First Thoughts on Actor in Leading Role

Predicting the winner in this category is difficult, it is a toss up between George Clooney (The Descendants) and Jean Dujardin (The Artist). Clooney gives a touching performance as a father of two daughters who is dealing with his wife's imminent death after a boating accident. This sad situation because more entangled when Clooney learns that his wife has been cheating. Clooney is funny, sensitive and somewhat of  a bungling father. Jean Dujardin is a well known and beloved silent movie star whose career comes to a screeching halt when talkies are released. Dujardin has no dialogue and  acts entirely with his expressions and body language. My prediction is that the winner will either be Clooney or Dujardin. I do want to comment on Brad Pitt's performance as Billy Beane. He was wonderful and gave a very touching performance as a divorced dad who is given a job to rebuild a major league baseball team. Demain Bichir gave a memorable performance as an undocumented gardener who wants the best for his teenage son. I remember thinking that Bichir deserves an Oscar nomination for his role and was very happy to see that the members of the Academy thought the same. Gary Oldman gave a strong performance as an intelligent, no affect  British spy. I just wasn't crazy about the movie and Oldman's character wasn't likable or endearing.