Best movies that are oscar winners or nominees in best actor - motion picture drama category

Phantom Thread(2017)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 92

Set in 1950's London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.



A Beautiful Mind(2001)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 79

After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.



Fences(2016)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 85

A working-class African-American father tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.



Joker(2019)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 80

In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker.



Titanic(1997)

Combined Rating:
86
Combined Critics Rating: 79

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.



Darkest Hour(2017)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 84

During the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.



Cold Mountain(2003)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 81

In the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.



The French Connection(1971)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 81

A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection.



Raging Bull(1980)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 78

An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring destroys his life outside it.



The Silence of the Lambs(1991)

Combined Rating:
85
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A young F.B.I. cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims.



Gladiator(2000)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 76

When a Roman General is betrayed, and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.



Cast Away(2000)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A FedEx executive must transform himself physically and emotionally to survive a crash landing on a deserted island.



One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest(1975)

Combined Rating:
84
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A criminal pleads insanity after getting into trouble again and once in the mental institution rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients.





Training Day(2001)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 75

On his first day on the job as a Los Angeles narcotics officer, a rookie cop goes beyond a full work day in training within the narcotics division of the LAPD with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be.



Finding Neverland(2004)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 77

The story of J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan.



The Danish Girl(2015)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 78

A fictitious love story loosely inspired by the lives of Danish artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener. Lili and Gerda's marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili's groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.



The Fugitive(1993)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 76

Dr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt lead by a seasoned US Marshall.



The English Patient(1996)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 77

At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.




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