Now as critics of the Academy (and who isn't), the question arises, was 2006 just a middling year for lead actors, or did the Academy, yet again, skip over superior work for more comfortable choices conforming to their typical patterns of familiarity? While maybe not the most stirring year for male lead performances, like almost any year, 2006 did have some above-par turns, but a typical Oscar nemesis reared its ugly head, preventing meritocracy from ruling the day: the ensemble film. I don't know what it is about film's with great ensemble casts that prevent the Academy from rewarding their individual actors (category confusion, cast cancellation?), but with a few exceptions (such as the first two "Godfather" films), multiple cast members from the same film are rarely nominated, no matter how deserving they all are. For 2006, the biggest example of a wronged actor is actually one of the nominees (which was undoubtedly part of the problem), Leonardo DiCaprio. As you will see momentarily (if you did not already know), DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor in 2006, but not for his career's best work as an undercover Boston policeman in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed", but rather for his underwhelming role as a mercenary involved with the African conflict diamonds trade in "Blood Diamond". How DiCaprio did not win, much less get nominated, for "The Departed" is a mystery that only people in Hollywood know the answer to. It may have something to do with the fact that DiCaprio's costar in "The Departed", Matt Damon, was also likely eligible for the lead category, and likewise gave one of his all-time best performances. As some sort of stupid compromise, instead of doing the right thing by nominating them both, some in the Academy may have decided to throw their weight behind DiCaprio's sub-par "Blood Diamond" performance. It doesn't make sense, but it's the type of reasoning the Academy seems to employ all too often.
Another wonderful performance from a great ensemble film that was deserving of a nomination was Greg Kinnear as an aspiring motivational speaker in 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine". Again, I'm not sure of which category most people placed him in, but as the dad of "Little Miss Sunshine" herself, if he is not considered lead, then I guess everyone in the film is "supporting". Another worthy, but categorically questionable, performance is that of Michael Sheen as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in "The Queen". It's one of the best portrayals of a modern political figure that I can remember (and one Sheen has done three times), but whether it should qualify as a lead performance is tough to say. Finally, one last performance that isn't spellbinding, but a step ahead of some of the competition, is Ryan Phillippe as John Bradley, in Clint Eastwood's "Flags of our Fathers", the story of the men who were forever engraved in American consciousness after their picture was snapped raising the American flag over Iwo Jima. For now though, let us take a look at the group of so-so nominees.
