15 Average Oscar Bait Films Elevated By Amazing Performances

In Oscar season, anyone who does their homework will know exactly what you can expect to see nominated: historical dramas, adaptations of successful novels, stories about overcoming prejudice... and a mostly average film that's just a vehicle for a great performance.

If you work your way through the 21st century Oscar nominees, there is nearly always at least one film nominated in one of the major fields that's three stars at most and is only memorable because of great acting. There are also many failed Oscar-Bait movies every year and quite a few of those fit this description too.

These following fifteen films are epitomizing examples of Oscar-Bait that were only given so much as a glance because of the great acting within them. While most of them aren't bad films, they owe a lot to their performers, who were a hell of a lot better than the flawed screenplays they had to work with. As these movies prove, great acting doesn't always come from the greatest of movies...

This period drama, which was nominated for ten Oscars but walked away with nothing, is very much an acting showcase. Christian Bale's work is fairly forgettable but it's got a group of outstanding performances from Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner and especially Amy Adams.

All of these actors are at the top of their game from start to finish and the amounts of energy they all bring to the table are insane; they're so good they more than shine through all those ridiculous hairstyles.

Nevertheless, take these performances away and American Hustle is a forgettable and convoluted exercise in style-over-substance, which is why it seemed to face such a backlash after it was released. American Hustle is still a solid 7/10 movie and worth a viewing, but the acting is certainly far better than the film's other elements and it shouldn't have been nominated for as many Oscars as it was.