The Oscar Week Breakdown: Part V of VIII

BEST ACTOR

What can you say about a race that's such a foregone conclusion? Johnny Depp, Clint Eastwood, Don Cheadle and Leonardo DiCaprio are all fine actors who gave solid performances, but they just picked the wrong year to be nominated. Jamie Foxx was so good in Ray that this award has been a lock for him ever since the movie came out in theaters last October. The Degree of Difficulty factor is off the charts here. Consider:

A) He had to play a celebrity with well-known mannerisms
B) He had to sing and play the piano in many scenes
C) He had very little help from co-stars
D) He had to do everything without showing the audience his eyes

That's what you call an air-tight case. All that's left is to discuss where Foxx ranks among best performances of the last decade. So I'll do just that.

Looking over all of the Best Actor winners since 1994, the only performances that really jump out at me are Kevin Spacey in American Beauty and Sean Penn in Mystic River. Those are the only ones where I really felt that the actor really went above and beyond the level of "Nailed the Part." Not only were you blown away in the theater but you're still thinking about the character three nights after you saw the movie. On that same nominee list were some great performances that didn't end up winning: Ed Norton in American History X, Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan and one of my favorites, Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt. Even with all the Sideways hoopla this year, I'm a little miffed that everyone seems to have forgotten how good Nicholson was in Alexander Payne's previous film.

But some of my favorite lead actors over the past 10 years weren't nominated for an Oscar: Ed Norton in Fight Club, Guy Pearce in L.A. Confidential and Robert DeNiro in Heat. Just indelible performances that get better every time I see them on DVD. So where does Foxx's Ray performance stack up? Here's my top five:

1. Spacey
2. Norton (Fight Club)
3. Foxx
4. Pearce
5. Nicholson

Not bad for a guy who made his name in Booty Call.

Should win: Jamie Foxx
Will win: Jamie Foxx