The SAG Awards is coming up, an event where actors honor their contemporaries for great performances in the previous year in cinema. This year, the award ceremony features a lot of big names in big performances, many of them playing real-life characters from the past. These cases usually follow critics praising the movies as well.
Metacritic is one of the sites that combine critics' scores and present them as a rating, where fans can see what quality a movie is before choosing to spend their hard-earned money on it. However, looking at this year's SAG "Best Actor" nominees, not all the movies were ranked very high by the critics scores gathered on this site.
Lady Gaga | House of Gucci (59)
- Available to rent on Prime Video.
The lowest-ranked movie on Metacritic for a SAG nominated "Best Actor" competitor was House of Gucci. In this movie, Lady Gaga is cast in the role of Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, who conspired to have him killed.
Lady Gaga picked up the nomination for "Best Actress in a Leading Role," although she was surprisingly snubbed by the Oscars. The critics at Metacritic were not impressed either, giving it a lower 59 score. They mainly disagreed on the movie's quality, but most praised Gaga for her performance.
Javier Bardem | Being the Ricardos (60)
- Streaming on Prime Video.
Being the Ricardos was Aaron Sorkin's movie, where he took fans behind-the-scenes of the classic sitcom, I Love Lucy. Sorkin added his usual quick wit and snappy lines and then brought in two heavyweight actors to play Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball.
Javier Barden played Arnaz and he picked up a SAG Best Actor nomination for the role. However, Metacritic did not offer it a great number of positive reviews, with a 60 average. Critics disagreed on the movie's quality, but the cast received acclaim for their performances.
Nicole Kidman | Being the Ricardos (60)
- Streaming on Prime Video.
Nicole Kidman took on the role of Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. This was a big one for Kidman, who had to lose herself in the role of one of television's most beloved stars, and she came out of it looking like the star she is.
Kidman picked up a SAG nomination for "Best Actress in a Lead Role." When it came to the Metacritic reviewers who both loved and hated the movie, they mostly all agreed that Kidman was a star who carried the movie on her back.
Jennifer Hudson | Respect (61)
- Available to rent on Prime Video.
Aretha Franklin has one of the biggest voices in all of soul music, so it would always be hard to find someone who could match up to her. What the biopic Respect did was to bring in an Oscar winner in Jennifer Hudson and she delivered a SAG nominated performance.
At Metacritic, the movie received a lower 61 score from 43 critics. Only one of those was a negative review, though, and 19 were neutral. Even then, the bad reviews credit Hudson with a powerful performance.
Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye (69)
- Streaming on HBO Max.
Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield starred in the biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Garfield was Reverend Jim Baker and Chastain was his wife, Tammy Faye. The movie focused on the wife's rise to fame as the two became major television stars in the televangelical world.
Jessica Chastain is the one who picked up the SAG nomination for "Best Actress in a Lead Role." Metacritics gave it a generally favorable score at 69. Chastain impressed critics as she chewed the scenery in what was called a kitsch and campy movie.
Andrew Garfield | Tick Tick Boom (74)
- Streaming on Netflix.
Andrew Garfield had a good year in 2021, starring in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and the latest in the Tick, Tick...Boom! cast, the man who would create Rent before he died.
Metacritic ranks it at an impressive 74 (which lines up with the audience, who ranked it at a 7.5). The critics say the movie packs joy and sadness into its running time, and that Garfield does a great job in a role that allows him to show all his talent.
Will Smith | King Richard (76)
- Available to rent on Prime Video.
The rise to the top of tennis for Venus Williams and Serena Williams was the focus of the 2021 movie, King Richard. The movie starred Will Smith as the father of the Williams sisters, and showed how he helped them in their careers. It also explored themes, such as racism and discrimination in the sports industry.
Metacritic averages its reviews at a 76. In their reviews, the critics praise Will Smith in this sports biopic, saying he delivered an outstanding performance as the girls' father. Even the lackluster reviews acknowledge that Smith aces his performance in the movie.
Olivia Colman | The Lost Daughter (86)
- Streaming on Netflix.
Olivia Colman won an Oscar for her performance in The Lost Daughter, she plays a much less regal role as a woman vacationing on a beach, who becomes obsessed with a young mother and her daughter.
Colman picked up a SAG nomination for her role here in a movie that Metacritic loved, giving it a 86 average score. This represented universal acclaim on the site, with critics saying it had exceptional performances and a deeply radical depth.
Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth (87)
- Streaming on Apple TV+.
Denzel Washington starred in the Joel Coen directed adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. The movie, shot in stark black and white, brought Shakespeare's writing to the big screen in a movie that has visual and dynamic flair. It also had Washington, one of Hollywood's most reliable stars in The Tragedy of Macbeth's lead role.
Metacritic's average critic's score for The Tragedy of Macbeth was an 87. Critics pointed out the acting was top notch, splendid and pure, which matched up well with the visual look by Coen in his debut solo directorial effort.
Benedict Cumberbatch | The Power of the Dog (89)
- Streaming on Netflix.
At the Oscars, The Power of the Dog seems like the movie to beat in the "Best Picture," "Best Director," and the actor categories. At the SAG Awards, it was also a prized pick, with three actors picking up nominations. For the "Best Actor" spot, it was Benedict Cumberbatch.
On Metacritic, The Power of the Dog is the highest rated movie with a "Best Actor" nomination attached, with an 89 score (making it a Metacritic 'Must See' movie). Critics called it disturbing and heartbreaking, with great acting from top to bottom.
