Top 20 Failed Oscar Bait Movies of All Time

It was inevitable that Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel would be adapted into a film eventually. But few would have thought this John Crowley-directed venture to have such an underwhelming reception. A Dickensian coming-of-age tale, “The Goldfinch” follows Theodore Decker’s orphaned life after his mother is killed in an art gallery bombing. Despite its gorgeous cinematography, the film’s surface-level adaptation of this complicated narrative left much to be desired, so much so that a disappointed Tartt fired her agent. To add assault to injury, it was also a box office bomb. This bird just did not fly.

Sex worker Claudia kills her client after he tries to assault her. Her upper-middle-class parents try to have her committed, but Claudia insists she is mentally sound. Of course, she is, but that is unfortunately the problem in this cliché-clogged courtroom drama starring Barbra Streisand in the lead role. While critics praised Streisand’s performance, they were less enthused by the predictable plot. The film was at least nominated for a couple of Golden Globes, but won none. It was also not nominated for any Academy Awards at all, which was for the best with this quickly forgettable film.

War dramas tend to gun hard for the Oscars, and this one is no exception. Directed by Ang Lee, the film follows the titular U.S. Army soldier when he gets honored for helping a fellow soldier to safety. To Lynn, however, the day was the worst in his life, relieving it all during the Dallas Cowboys home game. This ambitious character study unfortunately doesn’t reap much thematic fruit, with critics disappointed by its pedestrian screenplay. The fact that it opted for a high frame rate was also controversial. “Billy Lynn” did win some Hollywood Film Awards, but no Oscars. At least he got a Silver Star, though.

World War II has been the subject of countless award-winning films. This one, however, isn’t it. Directed by George Clooney, “The Monuments Men” has the novelty of focusing on a group of art curators and historians trying to save art stolen by the Nazis. Granted, the film seems to be faithful to actual historical events. But whatever thematic importance “The Monuments Men” may have been trying to achieve is foiled by its sluggish pace, episodic structure, and sentimental tone. Also, isn’t this just a more pretentious “Indiana Jones?” In any case, the film won neither Oscars nor audience plaudits. Art belongs to a museum, all right, but it’s not this film.

We have known the difficulties of adapting books and plays into film. But undoubtedly one of the most perilous is adapting a stage musical to film. Yikes. Directed by Stephen Chbosky and starring Ben Platt in the title role, this misfire illustrates all that could go wrong with a musical adaptation. The jarring transition from speech to song, as well as cutting nine songs, gives the impression the film is embarrassed of being a musical. While musicals can justify their weak plots with a great execution, the movie only seemed to draw attention to its weak contrivances. Then there is a patently older Platt, unconvincing as a high schooler. It was just as well that “Evan Hansen” was not nominated for any Oscars.

The plight of slaves in Civil War-era America has been at the center of great cinematic storytelling, and usually generously lapped up at the Oscars. Usually. So the fact that this Will Smith vehicle was not nominated for any Academy Awards is telling. Based on the true story of a runaway slave, the film follows Peter’s escape after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. A photo of his whipped back was a key piece in the abolitionist movement and a powerful testament to the evils of slavery. A stirring tale with a great performance on Smith’s part, reception was nevertheless critical about the script’s handling of the real-life material.

This love drama between movie theater employees in the eighties was perhaps too tepid to impress. Manager Hilary’s and new employee Stephen’s blossoming romance is threatened by racist attacks by skinheads. While Olivia Colman’s performance was praised, critics were mixed about the writing for Stephen and the weak dialogue overall. The central love romance feels more like a plot device than anything else. As a thematic tribute to the magic of movies… well, it’s been done before, and much better. The Oscars did not warm up to this lukewarm drama outside of a bid for Best Cinematography, although Roger Deakins is basically a name-check nominee at this point.

The worst Oscar bait tends to be biopics. This one follows the life of aviator Amelia Earhart and her mysterious disappearance on her last flight to Howland Island. You can’t get more Oscar-friendly than that. While other efforts would receive tepidly positive or mixed reviews, this time the consensus was clear. “Amelia” crashed and burned at both the box office and with critics. Hollow, insincere, with indifferent performances and slow pacing, the film struggles to deliver a stirring drama. Hilary Swank’s performance as Earhart can’t overcome a script that turns a pioneer into a blandly feminist icon. The Academy Awards were not impressed.

This sports drama did not deliver that crucial touchdown. Directed by Mike Tollin, the movie is based on a true story concerning high school football coach Harold Jones. When his team hazes Radio, a man with a developmental disability, Jones takes him under his wing, to massive pushback from the townspeople. A spiritual precursor to “The Blind Side” in its feel-good treacly sentimentality, “Radio” falls too easily into white savior tropes. While it received favorable audience ratings, “Radio’s” clichéd drama and Cuba Gooding Jr.’s weak performance did not endear it to critics. It is easily forgettable Oscar bait.

Speaking of biopics about racial divides. This film follows the first African-American master diver in the United States Navy. Inspired by the heroic feat of an officer, Carl Brashear attends Diving and Salvage School to learn how to dive, struggling against institutional racism all the way. The best we can say about these men of honor is that their film has good performances by Gooding Jr. as Brashear and Robert De Niro as Officer Sunday. Still, the film is largely rote, uninspiring, and by all accounts quickly forgettable. No awards for these officers.

There have been a bevy of outstanding memorials to the late Princess of Wales. Unfortunately, 2013’s “Diana” is not one of them. At first glance, it’s easy to see why many felt Naomi Watts' starring vehicle would be a heavy contender during awards season. And, to be fair, her performance isn’t bad. But it’s arguably impossible to really tell beneath the subpar dialogue and cheap production values. Many found the film plodding and exploitative as opposed to insightful, and that kind of bad press sank its awards prospects long before they even began. Not only did the film fail to garner any serious buzz, it couldn’t even crack double digits on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.

Classic musical adaptations have historically been hit or miss with the Academy. However, director Tom Hooper earned “Les Misérables” eight nominations in 2012, so hopes were high he’d do the same with “Cats.” Alas, he couldn’t make lightning strike twice – not even close, actually. Without even touching upon the laughable visual effects, the film was so fundamentally flawed that it had audiences wish they had a “memory” of anything besides “Cats.” In the end, this unintentional parody ended up winning at a very different kind of awards show, that being the Golden Raspberry’s. There, the film notably “won” Worst Picture, cementing its place in the litter of movie musicals.

A roughly three-hour-long historical epic sounds like the kind of thing most cinephiles would eat up. But if this movie is taught in film classes, it would likely be to discuss how things ended up going so horribly wrong. To start, the movie perhaps seemed more interested in reciting history than depicting it. That meant its star-studded cast didn’t have much material to work with, which arguably led to some career-worst performances across the board. Both audiences and critics gave it a massive shrug, and it failed to earn any of the Oscar nominations it was fishing for. In the end, the only thing “Alexander” walked away with was a legacy that’s anything but “Great.”

Sia’s first foray into directing a feature film arguably left a lot to be desired. After all, despite its best intentions, “Music” ended up offending many in the very community it was trying to represent. Everything from its casting choices to its problematic portrayal of autism drew heavy backlash, and the first official screenings did little to assuage those concerns. Sia publicly apologized and edits were made, while “Music” still snuck into a few Golden Globe categories. Audiences weren’t happy about it, though, and launched an unsuccessful campaign to have its nominations rescinded. The movie didn’t garner any Oscar nods, which ended up being the least controversial about it.

Speaking directly to the concepts of love, death, and time is just the kind of heady acting exercise that’s earned plenty of performers golden statues. Sadly, “Collateral Beauty” falls apart because that’s all it tries to do. In fact, one could say it works so hard to appear sophisticated that it forgets to give its actors anything to do. Unfortunately, Will Smith is the biggest victim. Much like his turn in the similarly-fated “Seven Pounds,” you can practically feel how hard he’s trying to get some recognition. While the performance is certainly committed, there’s only so much he can do. The actor would go on to deliver much better performances in much better films, meaning “Collateral Beauty” is just a footnote many try to forget.

One would think that an Oscar-nominated director teaming up with some regular Oscar nominees and winners would lead to an Oscar-worthy film. Unfortunately, that equation leaves out the most important variable: that it all has to equal a good movie in the end. Suffice it to say, “Amsterdam” is not exactly that. The talented cast and crew are wasted on a movie that’s too messy to say anything, and too safe to stand out. In fact, it wasn’t good enough to even earn back its budget at the box office, let alone anything close to a prestigious industry award. Sadly, the main thing “Amsterdam” will likely be remembered as is an unprecedented misfire.

If anyone could make this eclectic true-story work as a film, it was Robert Zemeckis. The director’s contributions to the Oscar-winning “Back to the Future” and “Forrest Gump” had many expecting a similar showing for “Welcome to Marwen.” The ingredients were all there, but that might’ve been the problem. Oftentimes, the movie felt like it was checking boxes off of Zemeckis’ trademark formula. Despite a worthwhile central performance from Steve Carell, the film never managed to rise above its middling critical reception. So, “Welcome to Marwen” probably won’t be spoken about in the same breath as Zemeckis’ other films — at least not the ones that earned Academy Awards.

A father-son drama directed by Florian Zeller, this movie has “Oscar bait” written all over it. When family man Peter Miller decides to repair his relationship with his troubled ex-wife’s son Nicholas, what follows is unspeakable tragedy. Though nominated for some awards, this melodrama about intergenerational trauma proved too much—or rather, too little—for most critics. While Hugh Jackman’s performance was great as the beleaguered father, the film’s portrayal of depression was a mixed bag at best. Compared to the complexity of Zeller’s first film “The Father,” “The Son” felt flat, simplistic, and unconvincing.

Despite the merits of its true story, many felt this glossy musical prioritized style over substance, as evidenced by its awards season haul. While a nomination for Best Original Song isn’t anything to sneer at, it’s obvious that folks expected the movie to do better. But even though certain critics weren’t completely taken with the revisionist take on P.T. Barnum, audiences told a different story. The same popcorn entertainment that probably doomed the movie’s Oscars chances made it a bona fide hit in theaters, where viewers came out en masse for its heartwarming themes and infectious soundtrack. So even though “The Greatest Showman” wasn’t an awards-juggernaut, it succeeded in other ways.

If there’s one thing the Academy can’t seem to get enough of, it’s war movies. So when one based on a famous military operation comes out, it’s bound to get people talking. Throw in respected actors like Cillian Murphy, and you get “Anthropoid,” which almost felt like it was designed in a lab specifically to win an Academy Award. So, it must’ve come as quite a blow when the reviews were, well, just fine. They weren’t bad by any means, but they weren’t particularly glowing, either. That tepid response likely spelled the movie’s doom, and “Anthropoid” failed to land a single nomination at any major awards show, Oscars included. A film of its caliber, if handled properly, could have done much, much better.


Which other Oscar bait caught no fish? Let us know in the comments down below!