The Lowest-Scoring Best Picture Nominees of the Past 30 Years
As history—and Metascores—show, Academy Award nominations reveal best picture contenders, but not necessarily the best pictures.
We've looked through the best picture Oscar fields of the last 30 years, from the 1989 nominees through the recently announced 2018 field, cross-checked the nominees' Metacritic scores, and ranked the 24 lowest-scoring films, from the bottom to the relative top. Four of these films went on to become best picture winners—but none boasts a Metascore higher than 69.
This 1991 adaptation of Pat Conroy's novel about an abuse survivor (played by Nick Nolte) and his therapist (played by Barbra Streisand, who also directed) captured seven Oscar nominations. But Streisand neither fully won over Academy members, who snubbed her in the director category, or critics, who complained her film was too glossy.
“This movie is long and full of pain, and it's driven by the most syrupy musical score I can recall.” —Bill Cosford, Miami Herald
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