One of the most coveted Oscars is always for the Best Actor. Can an actor win the Oscar in a foreign film? It’s been done before. Can an actor win an Oscar for portraying a drunk U.S. Marshal? It’s been done before. Can an actor take an unlikable character all the way to the stage? It’s been done before. Can an actor take a character’s disability and turn it to gold? It’s been done before. Can an actor completely dominate the screen and win an Oscar? That’s definitely been done before. The question is, who can do it this time?
Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Javier Bardem is Uxball, a man in free fall, on the road to redemption. That’s about all I know about this movie. It is the only one I was unable to watch. Very few times has an actor in a foreign film been nominated for best actor and that says a lot about his performance. Bardem is a three-time nominee and one time Oscar winner for No Country For Old Men.
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn, the cantankerous U.S. Marshal in search of a killer and a good bottle of Hooch. Bridges is the reigning Best Actor and this time he tackles the role that John Wayne won his Oscar for. What I noticed this year is that Jeff Bridges does The Dude most of the time, (See Tron, The Big Lebowski, Men Who Stare At Goats, Tron: Legacy) and he is good at it, but it is the roles where he gets away from The Dude that he does better (See Crazy Heart, True Grit). This is Bridges’ sixth nomination.
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Jesse Eisenberg is Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook. I first noticed Eisenberg in the Land films. Adventureland and Zombieland. I only saw the trailer for Adventureland but I loved Zombieland. My girlfriend says she always gets Eisenberg and Michael Cera mixed up. I can see her point, they seemed to be in similar roles for a while. For this role Eisenberg has to make a not very nice guy likable. He gets close but I don’t think he quite does it.
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Colin Firth is King George VI and he has a problem with stuttering. Firth seems to always play normal down to earth guys and someone you would trust your daughter with. He’s just a nice guy. This is Firth’s second nomination in consecutive years. Last year he lost to Jeff Bridges. This year I don’t think he will. I am calling this one for Firth. Sometimes the nice guys do win.
James Franco - 127 Hours
James Franco is Aron Ralston who finds himself in a bad situation, with his arm stuck and miles from any help. You have to have some pretty good acting chops to be able to carry a film like this. Just think about it. 90% of this film is James Franco by himself. Sam Rockwell proved he could do it with Moon, and here Franco proves he can, not many other actors could pull this off.
Hilarity Ensues 