The Oscars is that beast we find ourselves criticising year in and year out for the films it wrongly nominates and masterpieces it snubs, and though every year I vow to swear off the back-patting awards ceremony, I must confess that I just can't stop discussing it. Regardless of whether you agree with the nominees and eventual winners of any given year, there's no denying the career boost a mere nomination will give a writer, director, actor, or crew member. While not all of these performances were outright terrible, it's clear to me that they absolutely weren't deserving of an Oscar nomination, nor the wins that half of them managed to attain. We're all aware that the Oscars are essentially a political popularity contest that's far too sentimental and keen to pat themselves on the back for rewarding "deserving" talent despite so often failing to pick candidates who should even win the damn award in the first place. Here are the 10 worst Oscar nominated performances of all time...
10. John Wayne - True Grit
Now, hold your horses; I can already sense your rage building. I love John Wayne; the guy has an infectious, fatherly Southern charm that made him an inimitable presence in a glut of hugely enjoyable Westerns, and it's probably fair to say that the actor was consistently underrated throughout his career as a one-trick pony who could only play one type of character. I'm not arguing the fact that John Wayne deserved an Oscar, just that he didn't deserve a nomination (and an eventual win) for his iconic performance of a relatively shallow character in classic Western True Grit. The Coen Brothers, in more closely adapting the source material, made it clear how much depth and complexity it had, whereas the original Henry Hathaway version, stripping away the more nuanced elements to create a more simplistic product, is fun but ultimately devoid of much rewatchability. It's a good performance, but Wayne simply isn't given much to do, and his turns in the likes of Red River and Rio Bravo were certainly far more worthy of a nod than his work here.