5. Robeto Benigni in Life is Beautiful- Well he certainly smiles a lot and clowns around but that is basically all he does.
4. Nick Nolte in Affliciton- Nick Nolte never really becomes that effective in his role here, but I still think he was fine.
3. Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan- Tom Hanks stays as a man to follow through the war epic of a film, and finds time to develop his character despite the nature of the film.
2. Ian McKellen in Gods and Monsters- McKellen gives a very effective, and believable performance as James Whale, suggesting all of his complicated past, and his current predicaments exceedingly well.
1. Edward Norton in American History X- Edward Norton is simply brilliant as he undergoes all of his character very complicated changes from young man, to a Neo-Nazi, and later to a very reformed and changed man. An extremely complicated and completely outstanding performance.
Deserving Performances:Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski
