
Christian Bale

The Fighter



John Hawkes

Winter's Bone



Jeremy Renner

The Town



Mark Ruffalo

The Kids Are All Right



Geoffrey Rush

The King's Speech



Ty Burr says ...
Bale's larger-than-life portrayal of a larger-than-life Lowell character is a lock, in part because the actor's so clearly having a blast. Many solid 2010 performances went unnominated in this category; not just Damon but Andrew Garfield, Sam Rockwell, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rhys Ifans. How about 10 supporting actor nominees next year?
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Will win
Christian Bale, The Fighter -
Should win
Christian Bale, The Fighter
-
Shouldn't be here
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right -
Was robbed
Matt Damon, True Grit

Wesley Morris says ...
Christian Bale's gifts as a technician have never been in doubt. The question has always been whether he could grant the mechanics a soul. He's so good in "The Fighter" that even when crack has hollowed out Dickie Eklund, he's still electrically full of himself. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Rush is both Colin Firth's comic underminer and straight man. He and Bale are leads relocated here mostly for politics.
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Will win
Christian Bale, The Fighter -
Should win
Christian Bale, The Fighter
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Shouldn't be here
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right -
Was robbed
Matt Damon, True Grit

Ty Burr says ...
Waltz's win is a foregone conclusion and his performance is a joy - but it's also, on some level, a stunt. Harrelson's angry, flawed soldier boy, by contrast, erased in one stroke his offscreen persona as a flake. Nice to see Tucci here; too bad it's for the wrong movie.
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Will win
Christoph Waltz,
Inglourious Basterds -
Should win
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
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Shouldn't be here
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones -
Was robbed
Stanley Tucci, Julie & Julia

Wesley Morris says ...
One thing that's been lost in the conversation about Christoph Waltz's being a sure thing to win is Christopher Plummer. Yes, Waltz is terrific, but isn't the exuberant Nazi practically a member of any moviegoer's extended family? Plummer plays Tolstoy! He's 80! He's never even been nominated! Waltz will probably win. But perhaps voters' compassion will be with the man who, long ago, played the singing, dashing captain who kept his kids from a different batch of Nazis.
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Will win
Christoph Waltz,
Inglourious Basterds -
Should win
Christopher Plummer,
The Last Station
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Shouldn't be here
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones -
Was robbed
Stanley Tucci, Julie & Julia