Oscar Matters - Is this Johnny Depp's Year?

There is no question that Johnny Deep is one of our most talented actors and he deserves an Oscar. It's always been my belief that actors and actresses should win Oscars for their body of work. When hot Hollywood new comers burst on the scene and win an Oscar for their first major role their next major role is historically a high-budget low-substance picture. Who can forget Adrian Brody's turn in The Jacket? Wait, who can remember Adrian Brody?

I love Johnny Depp, but his choice in roles has not always highlighted his true talent. From the first time I saw him on screen in Edward Scissorhands to his haunting portrayal of Sweeny Todd (Tim Burton uses him a lot), he has been my most reliable source for what life's like on the fringes of society. But the fringe doesn't really pay the bills in Hollywood nor does it always give room for versatility.

It took a big budget mass appeal juggernaut like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl to make him an Oscar nominee . Stand out performances in Blow and Chocolat showed that he was more that just the quirky Tim Burton lead and his legion of cult followers have been good for business. Johnny Depp, after putting in memorable performances for 20 years earned his first nod in 2004 for playing Jack Sarrow. The Academy rarely gives statues for comedic performances, this was no exception, but it did give him a second nod the following year for his portrayal of Sir James Matthew Barrie in Finding Neverland. He lost to Jamie Fox (the Academy owes black people some back pay) .

This year is his best shot at winning the golden statute thus far. In Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Depp reunites with Tim Burton. Todd tells the dark story of a Benjamin Barker who’s exiled because a powerful judge wants to take Barker's wife for his own. When Barker returns from exile, he has nothing and has become Sweeney Todd, a mad man out for revenge. It is here, in the deep recesses of the macabre, where Depp honed his talent and is arguably his most effective. His intensity as an actor helps him humanize the most inhuman of characters. I think it would be no small vindication for him, and his most loyal fans, to win the award for playing a mad man in a Tim Burton picture.

But than again he could easily be in his seat when the Best Actor winner is announced on February 25 at the Kodak Theater. The Academy usually honors the proven best (talent wise and box office wise), but it tends to take them a while. Jack Nicholson is the Academy's most honored actor, with four wins and twelve nominations. He didn't win until his fourth nomination. Peter O'Toole has been nominated eight times and has only won an honorary award. Kate Winslet has been nominated five times and hasn't won yet.

You have to wait your turn, but the Academy likes to share the wealth and three of this year's nominees, George Clooney, Tommy Lee John, and Daniel Day-Lewis, have already won acting Oscars. Viggo Mortinson is up for his first Oscar, making Johnny Depp the most acclaimed actor on the ballot without a win. Johnny's been good, and I hope this is the year the Academy makes him great.