I’ve always wondered - Am I the only one convinced that Ms. Connelly received that Oscar for A Beautiful Mind because the Academy couldn’t bring themselves to admit they’d seen Requiem For a Dream? They didn’t give it to Burstyn, either, although she was at least nominated.
I thought the Beautiful Mind Oscar was a strange choice, b/c she wasn’t particularly good IMHO - just too wooden. Either they were voting for Nash’s real-life wife, or giving it to Connelly for other work (for which she should have been recognized).
I would have liked to give her an Oscar for being so hot in 1991’s The Rocketeer, but I’m just glad she won for something. She really is a solid actress, and one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood.
This is rather common. I mean, do you think Russell Crowe deserved the award for Gladiator? I really won for the Insider.
Paul Newman won for Colour of Money, but should have won a number of times before that role(in fact, they gave him the honorary one the year before out of respect and guilt).
Denzel won for Training Day but really they were making up for The Hurricane. I think this is a very common thing now. Thus all the articles that compare who will win with who should win.
Only* movies that enough people care about win… If you gave the performance of the century in a really cheesey, bad, B movie, it is doubtful you would get an award for anything.
Oscars are rather pointless. I mean, I enjoy when I like the same movie that wins, but you can’t pick a “best” in a field that has infinite possibilites and nuances. It’s just not possible.
Jennifer Connolly was superb in Requiem, but she was also really great in House of Sand and Fog. It’s all about which way the wind is blowing that particular day.
Still, Connelly’s win wasn’t surprising because she was a defacto lead. Although the story is about Nash, she had a much larger part than her competition and would’ve easily qualified for Lead if they had pushed her in that direction; in fact, the SAG awards nominated her for Lead Actress for Mind. Jim Broadbent, who won Supporting Actor for Iris (an another spouse of a mentally deteriorating celebrity) that same year was also essentially a lead in that film, too.