Hyde Park On Hudson: Is It Time Bill Murray Won An Oscar?

Hyde Park On Hudson: Is It Time Bill Murray Won An Oscar?

Let's face it, Bill Murray probably should have won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2004. In a category boasting Jack Sparrow himself Johnny Depp and Jude Law, nobody would have complained had Murray gotten his hands on the golden statuette for his superb turn in Lost in Translation (it went to Sean Penn for Mystic River in the end).

Since then, Murray has offered assured performances in the likes of Broken Flowers and Get Low, though it could be his most recent movie, Hyde Park on Hudson that sees the veteran competing for Best Actor once again. In Roger Michell's movie, Murray depicts one of the most revered United States presidents of all time, Franklin D Roosevelt. The movie specifically focuses on a weekend in June 1939 when FDR hosted King George and Queen Elizabeth at his family's home in upstate New York. World War II is about to begin and the Brits are calling upon American for help. Comparisons to The Kings Speech have inevitably begun, though can Hyde Park compete at the Academy Awards as Tom Hooper's movie did a couple of years back? Not according to the critics, who ripped the film apart (though praised Murray's individual performance). The New York Times said, "Roosevelt was one of the towering figures of the 20th century, but he and his accomplishments scarcely register in this amorphous, bafflingly aimless movie," while Time Magazine said, "Director Roger Michell's movie is, pretty consistently, dreadful." The Associated Press mused, "But Murray's subtly charming presence ends up being one of the stronger elements of the otherwise lightweight romance Hyde Park on Hudson."

The bookmakers can't seem to make their minds up over Bill Murray's performance. Some offering massive outsider odds of 66/1 for the star to win Best Actor, while others offer as little as 20/1. We think he's got a decent chance of a nomination.