15 Awesome 2014 Performances That Deserve Oscars (But Won't Get Nominated)

5. Ellar Coltrane - Boyhood

Talk about a debut performance that has practically no equal. Ellar Coltrane was, at the tender age of 7, cast in Richard Linklater's mega-ambitious 12-year project Boyhood, in which Coltrane would play Mason Evans Jr. from the ages of 6-to-18 as he became a young man. Coltrane immediately proves himself to be a major find here, growing before the viewer's eyes over the course of the 165-minute movie, and despite the marvelous likes of Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette providing strong support, it is Coltrane who really has to carry the bulk of the dramatic weight. The actor is particularly excellent during the earlier scenes of familial discord and the later years where he is clearly being less-guided by Linklater and more allowed to think for himself, helping cement the finest cinematic rendition of the passage of time that has ever been. Though the movie may well win Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress, Coltrane is likely to miss out in the hugely crowded Best Actor field, and it's a damn shame.