Don't believe the hype, Sean Penn is still top of the heap

Every time I watch a movie with Sean Penn, he delivers a career best performance. There is usually no performance good enough, however, to overcome the power and momentum of that dreaded Oscar monster, hype. It infects me ever year and 2009 was no different. Mickey Rourke was solid and occassionally very moving as Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, but some critics had me believing he was the stand out performance of the year before I'd even got past the opening credits.

Like a newspaper campaign that etches away at your subconscious, it gradually got inside my skin. I've got to start toughening up. For me it was Evan Rachel Wood's emotionally charged performance as his frustrated and destitute daughter that stole the show in The Wrestler. Where was her nomination for supporting actress? Anyway, where the Best Male category was concerened the Academy got it right on this occassion, and left the hype where it belongs...