Won For: Silver Linings Playbook Should Have Won For: Winter's Bone Jennifer Lawrence is one Hollywood's hottest new stars. Not only has she proved that films with women in the lead role can set the box office on fire (with the Hunger Games franchise), but she has now been nominated for three Oscars in her young career, including a win for Silver Linings Playbook. The film was highly praised and it received acting nominations for all four categories, which is an impressive and rare feat. In David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, Lawrence plays Tiffany, a puzzling young woman prone to emotional outbursts. It is a great role and a great performance, but it overshadowed an earlier role in Lawrence's career that was arguably better. Jennifer Lawrence had her breakthrough performance in Debra Granik's 2010 Ozark thriller, Winter's Bone. She should have won her Oscar for Winter's Bone. In the film, Lawrence plays Ree, who desperately tries to track down her drug-dealing father and keep her family together. It is an understated but remarkable performance that - despite being nominated - for an Oscar, remains vastly underrated. She is the heart of the film and Lawrence's performance perfectly illustrates Ree's extraordinary courage and her understandable fears. As stated, both performances are great, but this is an example of the Academy recognising the flashier role over the more nuanced one.
