Why wasn't this movie nominated for Best Picture?

Rating: 9/10 (7 March 2008)

I just watched this film on DVD after having read the book about 6 years ago. I found it to be an excellent film adaptation of an original story.The acting is excellent. Emile Hirsch gives one of those "career defining" performances. The rest of the cast was quite good. Hal Holbrook has a small but very touching part. What impressed me about the film overall is the excellent story telling. Sean Penn found a way to make the story compelling by using different voices to narrate the story. My major question is "Why was this not nominated for Best Picture?". I would say it is a better film than Michael Clayton or No Country. I wonder if it was hurt by the way it challenges contemporary social and cultural values? Of course one could just resort to saying that Chris was "crazy" but that doesn't really address the fact that he tried to live a life based on complete integrity without compromise. An inspiring story, a heroic tale? A great film.