50 God-Tier Acting Moments Buried in Bad Movies

Weak Oscar-Bait films elevated by great acting are dime a dozen, and though Green Book differs from most of the others - in that it, for reasons that will never be clear, won Best Picture - it does still fit that description in other ways. Namely, regardless of the mediocre film he was stuck in, Mahershala Ali is sublime as Don Shirley, an African-American composer and pianist.   

Even though the film itself could've been renamed 'Racism for Dummies', what with its shallow moral messaging and kid gloves treatment of the tricky subject matter, Ali gives a titanic performance as Shirley. As usual, he's an absolute charisma machine who also brings vulnerability and pathos to the role every step of the way. 

Additionally, he's got superb chemistry with co-lead Viggo Mortensen. Speaking of which, Mortensen is also excellent in Green Book, although it's arguable Ali upstaged him on this occasion. That Green Book worked for some audiences at all is exclusively down to these two and their on-screen chemistry. 

It was irritating when Ali won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, as he'd won just two years previously, and this was a blatant case of category fraud - he's the co-lead, and not a supporting actor at all. Nevertheless, this unearned Oscar win is the only real problem with an otherwise exemplary performance from an exemplary actor.