Top 10 Most Undeserving Oscar Winners

The Top Ten
1 Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

Sorry, but I am just disgusted and ashamed at how corrupted and messed up Hollywood is nowadays. Though Jennifer Lawrence can act, I just don't think she deserved such a prestigious award. The Oscar is like the top of the top for great actors. Sorry, but please just think for a moment. Katharine Hepburn, Vivienne Leigh, Julie Andrews all those amazing actresses then compare them with Jennifer Lawrence. I just want Hollywood to stop making crappy films and stop making celebrities famous just by their looks! If anything I thought Jessica Chastain should've gotten the award for her performance in Zero Dark Thirty.

2 Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespeare In Love

I have too many reasons to say that this Oscar was not deserved. I love Gwyneth but of course this is very unfair. First of all, I don't know if it's true but it was rumored that she stole her role from her friend Winona Ryder. Her performance was no more than any mediocre movie performance (I'm not saying that in a bad way). Second, I have not seen Fernanda Montenegro's performance but I have read a lot about her and I could say that it was better than Gwyneth's. And well Cate Blanchett, in Elizabeth? She couldn't even begin to talk about how well she did in that movie. Honestly, in my opinion Cate was the best Elizabeth l that there has been in the movies so far. I think Cate and Fernanda were robbed (especially Cate in my opinion), and they deserved it much more than Gwyneth. In addition to the connections with Harvey Weinstein of which it is repugnant to even name him.

3 Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

If anybody should have won an oscar for that movie it's Joaquin Phoenix. Just look at the real footages of Johnny Cash and June Carter on YouTube and you will understand why Reese Witherspoon didn't deserve to win. She's just ( although she's a very good actress ) not convincing in that role.

Very accurate this award, she deserved it, and she is an excellent actress, she probably deserved the award for Wild but I am very happy that she won an oscar. It was obvious that she had to win a prize sooner or later.

4 Denzel Washington - Training Day

I very much enjoyed Training Day and Denzel's performance in it. Many have said that he only won because Crowe was notoriously obnoxious, confrontational and self-aggrandizing during the campaigning, and thus didn't deserve the award. Others have said that Denzel's win was politically motivated as that year's historic ceremony also gave Oscars to Halle Berry, Sidney Poitier, and was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. To be honest I don't think that either Training Day OR A Beautiful Mind were profoundly excellent cinema, nor were their performances among the best of all-time, but if I had to pick between them I'd probably lean a bit towards Denzel. I just thought that he left more of an impression.

5 Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

She comes in for a few minutes, sings terribly, and wins. Jennifer Lawrence gave one hell of a performance.

This movie is about 167 minutes and Hathaway's screen time most likely about 15-20 minutes and aind doing anything special.. that's all about make up, costume and lightning. She ain't add anything groundbreaking

I think Anne Hathaway was the best in her category. Her "I Dreamed a Dream" is just awesome.

6 Helen Hunt - As Good As It Gets

I only saw AGAIG once and don't really remember much about it. I thought that everyone in it was good, if not especially Oscar-worthy. In general though I don't think that Helen Hunt is a particularly great actress. Kind of cute and funny sometimes but that's about it. Her weird expressions and body language (she seems to always be sticking her face forward with confused eyes and her mouth half-open like some kind of lizard) just kind of annoy me.

I can't believe that a mediocre actress as Helen Hunt did get away with an oscar. The movie itself was not that great but Helen Hunt's performance ( like all her performances ) was certainly not good or even fair. She's just not a oscar-worthy actress ( and not only for that movie ).

7 Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

Amateur hour in any scene that involved actual acting. Best singer in the film by far but painfully bad acting. She was pushed so hard by the American Idol controversy that she won a sympathy Oscar.

She got this for one scene and that's when she is just singing. The one of the women from Babel deserved this award.

No shade at JH, but she got the award from her singing performance. Last time I checked, she was a professional singer, there was no acting involved. I guess MJ should've gotten an Oscar for Space Jam.

8 John Wayne - True Grit

John Wayne is not playing Rooster Cogburn, he's playing the only character he actually knows how to play: JOHN Wayne! Compare him to all the other nominees of that year and he just doesn't match them: John Voight and Dustin Hoffman in "Midnight Cowboy", Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and the legendary Peter O'Toole in "Goodbye, Mr. Chip" all prove more interesting, potent and just true to their characters than Wayne ever is.

John Wayne is overrated in general. Because the guy only knew how to play a swaggering, drawling blowhard I guess everyone was supposed to think that he was something special.

9 Renee Zellweger - Cold Mountain

In my humble opinion, she did a lousy job of acting. It was obvious she was trying too hard. Her character did not seem natural or believable.

It was a pretty competitive year but I think that Renee did just fine.

10 Roberto Benigni - Life Is Beautiful

Edward Norton walked away with the Oscar this year, but somehow a ranting, screaming maniac was allowed to run over and yank it from his hands. I think the Academy only brought him back one single time - the following year, to present the best supporting actress award (as is customary) - and then never mentioned him again. Seriously, when's the last time the world, let alone the Oscars, ever made a point of acknowledging this win? There's probably a good reason for that.

If his performance deserved and oscar, everybody in Hollywood should win an oscar!

The Contenders
11 Al Pacino - Scent of a Woman

Widely recognized as THE example of the Academy's habit of occasionally handing out an "overdue" Oscar to an inferior accomplishment to make up for previous snubs of more deserving efforts. Nothing more to see here.

Personally, I think the talent of Al Pacino exceeds that of most every actor in the book, and when it comes down to performances, and performances only, this is as good as any.

He should have won for Serpico, The Godfather: Part II, or Dog Day Afternoon instead of this. Hoo-Ah.

12 Tommy Lee Jones - The Fugitive

Worst Oscar clip ever! I think the line was, "I don't care." Why do I know this? It's been over 20 years and I can't forget a clip so stupid. As far as the Oscar that year, well it's a toss up between all nominees, Tommy Lee Jones paid his dues and I can't argue with that

Jones plays your everyday cop, as thousands of other actors have done on average T.V. crime dramas. If you want to see truly astonishing performances as cops, watch Frances McDormand in "Fargo" or Willem Dafoe in "The Boondock Saints". The latter of which wasn't even nominated for an Oscar.

13 Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

I remember laughing with shock when Sandra Bullock won an Oscar. I could barely reconcile those words: "Sandra Bullock has won an Oscar". And what did she win an Oscar for? An equally (and by equally I mean obscenely) overrated piece of inoffensive comedy sap in which she plays a sassy mama to some lumbering adopted goon of a football player. The popularity of this movie was a joke and she got by on sheer goodwill, not actual acting. The fact that she's all but disappeared from major motion pictures since that point makes me wonder if she decided to quit while she was ahead.

14 Emma Stone - La La Land

Totally deserved. I didn't see the movie yet but I've read non-professional critics ( even non--fans of Emma Stone ) all saying that she was outstanding. As for Amy Adams, it's sure that she was snubbed but certainly not because of Emma Stone. They nominated Meryl Streep for best leading actress once again ( and very undeserved. Thank God she didn't win ) and that was in my opinion the snub for Amy Adams. Not Emma Stone.

Musicals are highly underrated in academia. I think that Isabelle Huppert for Elle or Natalie Portman for Jackie deserved more this award. But I'm glad she won because actresses in musicals don't usually win.

15 Art Carney - Harry and Tonto
16 Sean Penn - Mystic River

An unpleasant character in a depressing movie filled with even more unpleasant characters. Penn was fine but didn't do much to earn the award other than yell passionately in one big scene. He's been better in other films, he just won for this because it was perceived to be "his time".

This performance is one of the best ever. Johnny Depp was also outstanding as Jack Sparrow, but Penn was a little better.

Laugh out loud @ johnny depp was better... Sean Penn was amazing in this. If any of this top ten list was innaccurate, this is.

17 Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
18 Kevin Spacey - American Beauty

I think that Kevin Spacey was really good in that movie and he is surely a oscar worthy winning actor. The problem is that this movie was not a oscar worthy movie at the first place. So, it's almost a shame that he won an oscar for a stupid movie. They should let him win an oscar for one of his better films instead than this one.

This one is really not true. Kevin Spacey was brilliant in American Beauty. He pulled off a role that most actors would have "over-cooked" or made look sleazy/cliche. His subtle nuances, comedic timing and so many other things made this performance great...
Oh wait.. did I just vote that I didn't like the performance? Laugh out loud... So confusing this...

19 Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting

This was a very strong category in 1997 and pretty much any of the nominated performances would have been a justified win. Longterm goodwill (no pun intended) probably made Williams the sentimental favorite but the fact remains that this was one of his best performances. As a character who had multiple facets of patience, understanding, frustration, joy, and quiet heartbreak, Williams nailed a complex role with subtlety and credibility. A well-deserved win in my opinion.

He got that award for speaking slowly with a serious face. Greg Kinnear should have won.

20 Cuba Gooding Jr. - Jerry Maguire

How this clown won an Oscar for this over-the-top, cringe-inducing performance is beyond human comprehension. Especially when you consider that Edward Norton gave one of the greatest performances ever in Primal Fear. Then, not to be out done, his acceptance speech is equally awful. Pathetic.

If anyone from this movie was going to win an oscar, it should've been tom, then again I don't see why it got a single nomination..

If I were in the audience during his acceptance "speech",I would take his Oscar and give it to anyone on the streets.

21 Michael Caine - The Cider House Rules

Michael Caine was the definition of class and humility when he accepted the award, which immediately nullified the irritation that I felt upon hearing his name called. That said, I feel that each of the other nominees happened to put in objectively superior performances that year (with the exception of Jude Law, whose film I didn't see).

Extremly undeserving. This was Tom Cruise's Oscar. Michael Caine is a great actor but this wasn't one of his best works. He was the weakest of the nominees by a large margin and he shouldn't have even been nominated as Chris Cooper in American Beauty was far better.

22 Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Penelope Cruz gave an excellent performance, and Spain is getting more and more recognition at the Oscars. Although Penelope Cruz has never won an award for best leading actress (and perhaps she deserved it more than Vicky Cristina Barcelona) this award is well deserved. In addition to the fact that she has won a statuette with a role that had parts of dialogue in another language, I think she has a lot of merit. I think I speak on behalf of all of Spain if I say that we are super proud of your award.

23 Frances Mcdormand - Fargo

It was a cartoon cariacature of transparently disingenuous face pulling. It was entertaining and in the spirit of the film but is that really good acting?

24 Charlton Heston - Ben-Hur

Charlton Heston was good at who he actually plays: himself!

25 Marlee Matlin - Children of a Lesser God

She was OK but Sigourney Weaver (Aliens), Jane Fonda (The Morning After) and Kathleen Turner (Peggy Sue Got Married) were much more impressive!

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