Best Actress

Best Sup. Actor

Best Actor

Annette Bening

The Kids Are All Right

Bening has rarely turned in a bad performance but I don't think I've ever enjoyed her as much as I have here, so richly observed is [her character's] tightly wound maternal freakout. You could have a fine time just watching 'The Kids Are All Right' with the sound off, entertained by Bening's horrified facial expressions.
– Ty Burr

Nicole Kidman

Rabbit Hole

A subtle, bone-deep performance, attuned to impatience and rage, gallows humor and the eeriest sort of quiet. ... [Kidman] produced the film after falling in love with the play, and it seems to have revived the quickness in her. That ice-blue gaze has found its focus again, and it looks deep into the one thing none of us want to face.
– Ty Burr

Jennifer Lawrence

Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman

Black Swan

Michelle Williams

Blue Valentine

Ty Burr says ...

Warning to Oscar-pool entrants: Conventional wisdom could very well prevail here and Natalie Portman could win. I'm going out on a limb to guess that the Academy's older crowd, put off by the horror trimmings of "Black Swan," will reward one of their own, the much-nominated Bening, in a frisky L.A. story.

Will win
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Should win
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Shouldn't be here
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone
Was robbed
Lesley Manville, Another Year

Wesley Morris says ...

Poor Annette Bening. Her ongoing inability to win one of these statues – 10 nominations for "Bugsy," not one for her! – casts dubiousness over the entire affair. This appears not to be her year, either, despite another superb feat of sugar-free acting. Natalie Portman lost weight to play a character who loses her mind and will win an Oscar. America loves her. But, playing a mad mom, Nicole Kidman's gives good grief.