Every Best Actor Oscar Movie Winner Of The 21st Century Ranked

Who should have won: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker.

Before his long-overdue Oscar win, Jeff Bridges was already an established great of his generation, able to anchor even the most forgettable film with a commanding presence and laidback charm.

With his turn as faded country star Bad Blake, Bridges brings much of that signature charm to the forefront, playing a man as bitter and personally flawed as he is romantic and warm-hearted. Blake is a man of countless grievances, and though not his most challenging turn, Bridges makes him effortlessly sympathetic.

In Crazy Heart, Bridges' quiet exploration of hopeless romanticism and addiction is warm and affecting in all the right places, even if his performance never reaches the complex highs of Jeremy Renner's haunted soldier in The Hurt Locker.