Bedlam Productions; Fox Searchlight; Roadside AttractionsThe Best Actor race is over! So over!
Er, isn't it?
Our look at the race so far—and our pick for Sunday's winner:
Remember when James Franco was going to win? It was back in the fall when buzz for 127 Hours gave the Oscar cohost an arm a leg up on the competition.
Remember when Jesse Eisenberg was going to win? It was back in December when The Social Network star got friended by the National Board of Review.
Remember when Jeff Bridges was going to win? Well, maybe not. But back in January when True Grit became an unexpected box-office blockbuster, anything became possible (except, granted, its star winning back-to-back Oscars).
Remember when Javier Bardem was going to win? Nah, we don't, either. But we're still impressed with Julia Roberts' campaign effort on behalf of her Biutiful friend. Very impressed.
Remember when Colin Firth wasn't going to win? You can't, can you?
So, the smart money is on: Firth, obviously.
The King's Speech royal won at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the BAFTAs and a million-billion other places. Some oddsmakers are so sure he's going to win at the Academy Awards that they're asking Firth backers to put down $100 just to score $1.
And our money is on: Would we shock you if we said Bardem?
How about if we suggested that Roberts gave Bardem the best awards-show gift: She got people to watch his movie? And that Franco gave Bardem the second-best awards-show gift: He made a movie about a guy sawing off his arm, thereby making a movie about a guy dying from cancer a welcome diversion. And that Geoffrey Rush, not Firth, is the lead actor of The King's Speech?
We're going to shock ourselves. We're going to say Bardem.
And we're going to totally understand when you say we're doing our best to imagine an upset, and you go with Firth in your office pool.