Best Well-Played Real Life Heroes
Oscar-nominated or Oscar-Winning Roles that were of real-life people who unexpectedly became heroes
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- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsSpencer TracyMickey RooneyHenry HullWhen a death row prisoner tells him he wouldn't have led a life of crime if only he had had one friend as a child, Father Edward Flanagan decides to start a home for young boys.Father Flanagan (Spencer Tracy) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniJosephine HutchinsonAnita LouiseThe biography of the pioneering French microbiologist who helped revolutionize agriculture and medicine.Louis Pasteur (Paul Muni) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsGeorge C. ScottKarl MaldenStephen YoungThe World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.General George S. Patton Jr. (George C. Scott) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniGale SondergaardJoseph SchildkrautThe biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair.Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (Joseph Schildkraut) Best Supporting Actor Winner
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyJoan LeslieWalter HustonThe life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.George M. Cohan (James Cagney) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.Thomas More (Paul Scofield) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsPeter O'TooleAlec GuinnessAnthony QuinnThe story of T.E. Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks.T.E. Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.Ben Bradlee (Jason Robards) Best Supporting Actor Winner
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsBen KingsleyJohn GielgudRohini HattangadiThe life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.Mohandas Gandhi (Ben Kingsley) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorHoward HawksStarsGary CooperWalter BrennanJoan LeslieA Tennessee farmer and marksman is drafted in World War I, and struggles with his pacifist inclinations before becoming one of the most celebrated war heroes.Alvin C. York (Gary Cooper) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.Annie Sullivan (Anne Bancroft) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorTim RobbinsStarsSusan SarandonSean PennRobert ProskyA nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.Sister Helen Prejean (Susan Surandon) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsPaul MuniGale SondergaardJoseph SchildkrautThe biopic of the famous French muckraking writer and his involvement in fighting the injustice of the Dreyfus Affair.Emile Zola (Paul Muni) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepKurt RussellCherA worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorVictor FlemingStarsIngrid BergmanJosé FerrerSelena RoyleThe abbreviated life of the 15th-century French heroine.Joan of Arc (Ingrid Bergman) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroCathy MoriartyJoe PesciThe life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorArthur PennStarsAnne BancroftPatty DukeVictor JoryThe story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.Helen Keller (Patty Duke) Best Supporting Actress Winner
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterKarl MaldenThelma RitterA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.Robert Franklin Stroud (Burt Lancaster) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorPeter GlenvilleStarsRichard BurtonPeter O'TooleJohn GielgudKing Henry II of England comes to terms with his affection for his close friend and confidant Thomas Becket, who finds his true honor by observing God's divine will rather than the King's.Thomas Becket (Richard Burton) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.Emma Goldman (Maureen Stapleton) Best Supporting Actress Winner
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsSam WaterstonHaing S. NgorJohn MalkovichA journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody 'Year Zero' cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million 'undesirable' civilians.Dith Pran (Haing S. Ngor) Best Supporting Actor Winner
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsRaymond MasseyGene LockhartRuth GordonHumble Abraham Lincoln gains the respect of his Illinois neighbors, growing in stature and respect until he is elected President in 1860 and departs for Washington.Abe Lincoln (Raymond Massey) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorVincente MinnelliGeorge CukorStarsKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnJames DonaldThe life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.Vincent Van Gogh (Kirk Douglas) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoJean PetersAnthony QuinnThe story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.Emiliano Zapata (Marlon Brando) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsSissy SpacekTommy Lee JonesLevon HelmThe fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.Loretta Lynn (Sissy Spacek) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJack LemmonSissy SpacekMelanie MayronWhen an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen KingsleyIn German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMillie PerkinsShelley WintersJoseph SchildkrautDuring World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.Mrs. Petronella Van Daan (Shelley Winters) Best Supporting Actress Winner
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.John Reed (Warren Beatty) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.Billie Holiday (Diana Ross) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.Christy Brown (Daniel Day Lewis) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMillie PerkinsShelley WintersJoseph SchildkrautDuring World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.Mr. Albert Dussell (Ed Flynn) Best Supportng Actor Nominee
- DirectorHenry KingStarsAlexander KnoxCharles CoburnGeraldine FitzgeraldA chronicle of the political career of US President Woodrow Wilson.Woodrow Wilson (Alexander Knox) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrian Brody) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorRoland JofféStarsSam WaterstonHaing S. NgorJohn MalkovichA journalist is trapped in Cambodia during tyrant Pol Pot's bloody 'Year Zero' cleansing campaign, which claimed the lives of two million 'undesirable' civilians.Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsRussell CroweJoaquin PhoenixConnie NielsenA former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.Maximus (Russell Crowe) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisBrenda FrickerAlison WhelanChristy Brown, born with cerebral palsy, learns to paint and write with his only controllable limb - his left foot.Mrs. Brown (Brenda Fricker) Best Supporting Actress Winner
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsMeryl StreepRobert RedfordKlaus Maria BrandauerIn 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorBob FosseStarsDustin HoffmanValerie PerrineJan MinerThe story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorScott HicksStarsGeoffrey RushArmin Mueller-StahlJustin BrainePianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.David Helfgott (Geoffrey Rush) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJames WoodsJim BelushiMichael MurphyA burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.Rick Boyle (James Woods) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsCate BlanchettLiz GilesRod CulbertsonThe early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn RandolphJack KehoeAn honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsMeryl StreepSam NeillDale ReevesA mother whose child was killed in a dingo attack in the Australian Outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder.Lindy Chamberlain (Meryl Streep) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJack LemmonSissy SpacekMelanie MayronWhen an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.Beth Horman (Sissy Spacek) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsJamie FoxxRegina KingKerry WashingtonThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.Ray Charles (Jamie Foxx) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day Lewis) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsSam ShepardScott GlennEd HarrisThe U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorRamón MenéndezStarsEdward James OlmosEstelle HarrisMark PhelanThe story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout-prone students to learn calculus.Jaime Escalante (Edward James Olmos) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorBennett MillerStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanClifton Collins Jr.Catherine KeenerIn 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row.Truman Capote (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorWarren BeattyStarsWarren BeattyDiane KeatonEdward HerrmannA radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.Eugeine O'Neill (Jack Nicholson) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsSigourney WeaverBryan BrownJulie HarrisThe story of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing mountain gorillas, and later fought to protect them.Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobin WilliamsForest WhitakerTom T. TranIn 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.Adrian Cronaeur (Robin Williams) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsTom CruiseBryan LarkinRaymond J. BarryThe biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country for which he fought.Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsJudi DenchBilly ConnollyGeoffrey PalmerWhen Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.Queen Victoria (Judy Dench) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsDavid StrathairnGeorge ClooneyPatricia ClarksonBroadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy.Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonAngela BassettDelroy LindoBiographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsHelen MirrenMichael SheenJames CromwellAfter the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorSteve BinderPeter H. HuntStarsJames WhitmoreOne-man show about the presidency of Harry S. Truman.Harry Truman (James Whitmore) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorSam WoodStarsGary CooperTeresa WrightBabe RuthThe story of the life and career of famed baseball player Lou Gehrig.Lou Gehrig (Gary Cooper) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsCate BlanchettClive OwenGeoffrey RushA mature Queen Elizabeth endures multiple crises late in her reign including court intrigues, an assassination plot, the Spanish Armada, and romantic disappointments.Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean PennJosh BrolinEmile HirschThe story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsMorgan FreemanMatt DamonTony KgorogeNelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsDenzel WashingtonKevin KlineJosette SimonSouth African journalist Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend, the Black anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.Steve Biko (Denzel Washington) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJudi DenchJim BroadbentKate WinsletTrue story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.Iris Murdoch (Judi Dench) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBrad DavisIrene MiracleBo HopkinsBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.Max (John Hurt) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorSteve RashStarsGary BuseyDon StroudCharles Martin SmithThe story of the life and career of the early rock and roll singer, from his meteoric rise to stardom, to his marriage and untimely death.Buddy Holly (Gary Busey) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsJudi DenchJim BroadbentKate WinsletTrue story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.John Bayley (Jim Broadbent) Best Supporting Actor Winner
- DirectorJulian SchnabelStarsJavier BardemJohnny DeppOlatz López GarmendiaThe life of Cuban poet and novelist, Reinaldo Arenas.Reinaldo Arenas (Javier Bardem) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.Dr. John Nash (Russell Crowe) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.King George VI (Colin Firth) Best Actor Winner
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsRobert Downey Jr.Geraldine ChaplinPaul RhysAn elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.Charlie Chaplin (Robert Downey Jr.) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsNick NolteSusan SarandonPeter UstinovLorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.Michaela Odone (Susan Surandon) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorTerry GeorgeStarsDon CheadleSophie OkonedoJoaquin PhoenixPaul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager, houses over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda, Africa.Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorGraeme CliffordStarsJessica LangeJonathan BanksBonnie BartlettThe story of Frances Farmer's meteoric rise to fame in Hollywood and the tragic turn her life took when she was blacklisted.Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorWes CravenStarsMeryl StreepCloris LeachmanHenry DinhoferAfter Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.Roberta Guaspari (Meryl Streep) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsGeoffrey RushKate WinsletJoaquin PhoenixIn a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.The Marquis De Sade (Geoffrey Rush) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorMichael MannStarsRussell CroweAl PacinoChristopher PlummerA research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.Dr. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsMorgan FreemanMatt DamonTony KgorogeNelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsDenzel WashingtonVicellous ShannonDeborah Kara UngerThe story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter (Denzel Washington) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsJeff BridgesJoan AllenMartin LandauThe story of Preston Tucker, the maverick car designer and his ill-fated challenge to the auto industry with his revolutionary car concept.Abe (Martin Landau) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.Ed Masry (Albert Finney) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDjimon HounsouMatthew McConaugheyAnthony HopkinsIn 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorGabriele MuccinoStarsWill SmithThandiwe NewtonJaden SmithA struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.Chris Gardner (Will Smith) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) Best Supporting Actor Nominee
- DirectorBill CondonStarsIan McKellenBrendan FraserLynn RedgraveThe last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.James Whale (Ian McKellan) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorBrian GibsonStarsAngela BassettLaurence FishburneRaéVen KellyThe story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorNora EphronStarsAmy AdamsMeryl StreepChris MessinaJulia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.Julia Childs (Meryl Streep) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonGinnifer GoodwinA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix) Best Actor Nominee
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonGinnifer GoodwinA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.June Carter Cash (Reese Witherspoon) Best Actress Winner
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchBob HoskinsChristopher GuestLaura Henderson (Dame Judi Dench) buys an old London theater and opens it up as the Windmill, a performance hall which goes down in history for, amongst other things, its all-nude revues.Laura Henderson (Judy Dench) Best Actress Nominee
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsQuinton AaronSandra BullockTim McGrawThe story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All-American football player and first-round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) Best Actress Winner