25 Astonishingly Dumb 21st Century Film Oscar Wins

Beat: Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean), Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog), Jude Law (Cold Mountain) and Bill Murray (Lost in Translation).

Should've Won: Anyone else.

Mystic River might be a great movie, but Sean Penn's lead performance is honestly pretty terrible. It's more Razzie-worthy than Oscar-worthy, all things considered.

Most of the film sees Penn doing generic, broody acting that any hack actor could do and then, in the big moments, he spills over into hammy pantomime acting that comes dangerously close to undermining what is otherwise a haunting, powerful film that's among the darkest Best Picture nominees of recent times.

Most notably, the scene where his character's daughter is found dead should've been incredibly upsetting, but thanks to Penn's over-acting - "IS THAT MY DAUGHTER IN THERE?!" he bellows in a manner so OTT he makes Emperor Palpatine look like the king of subtlety - the scene is pretty much ruined.

And, in what is otherwise such a masterfully acted film, this terrible turn sticks out like a sore thumb and it's hard to see how this got anywhere near the Oscars in the first place. How the hell this terrible performance won an Oscar will forever be a mystery. Any other winner, even Johnny Depp for Captain Jack Sparrow, would've been preferable to this.