10 Oscar Winning Performances That Are Actually Terrible

8. Halle Berry - Monster's Ball

Halle Berry's Oscar-winning turn in Monster's Ball certainly gives audiences a lot of acting for their buck, but considering the win made her the first black woman to win a Best Actress gong, it's a shame the performance feels so damn false.

The role, of a woman who falls in love with the racist prison guard (Billy Bob Thornton) who executed her husband, is inherently melodramatic, though Berry's over-affected Georgian accent only helps pile on the absurdity.

Disappointingly, it's Thornton whose performance feels the most lived-in and believable, casting a pall over what should've been a chest-thumping landmark moment for the black acting community.

Berry threw herself into the role, no question, but enthusiasm can only take an actor so far. Well, it can win you an Oscar, apparently. Tellingly, her post-Oscar career has been pretty iffy, winning a Razzie award for Catwoman three years after her Oscar and doing little meritorious since.