The 83rd annual Academy Awards are less than a week away, and the Quad is here to bring you up to speed on the most popular nominees, potential upsets, and can’t miss winners for this year’s Oscars. Each day, a different critic will be counting down our top picks (and the safest bets) for the winners in each of the big categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.
Now it’s time for the Best Actor award. There are newcomers and old pros, and this year’s Best Actor nominees are the cream of their crop. From Jesse Eisenberg’s awkwardly wonderful portrayal of Facebook mogul, Mark Zukerberg, to Jeff Bridge’s gritty Rooster Cogburn, it will be an interesting race to see who gets the coveted golden man.
The Favorite: Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
After being nominated last year for his role in A Single Man and being snubbed of out of the prize by Jeff Bridges, it’s Colin Firth’s turn to take home the Oscar. His performance has been critically acclaimed, and he’s already won the Critics’ Choice Award, the Golden Globe, the BAFTA Award and the SAG Award for his role as the stuttering King George VI. There’s no stopping him now, and the Oscar has his name written all over it – and he deserves it too, having crafted his second great performance in a row. He’s come a long way since his Pride and Prejudice days, and here’s hoping for more Oscar-worthy roles from him.
Worth Mentioning: Jeff Bridges – True Grit
In an ironic twist, Jeff Bridges will probably have to sit back and watch Colin Firth go on stage to say his acceptance speech this year. However, that doesn’t make Jeff Bridges’ performance any less Oscar-worthy than Colin Firth’s. He has taken an iconic John Wayne character, reinvented it, made it his own and in the process put on a performance worthy of the Duke himself. Even though his accent was a tad thick at times, it was no easy task playing the gritty Cogburn, and Jeff Bridges did it wonderfully. Now that’s something worth applauding.
The Odd One Out: None!
All five actors nominated have proved their worth with their performances. While only one will win, the nominations were all well deserved. Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco will probably have more nominations in the future, since they have aptly demonstrated their acting chops in The Social Network and 127 Hours. Javier Bardem also deserves his nomination in Biutiful, since he is the first actor to be nominated in the Best Actor category for a role that is entirely in Spanish, which is pretty impressive.
The Verdict: Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
Colin Firth is going to win and there’s no doubt about it. If you’re going to bet on a category in some kind of Oscar pool, put your money down for him. He’s won every other big award that there is to win, so Colin Firth has this one in the bag.
