The Wild Card
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey
Why she deserves it: Oh, when doesn’t Thompson deserve an Oscar nomination? She’s great in just about anything she does, even if its playing a sensitive, fortysomething London census taker, who realizes after connecting with a brash American (Dustin Hoffman) that it may just be her last chance at love. Honestly, if Thompson can make Hoffman look like a decent romantic lead, then she more than deserves it.
Supporting Actress Possibilities: Marisa Tomei’s turn as a stripper with a heart of gold in The Wrestler; Viola Davis, as another anguished mother, and/or Amy Adams, as a kindly nun, in Doubt; Rosemarie DeWitt, as the mean-spirited sister Rachel, in Rachel Getting Married; and Penelope Cruz, as the wacky ex-wife, in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.