Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

The competition: Denzel Washington’s determined mobster in “American Gangster”, James McAvoy’s wrongly accused servant in “Atonement”, Viggo Mortensen’s silent driver in “Eastern Promises”, George Clooney’s fixer in “Michael Clayton”, and Daniel Day-Lewis’ oil tycoon in “There Will Be Blood”.
For your information: Washington has five nominations and two wins. Day-Lewis has four previous nominations. Clooney has seven previous nominations and two wins, though not all of them are for acting, or even for film work. This is the first nomination for both McAvoy and Mortensen.
Who should win: Day-Lewis deserves this one, though it would be sort of cool to see Mortensen or McAvoy win, though the latter’s role is far too small to merit this kind of trophy.
Who will win: If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said McAvoy had a really great shot, but after the devastating guild reception to “Atonement”, I think Day-Lewis has this one in the bag.