MovieChat Forums > The Verdict (1982) Discussion > Newman's BEST performance = Robbed of Os...

Newman's BEST performance = Robbed of Oscar

posted 9 years ago by LgPepper
7 replies | jump to latest

In my opinion This is the Role where Paul Newman the actor eclipsed Paul Newman, the star. This is without a doubt his best work. For the first time Newman is vulnerable and he captured an alcoholic's uncertainty & hesitatancy beautifully & perfectly. He would NEVER be better than this. It was the first role he did after his only son overdosed and he is brilliant. But fu'n Ghandi comes along. The kind of esteemed picture that the Academy loves to align itself with. But for an Actor and a role, Newman is at his best in this.

[–] TREATsize 9 years ago

well said

[–] johntex9 9 years ago

Totally agree. Newman wuz robbed!

A brilliant and powerful film.

[–] budikavlan 9 years ago

I agree Newman's performance was excellent, but so was Ben Kingsley's. Considering the relative obscurity of Kingsley before the movie, and the sentimental popularity of Newman, I would say The Verdict had a "pre-race" advantage over Gandhi.

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 8 years ago

Kingsley expected Newman to win, apparently...check out "And The Oscar Goes To..." On TCM this month. They always show it multiple times in February.

[–] Noir-It-All 7 years ago

Interesting. I loved Kingsley as Meyer Lansky in "Bugsy".

"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne

[–] shutupandanz 8 years ago

It was an incredible Oscar leading actor category. ....the top 3 are interchangeable between Paul, Ben, and Dustin Hoffman for Tootsie. Though my personal pick is Paul!!

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

The line-up of Best Actor nominees was very strong:

Newman in The Verdict
Hoffman in Tootsie(a bigger hit than The Verdict)
Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year(Rather a comeback for O'Toole, perhaps his most loveable role)
Jack Lemmon in Missing(nice to be nominated, but no)
Ben Kingsley as Gandhi.

Newman showed up. The heavy odds were on Newman. Hoffman was good but had one an Oscar only three years before for Kramer vs. Kramer.

And then Paul Newman -- a Hollywood veteran of almost 40 years who had been nominated many other times and lost -- lost yet AGAIN to a newbie on his first nomination(Kingsley.)

I always felt that Kingsley got some backlash from that win....some anger.

I mean it would have been one thing if Newman had had to lose to Hoffman, or the OTHER long time nominee O'Toole, or even Lemmon but...to that NEW guy?

The Academy tried to make it up to Newman with a special award in 1985. He showed up and took that.

Then -- in a great Oscar twist -- he won the REAL Best Actor award the very next year in 1986 for The Color of Money...playing the same role he'd been Oscar nommed for in 1961 (Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler.)

Newman was fine in The Color of Money. But he was better in The Verdict.

Unfortunately a whole lot of actors have won the Oscar for the wrong movie...