Which performance that swept the awards is the most over-rated?

[Elessar]

Renee Zellweger all the way. That was a complete travesty. I could not believe how such a bad performance could get someone so many awards.

[Mike Aiello]

I guess it's just an issue of semantics. To me, Renee Zellweger winning everything left and right was not surprising. For one, as over-the-top as she was, she was (in my opinion anyway) the life force of the otherwise boring "Cold Mountain". That alone gives you a big boost. But more importantly, she lost two times. Okay, so no one expected her to win for "Bridget Jones", but it gave her the momentum for "Chicago", where she was very clearly runner-up and I'm sure plenty of people thought she should have won that year, given the "Chicago" juggernaut. Did she win for the right performance? No, but that's the nature of the Oscars...especially when you lose, it gives you momentum the following year or two and you win, even for a lesser role (unless you're Glenn Close, of course).

So anyway, her "sweep" did not surprise me. Overrated? Well, I mean everyone here hates her lol. In retrospect, she's always on the top of lists for people who don't deserve the award. And again, who would have won if not her? Shohreh Aghdashloo? Wishful thinking at best, I think. Probably the other nominee that played white trash, Holly Hunter lol.

[ldw]

Soooo much awful to choose from, but I'll go with the Farting Dictator, with extra bonus barf points for taking out Peter O'Toole in his beautiful career-capping performance. I don't know if I'll ever truly get over that one.

That is a perplexing one. It isn't as if O'Toole was just being nominated as a sympathy vote for a legend. That was a profoundly moving, extremely complex portrayal that ranks among the best work of any lead actor in the last decade. I thought highly of how O'Toole presents a man whose desires are not gone but keeps it from being some dirty old man caricature. And it goes to Whitaker for a solid but, imo, hardly remarkable performance. Whitaker has been far better (his work on The Shield which was snubbed by The Emmys). I also liked Yaphet Kotto's take on Idi Amin from Raid on Entebbe more.

[Vincent Blanchett]

I have to disagree here. I vastly prefer Roberts to Burstyn. I actually think Julia is a terrific winner. Maybe not the best of the nominees (that would be Linney, I suppose), but it's a vibrant, entertaining turn that sits well in my memory.

Yes, I agree. It's a great movie star turn, where the role and her star persona really fitted each other so perfectly. Roberts' win is most deserving

[camille]

Witherspoon. I will never forgive her for stealing Keira's Oscar.

[Charming]

So I'm the only one who likes Renee?

[Mike Aiello]

Witherspoon. I will never forgive her for stealing Keira's Oscar.

C'mon camille, you know Keira was lucky to be nominated.

[Elessar]

Witherspoon. I will never forgive her for stealing Keira's Oscar.

[Zuranthium]

Rush or Hudson.

[dlong5665]

That is a perplexing one. It isn't as if O'Toole was just being nominated as a sympathy vote for a legend. That was a profoundly moving, extremely complex portrayal that ranks among the best work of any lead actor in the last decade. I thought highly of how O'Toole presents a man whose desires are not gone but keeps it from being some dirty old man caricature. And it goes to Whitaker for a solid but, imo, hardly remarkable performance. Whitaker has been far better (his work on The Shield which was snubbed by The Emmys). I also liked Yaphet Kotto's take on Idi Amin from Raid on Entebbe more.

I completely agree with you two, O'Toole was absolutely brilliant and Venus and I am still confused to this day how Whitaker swept for a very one note performance compared to O'Toole's. I mean he had so much working for him and he was ignored for Whitaker........ farting. I don't even think Whitaker was best in show, or even the lead. It's just strange.

[Kgirl]

C'mon camille, you know Keira was lucky to be nominated.

[RadioGirl]

Almost all of them, but I really dislike Jamie Foxx in Ray

[guido]

Witherspoon for sleepwalking through Walk the Line.