20 Worst Best Picture Film Nominees Since 2010
10. War Horse
War Horse is one of the worst films Steven Spielberg has ever directed.
Not only does it see him dabbling in the excessive sentimentality he's frequently criticized for (often unfairly, but that criticism certainly applies to this film), but it's a really half-hearted effort from him in which his technical brilliance only sometimes comes through.
In fairness though, any director would struggle to be enthusiastic about such a flawed script, which is overloaded with far too many different characters and manages to alternate between being overly saccharine and curiously emotionless.
War Horse is kept from being outright bad thanks to strong production values and a good cast, but it's not a good viewing experience at all. Overlong, badly structured and deeply, deeply boring, War Horse is a real chore to get through.
And yes, it's based on popular material, is in an Oscar-friendly genre and was directed by Spielberg but even considering those things, this movie getting nominated for Best Picture still makes little sense. It wasn't super popular at the time and has barely lingered since.