Ranking the 2011 Best Picture Nominees
Tags: Oscars, The Artist, Academy Awards, Film Reviews, Movies

Ranking the 2011 Best Picture Nominees

Does ‘silent’ film still stand up as the best of the best? Did it ever? Warm3wind Follow Dec 23, 2020 · 13 min read

By Todd Hill

Jean Dujardin, right, star of Best Picture winner “The Artist,” poses with his Academy Award for Best Actor as he holds his co-star, Uggie, at the 84th Academy Awards on Feb. 26, 2012 in Hollywood. Photo courtesy of Agence France-Presse/AFP

The possibility that hindsight can be 20/20 should never be confused with a guarantee that it will be. This is especially true of motion pictures, and thank goodness.

Professional film critics — an endangered species, although there’s still a few of them around — may appear to have an easy job. Who wouldn’t want to get paid for going to movies every day (or having them come to you as screeners) and then writing about them? The challenge critics take on, however, is rendering instant verdicts on movies that will inevitably be re-evaluated over the years as the films age.

The ballpark time frame for cinematic re-evaluation, ideally, starts at 10 years. In other words, this article ranking the 2011 nominees for the Academy Award for Best Picture is just about there, as it was written at the end of 2020. It hasn’t taken a decade for “The Artist” to raise eyebrows for winning Best Picture; skepticism surrounding that questionable win began on Oscar night. But it’s now abundantly clear, I believe (if it wasn’t in 2011), which of that year’s Best Picture nominees stands head and shoulders above the rest, and it’s certainly not “The Artist.”

At first glance, this grouping of films doesn’t look that strong, a first impression that stands up to further scrutiny. Below is my ranking, by personal preference, of all nine of 2011’s Best Picture nominees. The two films with the most overall Academy Award nominations also received the most Oscars. It’s always nice when that happens; these titles are also relatively high on my list. Tellingly, the bottom three movies on my lineup went home with no awards.

The 84th Academy Awards were notable for the return of Billy Crystal, who agreed to host the show for a ninth and final time after an absence from that stage for eight years. Talk about diminishing returns, but credit Crystal, ever the professional, for stepping in after co-producer Brett Ratner was sacked for making some offensive statements (Ratner’s choice for host, Eddie Murphy, followed him out the door).

Another highlight that year was Christopher Plummer’s Best Supporting Actor win for his role in “Beginners” at age 82, making him the oldest person to win a performing Oscar in Academy Awards history, a record that still stands. On to my ranking:

Brad Pitt, second from right, is surrounded by a bunch of surly baseball scouts as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane, in the Bennett Miller film “Moneyball.” Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing

Moneyball

The measure of a good sports movie isn’t whether it can hold the interest of someone uninterested in that sport. More importantly, it should be found compelling by diehard fans. That “Moneyball,” about Billy Beane’s transformation of baseball’s Oakland A’s via “sabermetrics,” is able to do both is intended as highest praise. Time has been kind to this film, and especially Aaron Sorkin’s script. In fact, I would go so far as to include it among the top 50 best sports movies ever made as well as the top 10 films about baseball. It also includes what is arguably Brad Pitt’s best performance in a lead role (he plays Beane) to date. The real find here, however, is Jonah Hill, branching out from a long line of comedic roles to earn an Oscar nomination as Beane’s nerdy sidekick, a performance he would more or less reprise two years later as Leonardo DiCaprio’s partner in crime for “The Wolf of Wall Street,” garnering another Oscar nod.

Oscar nominations, 6 — Best Picture, Actor (Brad Pitt), Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), Adapted Screenplay (Stan Chervin, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian), Film Editing, Sound Mixing. Oscar wins, 0.

In Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” Owen Wilson stars as a screenwriter given to elaborate daydreams, with Rachel McAdams as his frustrated fiancee. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Midnight in Paris

The filmmaker Woody Allen has been accused of heinous acts that can’t be overlooked or dismissed. During the 1990’s the courts tossed aside sexual abuse allegations that dogged the director for years, and still do. I’ve nothing to add, except to state that I reject cancel culture in all its forms. Toss out Allen if you wish; the fact remains he’s made scores of exemplary movies worth watching (as well as many more mediocre ones that aren’t). “Midnight in Paris” is one of his better efforts. Owen Wilson stars as a screenwriter who stumbles through a portal into the 1920’s, and a Paris that’s romantic, lyrical and populated with famous and fascinating creative figures who inspire him — and us. The movie harbors a magical quality that’s hard to resist, as well as a large, all-star cast (including Rachel McAdams at perhaps her most fetching), dating from when everyone still wanted to work with Allen.

Oscar nominations, 4 — Best Picture, Director (Woody Allen), Original Screenplay (Allen), Art Direction. Oscar wins, 1 — Original Screenplay.

Asa Butterfield plays a boy who lives in the Gare Montparnasse railway station in Paris during the 1930’s, where he has multiple adventures, in Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo.” Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Hugo

This was evidently a good year for cinematic evocations of early 20th century Paris. Martin Scorsese’s adventure flick — like “Midnight in Paris” set in that time and place — is about two kids (and a steampunk automaton), but that’s not to say this is a kids’ flick. Youngsters may be the target audience, but this full-fledged adult found much here that was transporting. I run hot and cold on Scorsese’s embrace of the latest film-making technologies to tell a story (ice cold on his use of fake faces in 2019’s “The Irishman”), but this version of this movie would not have been possible without the director’s reliance on the digital. The film is bursting with both comedy and pathos in a way that makes it challenging to put in a box, in addition to being a consistent visual treat. The niftiest thing about the picture, however, at least to this viewer, is Scorsese’s celebration of early film-making via Ben Kingsley’s characterization of Georges Melies.

Oscar nominations, 11 — Best Picture, Director (Martin Scorsese), Adapted Screenplay (John Logan), Film Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Original Score, Costume Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects. Oscar wins, 5 — Cinematography, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects.

George Clooney portrays the patriarch of a Hawaiian family with parenting challenges, with Shailene Woodley as one of those challenges, in “The Descendants,” directed by Alexander Payne. Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

The Descendants

The films of Alexander Payne have always had a strong sense of place, from his native Nebraska (in “Nebraska,” 2013) to California wine country (“Sideways,” 2004) to Hawaii in this effort. And the setting here isn’t just window-dressing, but a key part of the story, which is admirable. A familial drama with a generous side helping of comedy, the film captures George Clooney near the peak of his stardom, while also featuring a breakthrough performance by Shailene Woodley as an angsty adolescent (it’s unfortunate that the promise she shows here was never quite realized as the 2010’s unspooled). The screenplay gets interesting when certain information is revealed about Clooney’s dying wife that propels the movie forward, but there’s a ramshackle quality to the storytelling that ultimately keeps the film from leaving much of an impression. Much the same could be said of nearly all of Payne’s pictures.

Oscar nominations, 5 — Best Picture, Director (Alexander Payne), Actor (George Clooney), Adapted Screenplay (Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash), Film Editing. Oscar wins, 1 — Adapted Screenplay.

Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo portray stars of the silver screen at the dawn of the sound era, albeit silently, in Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist,” the winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. France

The Artist

It’s been written in many places that “The Artist” was the first silent film to win Best Picture since the very first winner of the award, 1927’s “Wings.” Wrong! Technically, lack of dialogue doesn’t render this film silent, not when it has a musical score, in addition to a handful of noises thrown in for reasons that are unclear. In other words, “The Artist” is a gimmick flick. It’s also hugely derivative. Take away the deep-dive homages it pays to various other films (“Singin’ in the Rain,” any of the “A Star is Born” efforts), not to mention film genres, and there’s not much left. Lack of originality doesn’t mean “The Artist” isn’t highly entertaining, but we’ve seen this before, and with better execution. At least the dog is cute. When there were only five Best Picture nominees, a film like this would often be added to fill out the slate in a weak grouping. But they didn’t walk off with the prize.

Oscar nominations, 10 — Best Picture, Director (Michel Hazanavicius), Actor (Jean Dujardin), Supporting Actress (Berenice Bejo), Original Screenplay (Hazanavicius), Film Editing, Cinematography, Art Direction, Original Score, Costume Design. Oscar wins, 5 — Best Picture, Director, Actor, Original Score, Costume Design.

In the Tate Taylor movie “The Help,” based on a novel, Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis, from left, play housekeepers in the American South during the 1960’s. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The Help

Representation shouldn’t be this hard. Blacks are by no means alone when it comes to not seeing their experiences adequately dramatized on film; this is a legitimate complaint about Hollywood for literally every minority. But there’s a long tradition in America of not trusting blacks to tell their own stories (at least not if you’re looking to attract a white audience), which tends to lead to movies like this one. Emma Stone stars as a spunky, wannabe journalist in early 1960’s Jackson, Miss., who decides to write a magazine article about the black domestic workers in the white homes of people she knows. Kudos to Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for taking over the movie with strong performances, which salvages the film. At the other end of the spectrum, Bryce Dallas Howard is cartoonishly evil, as if only such people are capable of being racist.

Oscar nominations, 4 — Best Picture, Actress (Viola Davis), Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain). Oscar wins, 1 — Supporting Actress (Spencer).

Jeremy Irvine and his horse become separated during World War I, only to later be reunited — again, thanks to the war — in “War Horse,” directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

War Horse

Full disclosure — I teared up watching this movie, and I don’t even care that much about horses. I wasn’t just ashamed by this afterward, I felt shame for falling for such callous manipulation even while the film was still running. The sad animal movie, a tiny sub-genre that was more prevalent (if never exactly popular) in the mid-20th century, seems an unusual choice for filmmaker Steven Spielberg, but there have been plenty of puzzling detours in this director’s vast, 33-title filmography. This is a tale about a boy and his beloved horse. The two are separated when the horse is “drafted” to serve in World War I, which eventually happens to the boy as well. What are the odds that the two will, purely by chance, be reunited in No Man’s Land? Being a Spielberg film, the movie looks great. The battle scenes are stunning. The brazen sentimentality may be a carryover from the source work, a 1982 novel, but it’s still unforgivable.

Oscar nominations, 6 — Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Original Score, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing. Oscar wins, 0.

Sean Penn walks across a landscape in which he sees a younger version of himself, dead people and a couple of mysterious women, in Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life.” Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

The Tree of Life

It’s telling, I think, that while Terrence Malick’s film about — well, I’ll get back to that — still garners more praise than criticism today, the vast majority of those who are complementary fall into a pattern of describing how the movie made them feel rather than what it’s about (which is, uh, stay tuned). While they are clearly in the minority, the film also has its detractors, and I am one who believes this movie to be not just dreck, but unforgivable garbage. Bear in mind, however, that I have said this about literally every picture Malick has made, to greater or lesser degrees. Most unforgivable to me is how the filmmaker signed up major stars like Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and Sean Penn, and then made such a mess of editing that their performances never become defined or even make sense. So, what’s the movie about? There are cosmic orbs, dinosaurs, landscapes, violence, and Penn walks through a desert in a suit looking pensive.

Oscar nominations, 3 — Best Picture, Director (Terrence Malick), Cinematography. Oscar wins, 0.

Based on a far better novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” directed by Stephen Daldry, stars Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

As harshly as I’ve criticized “The Tree of Life,” I’ve actually placed another Best Picture nominee below it. It’s the furthest thing from a hot take to criticize this adaptation of a Jonathan Safran Foer novel, a book that is actually not that bad. The movie, alas, is utterly reviled today, and justifiably so (it kind of was in 2011 too). While the book utilizes the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in the U.S. as a framework, the film leans heavily, and cynically, on that tragedy to draw out from the audience not just pathos but the dreaded bathos. And the sentimentality is very badly played. A boy — and not to criticize the young actor unnecessarily, but his characterization here is intensely annoying — is sent on a wild goose chase in a puzzle-like New York City after his dad (Tom Hanks) is killed on 9/11. Only Sandra Bullock, as the mother, escapes this picture relatively unscathed.

Oscar nominations, 2 — Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow). Oscar wins, 0.

For further consideration

While my top film in the above ranking is among the best movies of the decade, in my estimation, and the next two are quite fine, the bottom two are more or less execrable. Surely, there must have been better alternatives to choose from? But of course. Although 2011 featured no glaring omissions in the Best Picture race, there exists, as always, a handful of alternative titles worth talking about.

Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” stars Ryan Gosling as a stunt driver who attempts to supplement his income by acting as a getaway driver for an elaborate heist. Photo courtesy of FilmDistrict

Style shouldn’t matter more than substance in a film, but how do we account for truly accomplished stylish touches that may ultimately make certain films worthwhile? The Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn has made 10 movies, with “Drive” being perhaps the most accessible, and best known. The set-up here is really simple — Ryan Gosling stars as a getaway driver who signs up for one job too many. The movie may feature a few gimmicks, such as casting the gentle comic actor Albert Brooks as a bad guy, but otherwise the film is one sweet ride, from the moody soundtrack to the musical score on down to the cream-colored jacket worn by Gosling.

Matt Damon plays a math teacher who has an inappropriate relationship with a student, portrayed by Anna Paquin, in “Margaret,” directed by Kenneth Lonergan. Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

Kenneth Lonergan’s “Margaret” in no way deserved a Best Picture nomination. A so-called “problem film,” it exhibits some clear flaws, most crucially a screenplay that seems to lose its way. Still, it’s a far more captivating watch than other movies that ultimately come together better. Anna Paquin excels as a New York City teenager who unintentionally causes a fatal bus accident, and is later forced to grapple with the consequences. There’s a lot more going on in the film, however, which unlike some other titles finds the right tone in addressing the post-9/11 mood of the city, with the help of an all-star cast that, alas, is sometimes woefully misused.

Simon Baker and Demi Moore are in big — and it looks bad, very bad — in J.C. Chandor’s Wall Street drama “Margin Call.” Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

The consensus is that “The Big Short” (2015) is the definitive movie about the Great Recession of 2008, and there’s probably no reason to refute that. But some consideration should be given to “Margin Call,” the debut of a filmmaker who’s been worth watching ever since, J.C. Chandor. A corporate drama, set in skyscrapers at night, about a bunch of Wall Street scumbags who have just realized their dangerous games are about to spill out into the economy at large, it features an all-star cast with Kevin Spacey — doing what he did best — at the center. We don’t for one minute understand what they’re so scared about, but it doesn’t matter; that’s good writing.

About this project

Some people vow to visit every continent on the planet, others to read everything Shakespeare (allegedly) wrote. I’ve never had much interest in doing either, but I am committed to seeing every motion picture ever nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, back to the very first ones in 1927–28 (specifically, I’m talking about films nominated for Outstanding Picture, Outstanding Production, Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Motion Picture and Best Picture; I’m not sure why the Academy has seen fit to change the name of the award so frequently).

I don’t for one moment presume to operate under the assumption that the Best Picture nominees over time consistently represent the best American filmmakers have had to offer, which is why with each slate of nominees I also briefly consider some other consensus critical picks for the best movies of that year(s). Yes, there’s a lot of overlap, but not as much as there should be.

So, why am I taking the time to watch and then write about so many (563 following the 2020 Academy Awards) often sub-par movies? As anyone with just a passing knowledge of the Oscars knows, the voters often get it wrong, which isn’t so much fascinating as it is frustrating. The Oscars, however, have always mattered to the film industry, and matter still (the annual awards telecast, not so much). Each year’s Best Picture nominees help to paint a picture of how Hollywood saw itself at that time, and provide us with glimpses at trends in movie history that could be gone for good.

Most of all, they supply context. Think this year’s slate of nominees was the best ever? The worst? I can virtually guarantee you that’s not the case. No, really. You’d be surprised.

Todd Hill is a former journalist with 30 years of experience, much of it in film criticism, who misses neither journalism nor the film beat.