star of Brandon Cronenberg’s debut film “Antiviral,” also had his proud parents along as he walked the red carpet.

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TWO OF A KIND: What are the odds that two indie films about addiction-addled school teachers would make buzz at the same festival? Both “Smashed” and “Yellow” share a remarkably similar premise: a female elementary school teacher who goes to class drunk or high and ultimately loses her job. “Smashed” is a far darker and grim look at alcoholism, while “Yellow” injects humour and levity in portraying one woman’s addiction to prescription drugs.

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FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS FOREVER: Stars of the beloved drama were all over the fest with big screen projects. Emmy-winning star Kyle Chandler portrayed former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s chief of staff in “Argo” while his television wife Connie Britton put in a characteristically likable turn in Edward Burns’ family drama “The Fitzgerald Family Christmas.” Even two members of the show’s fictional Christian speed metal band Crucifictorious got in on the action — Jesse Plemons (who played lovable outsider Landry Clarke) portrays the skeptical son of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s religious leader in “The Master,” while his onscreen drummer Caleb Landry Jones headlined Brandon Cronenberg’s “Antiviral.”

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By Canadian Press film festival reporters Victoria Ahearn, Andrea Baillie, Michael Oliveira, Nick Patch and Cassandra Szklarski.

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