Critically acclaimed movies that are oscar winners in actress in a leading role category

Erin Brockovich(2000)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 76

An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.



Driving Miss Daisy(1989)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 76

An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.



Network(1976)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 75

A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor's ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit.





Boys Don't Cry(1999)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 75

Female-born Teena Brandon adopts his male identity of Brandon Teena and attempts to find himself and love in Nebraska.



Monster's Ball(2001)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 74

After a family tragedy, a racist prison guard reexamines his attitudes while falling in love with the African American wife of the last prisoner he executed.



Howards End(1992)

Combined Rating:
75
Combined Critics Rating: 74

A businessman thwarts his wife's bequest of an estate to another woman.



The Piano(1993)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 74

A mute woman is sent to 1850s New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a wealthy landowner, but is soon lusted after by a local worker on the plantation.



The Reader(2008)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 72

Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.



The Iron Lady(2011)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 71

An elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.



Coal Miner's Daughter(1980)

Combined Rating:
70
Combined Critics Rating: 71

Biographical story of Loretta Lynn, a legendary country singer that came from poverty to worldwide fame. She rose from humble beginnings in Kentucky to superstardom and changing the sound and style of country music forever.



Moonstruck(1987)

Combined Rating:
76
Combined Critics Rating: 71

Loretta Castorini, a book keeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.



The Blind Side(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 70

The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.



The Eyes of Tammy Faye(2021)

Combined Rating:
64
Combined Critics Rating: 70

An intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker.



Misery(1990)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 68

After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.



As Good as It Gets(1997)

Combined Rating:
76
Combined Critics Rating: 65

A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.



Sophie's Choice(1982)

Combined Rating:
65
Combined Critics Rating: 57

After spending time with his new neighbors, an aspiring writer realizes they are harboring deep secrets that will forever change him.



Norma Rae(1979)

Combined Rating:
51
Combined Critics Rating: 49

A young single mother and textile worker agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved.



Dead Man Walking(1995)

Combined Rating:
57
Combined Critics Rating: 40

A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.



On Golden Pond(1981)

Combined Rating:
41
Combined Critics Rating: 23

Norman is a curmudgeon with an estranged relationship with his daughter Chelsea. At Golden Pond, he and his wife nevertheless agree to care for Billy, the son of Chelsea's new boyfriend, and a most unexpected relationship blooms.




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