Add the fact that she and Johnny Depp provide the year's best on-screen sexual chemistry, and you get a treat for all your senses. But she doesn't stand a chance against the Roberts juggernaut. As Sammy Prescott, a single mother coping with a life she didn't plan on and a troubled brother she loves but can't fix, Linney proves that less is more with a performance that begins with a bubble and ends in a boil. Del Toro is a minimalist who actually convinced director Steven Soderbergh to cut his character's dialogue and allow him to convey many of his character's thoughts, fears and innate nobility through gestures, body language and his steady, steely gaze. In a huge, talented ensemble cast portrayed across a gigantic artistic canvas, Del Toro stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Bridges is a long shot.
He stands out because he has so little ego as a performer. Dafoe may be Del Toro's toughest competition. But his performances in two other films released this year should have been his ticket to the Oscars. Instead of being sinister, sadistic and menacing, his take on Commodus comes off like a textbook sociopath with a large dose of drag queen. This is a category with no favorite, and almost anyone could win.