People Who Won Oscars For The Wrong Film

Ah, the Oscars. You can always trust the Academy to award the right person with the right award at the right time … right?

Since Oscars season is starting soon, I thought it would be interesting to go back to time the Academy got it wrong – specifically, when they awarded an actor or director with the trophy for an undeserving film when the obvious correct choice was right there!

Before we begin, you can check out some of my related blog posts below:

Guillermo del Tero

NOT: The Shape Of Water

We’re starting off with an ice cold take – “The Shape Of Water” shouldn’t have won either Best Picture OR Best Director in 2017.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread”, Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird”, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” and Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” were ALL better candidates for both awards, despite del Toro’s usual fantastical brilliance.

YES: Pan’s Labyrinth

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is one of the greatest Fantasy films I’ve ever seen, but in typical Academy fashion they turned their noses up to anything that wasn’t pure drama (in other words, this film didn’t even get nominated).

The visuals and special effects are stunning, the story hits a lot harder than it has any right to, and del Toro directs the hell out of it.

Leonardo DiCaprio

NOT: The Revenant

“The Revenant” was a classic example of the Academy giving an actor a lifetime achievement award rather than a trophy for the merits of the film in question.

DiCaprio’s performance is good but not ground-breaking, so the Oscar probably should’ve gone to Bryan Cranston in “Trumbo” or Michael Fassbender in “Steve Jobs” instead.

YES: The Wolf Of Wall Street

Say what you will about Scorsese’s bombastic “The Wolf Of Wall Street”, but DiCaprio acted the hell out of that part.

He lost to another strong nominee in Matthew McConaughey for “Dallas Buyers Club”, but I still think DiCaprio deserved it for the outrageous things he was asked to do.

Whoopi Goldberg

NOT: Ghost

Annette Bening in “The Grifters”, Lorraine Bracco in “Goodfellas”, and “Mary McDonnell in “Dancing with Wolves” were just some of the fantastic actresses that Whoopi Goldberg beat for the Oscar.

I’m not exactly sure what Goldberg did in “Ghost” to warrant the prestigious award, but the Academy must’ve seen something at the time.

YES: The Color Purple

Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple” is filled to the brim with gut-wrenching performances from an all-star cast, which makes it even more incredible that a young Whoopi Goldberg managed to stand out from the pack.

She ended up losing to Geraldine Page for “The Trip to Bountiful” … does anyone even remember that film?

Danny Boyle

NOT: Slumdog Millionaire

“Slumdog Millionaire” is a fun film, but was it Best Director worthy? Absolutely not.

2008 was a weak year in this category to be fair, but even so it felt like any director could’ve made this film and it would’ve turned out the same.

YES: Trainspotting

“Trainspotting” is very much a cult classic that had a low budget and a lot of amateurish (yet charming) qualities, so I’m not surprised it didn’t even get a nomination.

Considering how early this film came in Danny Boyle’s filmography, it’s amazing how well the direction came across in the final package.

Jeff Bridges

NOT: Crazy Heart

People seem to agree that the Best Actor win for Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” was a legacy award.

The year didn’t have too many stand-out performances (in terms of the nominations, anyway) but I doubt this was the best of them.

YES: The Big Lebowski

As is becoming common on this list, “The Big Lebowski” didn’t even net Jeff Bridges a Best Actor nomination. The Academy felt so bad about it that they gave him an award for a nothing performance in “Crazy Heart” … at least, I think that’s the reason.

Comedy performances hardly get the respect they deserve, and Bridges should’ve won the trophy for the sheer range expected of him.

Morgan Freeman

NOT: Million Dollar Baby

Morgan Freeman is, by all accounts, a legend. His performance in “Million Dollar Baby”, however, is far from legendary.

There wasn’t much going on in this year, so maybe he was the best of a boring bunch, but there was a much stronger performance ten years earlier than got overlooked.

YES: The Shawshank Redemption

“The Shawshank Redemption” is one of the greatest films of all time, and Morgan Freeman’s performance is arguably the one that grounds the whole thing.

He lost to a strong Tom Hanks performance in “Forrest Gump”, but I think Freeman’s performance is more impressive for doing a lot with a little.

Kate Winslet

NOT: The Reader

Does anyone remember Kate Winslet’s performance in “The Reader”? Or even the film “The Reader” to begin with?

YES: Titanic / Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Winslet had two other performances that I think deserved acclaim – she lost “Titanic” to Helen Hunt in “As Good As It Gets”, and she lost “Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind” to Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby”.

Of the two, I’m amazed she didn’t win for “Titanic”. That film won pretty much every other award, so why wasn’t she recognised?

Al Pacino

NOT: Scent Of A Woman

Of all the “legacy awards” the Academy have ever given, Al Pacino in “Scent Of A Woman” reeks the most. It’s an over-the-top performance that likely wouldn’t make Pacino’s personal top thirty best!

The saddest part of his undeserved win, I think, is that Robert Downey Jr. in “Chaplin” and Denzel Washington in “Malcolm X” got snubbed as a result.

YES: The Godfather – Part 2

Pacino gave a fantastic performance in the first film, but his tenure as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather – Part 2” is some of the finest acting I’ve ever seen.

He lost to Art Carney in “Harry and Tonto” … Suffice it to say, that film and its performances haven’t stood the test of time.

Martin Scorsese

NOT: The Departed

I’m not going to pretend that “The Departed” is a bad film – in fact, it probably did deserve the award amidst a weak group of nominees. But it’s crazy that this is the film that won Scorsese his long-overdue Oscar.

YES: Goodfellas / Taxi Driver / Raging Bull

“Goodfellas” (which lost to Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves”), “Taxi Driver” (which wasn’t nominated), and “Raging Bull” (which lost to Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People”) all should’ve taken the Best Director award home.

If you include “The Departed”, that means Scorsese should’ve had four trophies by now!

Jamie Lee Curtis

NOT: Everything Everywhere All At Once

Of all the recent Best / Supporting Actor / Actress wins, Jamie Lee Curtis in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” felt the least deserved. She was fine in that movie, but hardly anything worth writing home about.

I would’ve either given the award to Kerry Condon in “The Banshees of Inisherin” or, more likely, to Stephanie Hsu for her star-making performance in “EEAAO” that even outshone Curtis!

YES: Halloween

“Halloween” wasn’t nominated for any awards, which I’m not surprised by. It was one of the first Horror films of its kind, so the Academy’s snobbery likely overlooked it.

Jamie Lee Curtis is the definitive “final girl” in my eyes, and I can’t think of many Horror performances where the sheer terror was so expertly conveyed.

Robert Zemeckis

NOT: Forrest Gump

“Forrest Gump” gets a bad rap these days for being cheesy and overblown, but I think Robert Zemeckis deserved the acclaim for his tight direction. What I can’t excuse, however, was the nominee he beat to win the award.

Quentin Tarantino should’ve won Best Director for his work on “Pulp Fiction”, a.k.a. the best film of all time. Sorry, Zemeckis, but the competition was just too strong this year.

YES: Back To The Future

For as popular and entertaining as “Back To The Future” was, I’m surprised it didn’t earn Zemeckis a nomination at the time.

It’s hard to do a family Action-Adventure film well, but Zemeckis made arguably the definitive one. That makes it worthy of acclaim, no?

Alfonso Cuaron

NOT: Roma

“Roma” was a strange phenomena back in 2018. Everyone was raving about it for Best Picture and Best Director, but ever since it’s seemingly dropped off the face of the earth.

Cuaron beat Yorgos Lanthimos for “The Favourite” and Spike Lee for “BlackKklansman”, two directorial performances that were more notable.

YES: Children Of Men

Considering how mind-boggling the direction is on “Children Of Men”, it’s borderline criminal that it didn’t earn Cuaron a nomination.

He won’t feel too hard-done by as he won for “Gravity” a few years later, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more visceral, intense film.

Jack Nicholson

NOT: As Good As It Gets / Terms of Endearment

We’re ending on a big one – I think Jack Nicholson should count himself lucky for winning two of his Academy Awards.

His 1997 win for “As Good As It Gets” should’ve gone to Matt Damon in “Good Will Hunting”, and he’s fortunate that 1983 was a weak year otherwise “Terms Of Endearment” wouldn’t have had a hope in hell.

YES: Chinatown

In the same year that Pacino’s stint in “The Godfather – Part 2” lost to Art Carney in “Harry and Tonto”, Nicholson should’ve been a contender for “Chinatown”. Is there something about Carney’s performance that I’m missing?

Granted, Nicholson only had to wait an extra year for the trophy for his role in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, but he and Pacino should feel hard-done by nonetheless.

Aaaand that’s my list! You can check out some of my latest blog posts below: