Related movies

• Mrs Henderson Presents
• North Country
• Pride & Prejudice
• Transamerica
• Walk the Line

Related people

• Judi Dench
• Joaquin Phoenix
• Reese Witherspoon
• Charlize Theron
• Keira Knightley
• Felicity Huffman

Oscar preview - Best Actress

Continuing our examination of the big categories, The TOMB presents the ladies.

Feb 28 2006

In the second of our Academy Award previews, we tackle the best actress category, where yet again one performance appears to be head and shoulders above the others.

On the upside, the Brits have a vested interest as we've got two nominees. On the downside, neither will win.

While Dame Judi Dench gives a typically fine performance in 'Mrs Henderson Presents', and Keira Knightley surprised everyone by actually being quite good in 'Pride & Prejudice', the pair of them are very much the outsiders in this category.

Charlize Theron is also unlikely to walk away with the trophy, in part because her last victory is still fresh in the mind of voters, but mainly due to the fact that the film for which she is nominated – 'North Country' – isn't very good.

If this was a betting TOMB, we'd be tempted to have a flutter on desperate housewife Felicity Huffman, who looks to have a reasonable chance for her work as a transsexual in 'Transamerica'. Huffman's brilliant performance has been picking up increasingly good word-of-mouth from commentators since the films hit screens late last year, and it even won her a Golden Globe in the highly-competitive drama category.

However, if we were looking for a safe bet, Reese Witherspoon is our girl. Her portrayal of June Carter in 'Walk the Line' should succeed on Sunday where Joaquin Phoenix's Johnny Cash is likely to fail. She too won a Golden Globe (in the musical or comedy category) and combined with the BAFTA she picked up a couple of weeks ago, Witherspoon looks practically unstoppable for this one.

Oscar Preview