Monday, Feb. 16, 2009
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
The only suspense here is whether Christian Bale — Batman to Ledger's Joker — will accept the award for his late costar, and, if so, how he'll treat the Oscar-show crew. For Ledger, who died, at 28, a year to the day before he was nominated, will surely win. An imposing trifecta is operative here: his performance's impact, the movie's blockbuster status and the Academy's sentimental necrophilia. His reading of the Joker also obliterated Jack Nicholson's version in the 1989 Batman. It's a masterly achievement, and the Oscar will help atone for the Academy's oversight of Ledger's very deserving work in Brokeback Mountain. (Odds of Winning: Sure thing)