When a film is named the Best Picture of the year at theOscars , it comes with the expectation that the flick in head is among the all - time great . For the most part , this has been rightful . Few people could convincingly fence that movies likeCasablanca , On the Waterfront , Lawrence of Arabia , The Godfather , The Godfather Part II , Schindler ’s List , andNo Country for Old Menfailed to exist up to that charge .
Regardless , there are a handful of movies that , in hindsight , plainly did n’t deserve to go home with cinema ’s top trophy . And those are the films that we ’re putting on blast in our inclination of the ten worst Oscar winners ever . It ’s too before long to say whether the Academy will make the right choice on Sunday , March 10 . But for these movies , the verdict is in .
10. Shakespeare In Love (1998)
Shakespeare In Loveis actually a middling good romanticistic funniness that live on a farseeing way towards making Gwyneth Paltrow a star . Joseph Fiennes stars as William Shakespeare , and he does indeed fall in love with the comely Viola de Lesseps ( Paltrow ) in a way that mirrors many of his most notable plays . Judi Dench has a modest supporting role as Queen Elizabeth I , which won her an Oscar for Best affirm Actress .
Shakespeare In Loveended up on this list because it has a bad report attached to its Best Picture win . Disgraced photographic film producer Harvey Weinstein pulled out all the plosive consonant while running the military campaign to give this film the Oscar , which was strange for the time . WouldShakespeare In Lovehave won without Weinstein ’s politicking ? We ’ll never know for sure , but we suspect that Steven Spielberg’sSaving Private Ryanwould have get ahead under average circumstances . And perhaps it should have .
WatchShakespeare In LoveonMax .
9. How Green Was My Valley (1941)
How Green Was My Valley‘s call to celebrity is that it triumphed overThe Maltese FalconandCitizen Kane , the latter of which is wide regarded as one of the good picture ever made . On its own terms , How Green Was My Valleyis an all right film that gavePlanet of the ape ‘ Roddy McDowall one of the primary character as Huw Morgan , the youngest son of a mining family that faces life-threatening hardships in the nineteenth hundred .
This movie was directed by John Ford , the only military personnel ever to win Best Director four times at the Oscars . Ironically , Ford’sThe Grapes of Wrathwas nominated for the same award a year earlier thanHow Green Was My Valley , and the former is the film that has hold the trial of metre . Compared to that movie , How Green Was My Valleyis very forgettable .
Rent or buyHow Green Was My ValleyonPrime Video .
8. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
Around the World in 80 Daysmay be one of the most famous object lesson of the victory of spectacle over substance . Director Michael Anderson conform Jules Verne ’s novel of the same name , which abide by the dangerous undertaking of Phileas Fogg ( David Niven ) as he undertakes a massive stake that he can travel the entire earthly concern and refund within 80 days to his starting location .
The celluloid itself was actually film in 75 days in 13 countries and features over 50 cameos by established stars from the era , including Frank Sinatra , Red Skelton , and Peter Lorre . And while there are for certain sorry flick than this one , Around the World in 80 Dayswilts in comparing to three of the flick it drum for Best Picture : The King and I , Giant , andThe Ten Commandments .
Rent or buyAround the World in 80 DaysonPrime Video .
7. Out of Africa (1985)
Out of Africais far from the only Best Picture that seems to cart on and on . But this movie is a slog that could essay anyone ’s patience . It was n’t even beloved by critic at the clock time of its release . However , thanks to Meryl Streep ’s performance in the leading role as Karen Blixen , it rallied to pull ahead seven Oscars . And yet Streep had to settle for a mere Oscar nomination after lose to Geraldine Page for her role inThe Trip to Bountiful .
AlthoughOut of Africais based on the life of the real Karen Blixen , some aspects of it are kind of cringy in retrospect , especially when the cinema presents Karen as a champion for Africans in their own country of origin . And the few aboriginal African characters in the moving picture are basically non - entity in the overall story . Robert Redford plays Karen ’s elementary beloved stake , Denys Finch Hatton , which believably helped bring in the general hearing at the prison term of its tone ending . However , both Redford and Streep have had much good film than this one .
WatchOut of AfricaonNetflix .
6. The King’s Speech (2010)
2010 was notably the 2nd time in the modernistic earned run average of filmmaking that the Academy Awards expanded the Best Picture class to 10 nominees . And this is the celluloid that won ? ! There ’s no reasonable and rational controversy thatThe King ’s Speechis better thanDavid Fincher‘sThe Social web , Black Swan , Inception , Toy Story 3,Winter ’s Bone , and the Coen brothers ’ make over ofTrue Grit . Many of those films are considered to be among the best motion-picture show of the 2010s . The King ’s Speechis not .
This is one of those British majestic home dramas that the Academy seems to know so much . It ’s not a uncollectible film , and the account of King George VI ( Colin Firth ) seek to overpower his stammer even has its emotionally moving moments . There is also heavy skill on display by the old stager cast , including Geoffrey Rush , Helena Bonham Carter , Guy Pearce , and Derek Jacobi . Regardless , The King ’s Speechpales in comparability to its 2010 contemporaries . It just should n’t have come through .
WatchThe King ’s SpeechonMax .
5. Forrest Gump (1994)
2024 differentiate the 30th anniversary ofPulp FictionandThe Shawshank Redemption , two of the honorable movies of the ’ 90s . And yet both of those cinema , as well asQuiz ShowandFour Weddings and a Funeral , lost toForrest Gump . At the time , the Academy full espouse Tom Hanks ’ title character and gave Hanks his 2d Oscar for Best Actor .
Looking back , it ’s hard to see what the attracter was to director Robert Zemeckis ’ ego - soft nostalgia erotica as CGI trickery inserts Forrest into several of the 20th century ’s most memorable moments . Forrest is entail to be a likable yet simple - minded everyman , but Hank ’s carrying into action is borderline sickening from a modern perspective . Then there ’s the way that the love of Forrest ’s life , Jenny ( Robin Wright ) , is subjected to sexual maltreatment , drug habituation , and a fatal illness . It may not have been mean as misogyny towards Jenny , but that ’s how it looks now .
WatchForrest GumponParamount+ .
4. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
In 2001 , the most exciting movies name for Best Picture wereThe Lord of the Rings : The Fellowship of the Ring , followed byMoulin Rouge ! , andGosford Park . Instead of those motion picture , the eventual winner was music director Ron Howard’sA Beautiful Mind , broadly based on the actual tale of John Forbes Nash ( Russell Crowe ) , a magnificent mathematician who suffers from utmost dementia praecox . The film spiel up those delusions by making the audience and Nash believe he ’s a primal figure in a massive cabal .
What you wo n’t see in the film are the inconvenient thing that screenwriter Akiva Goldsman omitted , like the fact that Nash was bisexual or that his wife , Amy Nash , was from El Salvador and not an American like Jennifer Connelly , the actress who portrayed her on the screen . A Beautiful Mindis far from the first photographic film to bring fast and loose with the fact of a story , and that ’s not why it ’s here . The primary ground thatA Beautiful Mindwas placed on this listing is that it was wildly overrated at the time of its discharge , and it is an ill fit among the quietus of the Best Picture winner .
Rent or buyA Beautiful MindonPrime Video .
3. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
Only two flick are more unenviable Best Picture winners thanDriving Miss Daisy . And you ’ll learn about those two soon enough . This flick starts in the former ’ 40s , as Hoke Colburn ( Morgan Freeman ) is hired by Boolie Werthan ( Dan Aykroyd ) to drive his aging mother , Daisy Werthan ( Jessica Tandy ) . Although Daisy is not openly racist , she does n’t really receipt the racism of the world around her until Hoke assist show her the light . The moving-picture show tries to impersonate their association as a genuine friendship , but the master and servant dynamic create that impossible . In fact , it ’s gruelling to picture this movie getting made at all in 2024 .
However , the biggest crime thatDriving Miss Daisycommitted is that it beat four superior films — Born on the Fourth of July , Dead Poets Society , Field of Dreams , andMy Left Foot — all of which would have been more worthy Oscar winner than this one .
tear or buyDriving Miss DaisyonPrime Video .
2. Crash (2006)
If you ’re sensing a movement among the bottom three films on this list , then you ’re not wrong . Crashwas also conceived as a way to speak about race relations . And while a few of the movies mentioned on this list have some redeeming caliber , Crashis remarkably free of those . It ’s a miss from the intelligence go , and it has the unmitigated gall to depict its most racist character , police officeholder John Ryan ( Matt Dillon ) , chivvy a dark fair sex , Christine Thayer ( Thandiwe Newton ) , during a traffic stoppage and then carry through her life by and by in the film . But it ’s not a moment of redemption for Ryan , and he exhibit his dogmatism throughout the movie .
There are some theories that the only reasonCrashwon Best Picture is that the Academy members did n’t desire to give that honor to Ang Lee ’s gay romanticist dramaBrokeback Mountain . Crash‘s win was wide seen as an undeserving upset , and the film has been deride by critic ever since .
WatchCrashonThe Roku Channel .
1. Green Book (2019)
We have to giveGreen Bookcredit . It took an exceptionally tough Best Picture achiever to unseatCrashfrom the top of this tilt . Peter Farrelly is not a director known for his nuance , as instance by his previous picture , includingDumb and dull , Kingpin , Shallow Hal , andThere ’s Something About Mary . Green Bookis Farrelly ’s attempt to evidence an important spectacular tale about the friendly relationship between a white driver , Tony Lip ( Viggo Mortensen ) , and a gay Black player , Don Shirley ( Mahershala Ali ) , as Tony leave his transportation through the South in 1962 at the height of the Jim Crow laws that discriminated against African Americans .
The job that Farrelly was incapable of dealing with is that the result moving-picture show plays like a saving bow for Tony as he overcomes his racial discrimination and prejudice thanks to his extensive fourth dimension and friendship with Don . Essentially , Don ’s report takes the backseat compared to Tony ’s story . SinceGreen Book‘s unexpected Oscar victory , its name has been used as a stenography for an undeserving winner . If the history of the Academy Awards has taught us anything , it ’s that there are always going to be Oscar winners of dubious calibre . Green Bookmay have the title of the worst Oscar success for now , but there ’s always the opening that some other film could unseat it in the future .
Rent or buyGreen BookonPrime Video .
