BEST ACTRESS PAGE Winners / Ranked / Full		Oscar Winner Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich Oscar Nominees Joan Allen, The Contender Juliette Binoche, Chocolat Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me Plausible Contender Björk, Dancer in the Dark Interesting Outlier Angela Bassett, Boesman and Lena World Traveler Nathalie Baye, An Affair of Love The Overall Field ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ An even stronger year in this category than people sometimes credit, partly because ardor for such fantastic near-miss propositions as Björk in Dancer in the Dark, Gillian Anderson in The House of Mirth, and Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sometimes prompts resentment toward those who reaped nominations—especially Binoche, riding in on the coattails of Miramax's amazingly successful shilling of Chocolat. Critics' prizes were largely divided among Burstyn, Linney, and Roberts, and any year with three such remarkable and disparate front-runners feels pretty vintage. Even better, those nominations meant very different things for those performers: Roberts apotheosized her megawatt career even as she considerably raised her game; Linney finally hit the big time and carried a tiny film to major glory; and Burstyn made a major comeback and earned a new generation of fans in the kind of abrasive, adventurous film the Academy doesn't always embrace. The secret weapon in the group is Allen, treated like an also-ran in much coverage and perhaps feeling like a default pick after three nominations in six years, but digging with steel and verve into the rare Capitol Hill drama framed around a woman. If it weren't for the flop-sweat wafting off the Weinsteins, everything would smell perfectly rosy here. Permalink Actresses 2000 Home Blog E-Mail