The Nominees:
Matt Damon in “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz in “Inglorious Basterds”
Who Will Win?
Christoph Waltz is may as well already have the award in his hand, he’s as nailed on as Heath Ledger was in the same category this time last year with some bookies offering odds of 1/33 on him taking home the golden statuette. Matt Damon was even quoted as saying: “I emailed Stanley Tucci, we have a contest to see who could look more magnanimous when Christoph Waltz wins!” He’s been the favourite ever since winning the Best Actor award at Cannes back in May and has practically picked up every gong going since. There would be a separate ‘who should win?’ heading below, but what’s the point, Waltz will deserve this win. His performance as Hans Landa the ‘jew hunter was phenomenal, and with a role in Seth Rogen’s upcoming Green Hornet flick it seems he’s set to become a Hollywood fixture regardless.
The Dark Horse?
If anyone else were to snatch it from Waltz, which they won’t, but if they were it would probably be Stanley Tucci. The actor – who could have been nominated for either this or Julie and Julia, a film he was similarly excellent in – picked up The Lovely Bones’ only nomination at this years Academy Awards for his performance as the eerie serial killer George Harvey. It’s credit to Tucci’s performance that even with his character’s key ‘rape-and-murder’ scene glossed over in the adaptation he still remains utterly chilling. Still won’t win though.
And The Rest?
Despite being the best thing in the otherwise overrated Invictus, Matt Damon will have to wait a little longer to add to his single Academy Award for the Good Will Hunting screenplay. Christopher Plummer was decent in The Last Station but it’s frankly beyond me how the picture picked up any nominations whatsoever. That just leaves Woody Harrelson, the Cheers alumnus has had a great year thanks to the hilarious Zombieland, the box office hit 2012 and now an Oscar nomination for his role in The Messenger. It was the shock nod when nominations were announced but he puts in a great performance in the latest of the US’s ‘not about war’ war movies.
