He sounded like a slam dunk but I think he's undone by the material a bit. It's a shakier film than one might expect (in it's writing and directing especially) and by the end of it I was surprised at the number of things that left me feeling confused by. It's depiction of Roger Ailes is front and center. There's something almost sympathetic in how pathetic he is depicted in his predacious scenes. John Lithgow is quite good but he lends the role a bit more humanity than the film quite knows what to do with. I wonder if that ultimately turned voters off, or at the very least left them indifferent while other more confident depictions in the film (Theron, Robbie, the makeup) were just easier to endorse.Harry Goldfarb wrote
I still find weird that Lithgow wasn’t more in the race. The character is pretty showy, a prominent antagonist and the story’s true detonant. A real life figure, Lithgow being due to some and coming hot from The Crown and the larger than life approach applied by Lithgow are factors that should have add up to the equation. Having said that, the five eventual nominees are among the best lineup this category has ever seen.
I don't love the lineup quite as much as you do. I think they're all quite good, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino especially. Brad Pitt is a lot of fun in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood but he's a lead. I do like that he eventually won an Oscar for giving a performance that demonstrates his movie star talents. I don't know if Anthony Hopkins is especially great in The Two Popes but it was nice seeing him ripping into something meaty again. I'm not a big fan of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood or Tom Hanks in it, but I did like the final scene a lot.
My votes for GOAT would be that remarkable stretch between 1992-1994. I'd also go to bat for 2007.