I have watched Dead Man Walking several times over the past year and still I say that Sean Penn was incredible. I still can not believe that he won the Oscar.

Not that I am upset that Nic Cage won for Leaving Las Vegas, but Sean Penn's performance was a little bit more transforming and more emotional. I own LLV and think that it is a terrific movie, but I do think that Penn's performance was memorable and worthy of an Oscar (one of the best performances by a male of all time).


What do you think?

neither...Richard Dreyfuss for Mr. Holland's Opus, but Cage over Penn


and you have to also take into account Tom Hanks role in Apollo 13, which was wonderful, though he was Oscared out by that time.

Sean Penn was hurt in the voting because at that time he was coming off a solid decade in which he hadn't made many movies (and seemed to be?) signalling that he wasn't interested in acting anymore --unless it was a role that he wanted to do for personal reasons.

Meanwhile, over that same period of time, Nicolas Cage had been working, making several movies of note, establishing himself as a star, as a leading man, and a versatile actor in different genres.

I like Anthony Hopkins as Nixon, more than any of the other nominees, that year, but Mel Gibson wasn't even nominated for Braveheart --so what's up with that?

You also have to remember a lot of people were upset about what they considered to me a movie that glorified a convicted murderer. It was too much of a hotbutton issue.

I recall that year quite well. I was a senior in high school and remember pulling for Sean Penn to win. However, I expected Cage to take the prize.

I expected Dreyfuss to win, but pulled for Penn. Cage winning was a pleasant surprise, but still an upset. I didn't expect Hanks to win because of all the other oscars.

I just think in the last half of Dead Man Walking, he and Susan pull off some amazing acting.

Penn didn't win most likely for personal reasons. Back then, Penn was notorious for his extremely contenious relationship with the press and that didn't sit well with many AMPAS members. By the time Penn won Best Actor for Mystic River, his personality had changed quite a bit.

He should've won for I Am Sam as well.

I thought Tom Wilkinson was deserving of that Oscar, or I would have been happy with Will Smith.

I Am Sam didn't get the best reviews, and another "challenged" person winning an Oscar might have seemed predictable.

Or because he wasn't nominated.

whoops

Penn definitely should have won that year over Cage, and not for Mystic River. Hopkins would have been my #2 choice.

Huh, I didn't ever know there was any buss in that direction.

Cage deserved it imo over Penn,but Dead Man Walking was the better movie.