How was Mark Wahlberg the only Oscar nominee?!

I just watched the film for the first time, and of course I thought it was fantastic. My big question, however, is how and why Wahlberg was the only one to receive an Oscar nomination for his performance. The acting is top notch all around, and I think DiCaprio, Damon, and Nicholson all deserved nominations as well, with Wahlberg being a distant fourth among these. Wahlberg just isn't in the movie enough, and when he is, he just swears and insults people a lot - don't get me wrong, he gives a good performance, but it's just nowhere as good or memorable as the other three. And that's not all; he's easily the least liked actor out of the four, at least by the Academy's terms. Nicholson is a legend who has the most nominations of any male in history, DiCaprio is everyone's favorite actor and a multiple nominee himself, and Damon was already an Oscar winner and multiple nominee when the film came out. And since the film won Best Picture, you know the Academy loved it, so why couldn't they have made room for AT LEAST Nicholson? DiCaprio and Nicholson's Golden Globe nominations only add to the argument!
The only reason I can make for DiCaprio is that he had another Oscar worthy performance that same year (Blood Diamond), for which he was nominated for. Damon and Nicholson still stand.


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