Best movies that are oscar winners or nominees in actress in a leading role category

21 Grams(2003)

Combined Rating:
83
Combined Critics Rating: 77

A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con.



Erin Brockovich(2000)

Combined Rating:
82
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.



In the Bedroom(2001)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 82

A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman who has two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband.



Notes on a Scandal(2006)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 78

A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.



Julie & Julia(2009)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 77

Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.



The Help(2011)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 75

An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.



Loving(2016)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 85

The story of Richard and Mildred Loving, a couple whose arrest for interracial marriage in 1960s Virginia began a legal battle that would end with the Supreme Court's historic 1967 decision.



Bombshell(2019)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 79

A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Ailes and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.



Requiem for a Dream(2000)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 72

The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep.



Something's Gotta Give(2003)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 74

A swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women falls in love with an accomplished woman closer to his age.



The Devil Wears Prada(2006)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 73

A smart but sensible new graduate lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine.



Florence Foster Jenkins(2016)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 79

The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.



Network(1976)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 74

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



Driving Miss Daisy(1989)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 75

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



Thelma & Louise(1991)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 74

Two best friends set out on an adventure but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the American police as these two girls escape for the crimes they committed!



Joy(2015)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 73

Joy is the story of the title character, who rose to become founder and matriarch of a powerful family business dynasty.



Judy(2019)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 80

Legendary performer Judy Garland (Renée Zellweger) arrives in London in the winter of 1968 to perform a series of sold-out concerts.



Ordinary People(1980)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 78

The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.



Boys Don't Cry(1999)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 74

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



Pieces of a Woman(2020)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 77

When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.




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