2000 Best Picture Nominees Ranked
featuring frustrating stories and almost-greats
One of my goals for 2025 is to watch every Best Picture nominee of the Academy Awards a.k.a. the Oscars from the year I was born to the present and rank them in order of my personal enjoyment of each. This is part 2 of 25 of that project. I’ll start the list at the bottom and work my way up.
5. American Beauty (1999) dir. Sam Mendes
⭐
Look closer. Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter’s attractive friend.
I have absolutely no respect for this film. It’s incredibly gross and disturbing and the fact that this won Best Picture in 2000 is an offense against art and cinema. It masquerades as some profound commentary on suburbia, materialism, and sexual desire, but it’s really just disgusting. I honestly think anyone who likes this is sick.
4. The Cider House Rules (1999) dir. Lasse Hallström
⭐⭐💫
A story about how far we must travel to find the place where we belong. Homer is an orphan who was never adopted, becoming the favorite of orphanage director Dr. Larch. Dr. Larch imparts his full medical knowledge on Homer, who becomes a skilled, albeit unlicensed, physician. But Homer yearns for a self-chosen life outside the orphanage. What will Homer learn about life and love in the cider house? What of the destiny that Dr. Larch has planned for him?
This is a movie that feels ahead of its time but also a product of its time. It’s pretty daring in its messaging on abortion rights, yet it somehow feels just a bit short of hollow. It does have a heartwarming story at its core that I think will appeal to a lot of people, the score is moving, and most of the cast is undeniably charming. It has all the workings of a good film but never quite hits in either the emotional or the thematic aspect.
3. The Sixth Sense (1999) dir. M. Night Shyamalan
⭐⭐⭐
Not every gift is a blessing. Following an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine-year-old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.
Is figuring out the twist not even an hour into the film a me problem? Because from reading a bunch of reviews on Letterboxd, it seems that most people were shocked by it, and I am genuinely disappointed that I called it way too early. This is a strong story with a moving exploration of grief, there are some powerful emotional moments towards the end, and Haley Joel Osment was a wildly phenomenal actor here at such a young age. I really liked this film. I just can't quite decide whether it is more predictable than I am frustrated.
2. The Green Mile (1999) dir. Frank Darabont
⭐⭐⭐💫
Paul Edgecomb didn’t believe in miracles. Until the day he met one. A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people’s ailments. When the cell block’s head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey’s miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man’s execution.
A fascinating story with some strong storytelling and direction, but I couldn't help but be disgusted by how it ended. The ending was absolutely heart-wrenching and left a sour taste in my mouth. Perhaps it was a story that needed to be told in its time, but I do feel that in this day and age, if we are to consume stories about race and the struggle for justice, we would be better off listening to ones written by people of color. Michael Clarke Duncan and—I have to say it—Doug Hutchison's performances were amazing in this though.
1. The Insider (1999) dir. Michael Mann
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Two men driven to tell the truth…whatever the cost. A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a 60 Minutes exposé on Big Tobacco.
We all know corporate sucks. I would add that so is the criminally distracting and ineffective score for this film, which bogs down an otherwise riveting story about the power and integrity of journalism. It's very well-written and both Al Pacino and Christopher Plummer give outstanding performances here. (Sorry, Russell Crowe, this isn’t your best performance.) A solid watch and pretty much the only one in this lineup I enjoyed.
I am hoping this is one of the weaker Best Picture lineups I’ll get to explore and that it will all be uphill from here. But which of these films have you seen and which ones do you like? Let me know!