I do not think Leonardo DiCaprio deserves and Academy Award.
This should be obvious by now, as it is the title of this post. I have trouble with the claims it is his time for two reasons.
First, nobody deserves anything. You earn it. A lot of great actors have not won Oscars, and for some, it didn't happen until later in life, with the (dreaded) make up win. E.G. the Academy realized they probably should have won a long time ago, and they wanted to award them before they passed away. The most notorious examples on this list include Don Ameche, Paul Newman, and Dame Judi Dench who won an Oscar for her six minutes of screen time. These are all outstanding actors, though none of them won for their more significant roles. Life is unfair. They similarly "deserved" an Oscar for previous parts, but they had to settle for the makeup win later in their lives.
The other reason is I don't think Leo has been particularly Oscar worthy in most of his nominated roles. In my opinion, his best role was the first one he received a nomination, for his supporting role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", when he was 19 years old. He would lose to Tommy Lee Jones for his role in the "Fugitive". Also nominated that year included Ralph Fiennes for "Schindler's List"; not the easiest year to win.
Since then, he has received four Best Actor nods, and he has been one of the most bankable starts in the business. His losses, though, were not undeserved.
In 2005 his role as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator" lost to the portrayal of another real life character, Jamie Foxx in "Ray".
In 2007 his part in "Blood Diamond" lost to Forest Whitaker's mesmerizing performance in "The Last King of Scotland".
in 2014 his role in the overly-long "The Wolf of Wall Street" lost to Matthew McConaughey's body transforming, AIDS awareness role in "Dallas Buyers Club".
He was worthy of being nominated in all of these movies; I don't think he was better than the winner of any of them. He has had several great parts that did not receive a nomination, most notable to me include his parts in "Gangs of New York" and "The Departed", but in both of those years, there were great performances by other actors. In 2006, Leo didn't get nominated for "The Departed" but even Heath Ledger went home empty handed after his role in "Brokeback Mountain".
I haven't "The Reverent" yet, and of the parts nominated for Best Actor (male), the only one I have seen so far is Matt Damon for "The Martian". I will try to see them all (although I loath the idea of sitting through a movie about Steve Jobs....and yes, I am typing this from my Apple computer). I am sure it is a part worthy of a nomination, and if I was to ever make a movie, I would jump at the chance to have him in it. But to win the golden statue, you have to earn it, not deserve it.
This should be obvious by now, as it is the title of this post. I have trouble with the claims it is his time for two reasons.
First, nobody deserves anything. You earn it. A lot of great actors have not won Oscars, and for some, it didn't happen until later in life, with the (dreaded) make up win. E.G. the Academy realized they probably should have won a long time ago, and they wanted to award them before they passed away. The most notorious examples on this list include Don Ameche, Paul Newman, and Dame Judi Dench who won an Oscar for her six minutes of screen time. These are all outstanding actors, though none of them won for their more significant roles. Life is unfair. They similarly "deserved" an Oscar for previous parts, but they had to settle for the makeup win later in their lives.
The other reason is I don't think Leo has been particularly Oscar worthy in most of his nominated roles. In my opinion, his best role was the first one he received a nomination, for his supporting role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", when he was 19 years old. He would lose to Tommy Lee Jones for his role in the "Fugitive". Also nominated that year included Ralph Fiennes for "Schindler's List"; not the easiest year to win.Since then, he has received four Best Actor nods, and he has been one of the most bankable starts in the business. His losses, though, were not undeserved.
In 2005 his role as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator" lost to the portrayal of another real life character, Jamie Foxx in "Ray".
In 2007 his part in "Blood Diamond" lost to Forest Whitaker's mesmerizing performance in "The Last King of Scotland".
in 2014 his role in the overly-long "The Wolf of Wall Street" lost to Matthew McConaughey's body transforming, AIDS awareness role in "Dallas Buyers Club".
He was worthy of being nominated in all of these movies; I don't think he was better than the winner of any of them. He has had several great parts that did not receive a nomination, most notable to me include his parts in "Gangs of New York" and "The Departed", but in both of those years, there were great performances by other actors. In 2006, Leo didn't get nominated for "The Departed" but even Heath Ledger went home empty handed after his role in "Brokeback Mountain".
I haven't "The Reverent" yet, and of the parts nominated for Best Actor (male), the only one I have seen so far is Matt Damon for "The Martian". I will try to see them all (although I loath the idea of sitting through a movie about Steve Jobs....and yes, I am typing this from my Apple computer). I am sure it is a part worthy of a nomination, and if I was to ever make a movie, I would jump at the chance to have him in it. But to win the golden statue, you have to earn it, not deserve it.
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