Five Best: Misguided Best Actor Oscar Follow-Ups

the late Peter Finch in his Oscar winning,
posthumous role in Network courtesy of movieactors.com

Two weeks ago, we looked at the Best Actress winner who followed up their wins with terrible choices for their next roles. Well, now we'll take a look at the guys. Unfortunately, this is a tougher list to make - not sure why. It just was. But, here we go, in chronological order.

	Jack Nicholson Won for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)...then did The Missouri Breaks The near perfect adaptation of Ken Kesey's iconic novel gave Nicholson his first lead actor Oscar. Directed by Milos Forman, the Best Picture winner was an early peak for Jack, with a lot more great work to come. Unfortunately, it didn't come immediately after, when he starred alongside Marlon Brando in the misguided Western directed by Arthur Penn. An pleasant, but wholly forgettable film, The Missouri Breaks became an empty footnote in a brilliant career (though he had other missteps - see below).
	Dustin Hoffman Won for Rain Man (1988)...then did Family Business Hoffman has been a wonderful presence on the screen for years and his first (and only) Oscar came from the story of a brotherly bond with Tom Cruise, directed by Barry Levinson. The Best Picture winner was a true triumph for Hoffman, only to be followed by the horrific drama Family Business, with Sean Connery and Matthew Broderick. Directed by the great Sidney Lumet, this empty family crime drama is a hot mess the whole way through.
	Anthony Hopkins Won for Silence of the Lambs (1991)...then did Freejack One of the best films of the last 25 years included a short, but brilliant performance by Anthony Hopkins, as the indelible Hannibal Lecter. But, after making director Jonathan Demme a legitimate threat, Hopkins turned to director Geoff Murphy and a sci-fi time-travel movie called Freejack. Hopkins starred alongside Emilio Estevez and - get this - Mic Jagger in a poorly acted, messy action films tha completely wastes Hopkins and most of the other cast.
	Jack Nicholson Won for As Good as It Gets (1997)...then did The Pledge Two weeks ago, I mentioned Helen Hunt in this same vain for this same film, an enjoyable little James L. Brooks film about a strange relationship. But, Nicholson missed again immediately after his Oscar victory with a four year hiatus, then Sean Penn's tale of loyalty and honor. Most critics were pretty sold on this film, but it feels a little too weighty and difficult film to grasp behind Penn's untrained eye.
	Jamie Foxx Won for Ray (2004)...then did Stealth Let's be honest - 2004 was a shot-in-the-dark year for Foxx, who won the Oscar for this film, plus earned a nomination for the exciting and gripping Collateral with Tom Cruise. Then, he returned to the terrible movie roles with Stealth, an awful action film with Colin Farrell. Rob Cohen directed this train wreck, also starring Jessica Biel and Josh Lucas. It was a disappointed backwards step from a guy who no one expected much from to begin with.

So, there you have it. There are plenty more that I couldn't include because I haven't seen their follow-up movies. But, here's to hoping they were better choices than these.