Decent acting and story but hardly deserving of the Oscar

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 2001)

I thought the acting was fairly decent by Julia Roberts and her costar Albert Finney, but I do feel that the Oscar was undeserved. It seemed like this year's Oscars were more of a popularity contest than accolades for true accomplishment. Ellen Burstyn was no doubt robbed of her Best Leading Actress Oscar for Requiem for a Dream. The other 2 actresses who I felt won premature, undeserved Oscars were Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love and Helen Hunt in 1997 for As Good as It Gets. Don't get me wrong: all decent performances but all in all pretty ordinary. Who was most deserving of the Best Actress Academy Award in the past decade? Without a doubt, Jessica Lange for 1994's Blue Sky, followed closely by Susan Sarandon in 1995 for Dead Man Walking and Kathy Bates in 1990 for Misery. Don't want to get off the subject, but might as well point out how I felt about Best Actor. Russell Crowe---Best Actor? I thought I'd puke. Kevin Spacey, Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump, and Anthony Hopkins---all undeserving. Most deserving??? That would be the brilliant Nicolas Cage for 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, followed closely by Al Pacino for 1992's Scent of a Woman, Roberto Benigni for 1998's Life is Beautiful [which I feel sour that it didn't win Best Picture], and Geoffrey Rush for 1996's Shine.