The Best Acting Debut of the Year

Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace is structured more like a novel than a film, and in this case that is a compliment. The film plays out in sections that each serve a dramatic function, while always seamlessly providing the audience with the little details that make a story fascinating. The beginning sections of the film establish the life Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno) leads with an economy the first-time directs rarely display. A viewer can easily marvel at the first-class directing, editing, and cinematography, but all eyes will probably be drawn to Catalina Sandino Moreno. Moreno, 23 but playing 17, captures all the contradictions of a strong-willed young woman who is sure of herself while seemingly always aware that she isn't as in control as she makes it seem. Because the film offers a documentary like approach to explaining what she must do to herself and what she experiences - the sequence on the plane is a claustrophobic nightmare that will work on an audience's nerves with a Hitchcockian precision - the audience is always with her. But it is because of her impressively mature performance that you care about this head-strong girl who feels the need to act like she has all the answers even when she knows she doesn't. Of the five best actress nominees Moreno has the least chance to take the award home, but if there were an award for debut performances she would be a lock to win it.