11 Directors Who Won Oscars For Completely The Wrong Movie

4. The Coens

Won For... No Country For Old Men

Should Have Won For... Fargo

No Country For Old Men is certainly a well-directed movie and it deserves to be remembered for lots of brave decisions as well as capturing a stunning performance by Javier Bardem that is as terrifying and irresistible as Jack Nicholson's starring role in The Shining. But it is not better than the Coens first great movie - Fargo.

As the spin-off TV show would later brilliantly recapture, Fargo is all about capturing a personality. Its portrait of small town life is both claustrophobically spot-on for anyone who has lived it and also oddly familiar for everyone who hasn't. The directors managed to paint ideas that were both incredibly specific and hugely accessible, which is the contradiction at the film's heart (and at the heart of their achievement).

As Roger Ebert said they "made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe," which was brave and bold and stunningly well-observed with a tone that is infectious and curious and essential. It's still the pair at their best.