The term “Oscar-bait”—used to refer to films that are specifically designed, marketed, and distributed to specifically try and ensure getting some Academy Awards attention—isn’t new, having started to be used around the early 1940s. It’s generally accepted that it wasn’t until the ’70s, however, that true Oscar-bait films, as they’re known today, began to be produced, starting with the Best Picture-winning The Deer Hunter. That, however, is a phenomenal film. That’s not always the case with these kinds of movies.
Sometimes, films are so obsessed with the goal of getting Oscars that they forget to… Well, be good. Failed Oscar-bait movies aren’t uncommon, but what’s certainly rarer is an Oscar-bait film that, despite not being particularly great, does manage to snag one or more Academy Awards. Throughout recent Oscars history, there have been a few noteworthy occasions when the Academy has rewarded movies that audiences wouldn’t necessarily agree deserved the gold.
15
‘The Theory of Everything’ (2014)
It’s a well-documented fact that the Academy adores biopics, particularly biopics about very famous people, especially if those very famous people faced adversities not often seen in movies. As such, The Theory of Everything was tailor-made for Academy Gold. Indeed, it was nominated for five Oscars (including Best Picture), and won one: Best Leading Actor for Eddie Redmayne‘s portrayal of Stephen Hawking.
As far as biopics go, this one is pretty bland. Everything it does, it does as by the numbers as a biopic can, and although the love story at the core of the narrative is emotionally compelling, the direction and script are too dull to make the film stand out. There are, however, two elements that are beyond reproach: Redmayne and Felicity Jones‘ performances, a pair of outstandingly powerful portrayals of admirable real people that prevent this chapter in Oscars history from being entirely forgettable.
14
‘The King’s Speech’ (2010)
The King’s Speech is not a bad movie. In fact, it’s very strongly not-bad—but that’s precisely the issue that many people have with it. It’s a good character-driven drama, but not a particularly extraordinary one, and in a year when films like Inception and The Social Network were also nominated for Best Picture, its winning the biggest award in the film industry doesn’t really sit well with many cinephiles.
Whatever the case, there’s no denying that this is a pretty solid movie, with sharply written dialogue and an inspiring message. On top of that, like many other period films, The King’s Speech has phenomenal performances, particularly from Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth (the latter of whom won an Oscar for his efforts). That being said, it’s yet another instance of an Oscar-baity biopic that plays it safe with a formulaic script and flat direction. Tom Hooper, a master of Oscar bait, began his endless chase for Academy Awards, which lasted all throughout the 2010s, with this one. Though this journey would end badly (cough, Cats, cough), it clearly was off to a successful start.
13
‘The Danish Girl’ (2015)
Tom Hooper struck back in 2015 with The Danish Girl, another flat biopic about an admirable historical figure. This time, tackling themes of gender identity, marriage, and the trans experience, Hooper set off on his third quest to get on the Dolby Theater stage. Although this one was a lot less successful than his previous two efforts (those being The King’s Speech and a certain other film that remains to be talked about), it still earned one Oscar win: for Alicia Vikander in the Supporting Actress category.
Many would call this category fraud, as Vikander is very clearly a co-lead in The Danish Girl, but that’s beside the point. Her performance is extraordinary, as is Eddie Redmayne’s—despite his being a very obvious Oscar-baity performance, and the problematic fact that a cisgender man was cast in the role of a transgender woman. Despite this controversy, though, The Danish Girl was somewhat successful at the 2016 Oscars. However, its lack of a Best Picture nod and its lukewarm reception (at least compared to Hooper’s previous two movies) showed that audiences, critics, and Academy voters alike were starting to wise up to the director’s Oscar statuette-seeking tactics.
12
‘The Reader’ (2008)
Easily the most controversial Best Picture nominee of 2008 (particularly in a year when Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight was snubbed for Best Picture), and perhaps even one of the most controversial of the entire decade of the 2000s, The Reader generated noise around its problematic depiction of the Holocaust and German guilt, its focusing on a protagonist that has an erotic affair with a teenager, and its overall distasteful thematic work.
The Reader is one of those films that like to pretend like they have big, provocative ideas, but then refuse to delve deep enough into them, lest they generate truly productive conversations around complex topics. Its sole Oscar win, a Best Lead Actress victory for Kate Winslet (so far her only Academy Award), Oscar-baity though the performance may be, was well deserved. Her work in The Reader is extraordinary, but unfortunately fails to distract from the film’s lack of courage in dealing with the difficult topics it pretends to grapple with.
11
‘The Whale’ (2022)
The classic melodrama very clearly isn’t dead, as proved by some of the work of divisive auteur Darren Aronofsky. The director’s work tends to generate very polarizing reactions, and The Whale was no exception. While many love it for its dark tone and Brendan Fraser‘s gut-wrenchingly harrowing performance, others hate it due to its all-style-no-substance approach.
Whether The Whale is a powerful drama or a pseudo-intellectual exercise in cruelty is irrelevant in this case, though. The hard-to-deny fact is that it’s a shamelessly Oscar-baity movie: a beloved actor who disappears from the spotlight in a huge comeback performance; an emotionally explosive story looking to make Academy voters cry; a beloved director coming back after a relatively long absence from the big screen. The film may be good, or it may be bad, but it definitely was made with the Academy in mind.
10
‘Les Misérables’ (2012)
Oh, Tom Hooper, you funny Oscar-chasing man. Based on Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel‘s legendary sung-through stage musical of the same name, which is likewise based on Victor Hugo‘s 19th-century epic, Les Misérables, as a period musical that is, at the very least, very unique. It follows the story of Jean Valjean, who has for decades been hunted by the ruthless police officer Javert after breaking parole. After he agrees to care for a factory worker’s daughter, both their lives change forever.
Fans of the source material were always going to love this, but those just looking for a great period piece aren’t likely to find it here. With a bizarre aesthetic by Hooper’s monotone direction, and a lack of the energy and vibrancy that make the original musical so timeless, Les Misérables fails to live up to its name. It’s technically stunning, some of the performances are great (Anne Hathaway having won an Oscar for hers), and the story is naturally deeply compelling, but the way it’s executed falls flat.
9
‘Evita’ (1996)
One of the greatest British filmmakers of his generation, the great Alan Parker, took on the ambitious task of adapting Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice‘s hit musical Evita for the big screen. It’s based on the life of Eva Perón, a B-picture Argentinian actress who became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Domingo Perón. At one point, she was both the most beloved and the most hated woman in Argentina.
The movie isn’t without its fans, but all in all, it’s about as so-so as Oscar-bait musicals come. Full of historical inaccuracies, with an excruciatingly long runtime, and with a lead performance by Madonna that split both critics and audiences right down the middle, Evita hasn’t aged particularly well. That being said, its lush visuals definitely help elevate the material, and the rousing music is undeniably phenomenal. Thus, it’s hardly surprising that the film’s only Oscar victory came in the Best Original Song category, for the phenomenal “You Must Love Me.”
8
‘Judy’ (2019)
One of the most iconic and legendary actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Judy Garland had a tumultuous, tragic life of addiction and depression caused by the oppressive system that she grew up in. Shortly before her sad death at 47 years old in 1969, she went on a tour of sold-out shows that cemented her place as one of American history’s greatest performers. This tour is the subject of Judy, a biopic focused on her life.
It shouldn’t have been too hard to make a fascinating story about the life and trajectory of such a larger-than-life icon, but unfortunately, Judy is one of the most boring music biopics ever. With dull direction and a forgettable tone, all it has to fall back on is the element that earned it its only Oscar: Renée Zellweger‘s performance as the star. It’s a strong, compassionate, moving piece of acting, even if there’s nothing about it that truly stands out as the best lead female performance of 2019.
7
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018)
A project about Freddie Mercury and his involvement with Queen had been in development hell for years before Bryan Singer finally took on the project and followed it to fruition. The result is Bohemian Rhapsody, a docudrama that follows the legendary singer and rock band from their humble beginnings to their momentous performance at 1985’s Live Aid concert.
Despite its solid (if unextraordinary) performances, Rami Malek‘s lead performance as Freddie, being one of the movie’s four Oscar wins, the film mostly feels like a watered-down, cherry-picked portrayal of this story trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It looks and sounds great (deservedly winning both Sound categories), and it has plenty of memorable moments, but in the end, its wonky editing (which somehow also won Academy gold), poor direction, and by-the-numbers script let it down.
6
‘Bombshell’ (2019)
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In what’s undebatably one of the best years for cinema of the 21st century thus far, there was also a fair amount of forgettable fluff. Case in point: 2019’s Bombshell, about a group of women who took on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic workplace atmosphere that he presided over at the network, characterized by misogyny, abuse, and sexual harassment.
There were plenty of outstanding true crime movies made during the latter half of the 2010s. Bombshell wasn’t one of them. In the wake of the “Me Too” movement, its story was more timely and important than ever before. So, it took that premise and a cast of incredibly talented performers and squandered it all on what feels like a Wikipedia page put on the big screen. Its Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar win was well deserved, but it was sadly for a dull, lifeless film that does more of a disservice to its subject matter than anything else.
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