10 Oscar Winning Performances That Are Actually Terrible
9. Roberto Benigni - Life Is Beautiful
Frequently cited as one of the most baffling upsets in Oscar history, Robert Benigni beat out Edward Norton (American History X) and Tom Hanks (Saving Private Ryan) for the Best Actor Oscar in the Holocaust drama he also directed, Life is Beautiful.
It doesn't help that the movie as a whole, about a father's attempts to shield his son from the abject horror of the Holocaust, is an overly slushy, saccharine film with a questionable moral through-line, but the fact that Benigni's performance was deemed awards-worthy is just ludicrous.
Mildly charming at best and actively irritating at worst, his overly expressive, mannered performance leaves a sour taste that only made the comparisons to Charlie Chaplin feel that much more insulting.
And that's not to forget the spectacle he made of himself at the actual awards ceremony, climbing on top of the seats in front of him when the film won the Best Foreign Film Oscar. Oof.