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

The competition: Jesse Eisenberg’s Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (The Social Network), Colin Firth’s stuttering King George (The King’s Speech), James Franco’s trapped climber (127 Hours), Ryan Gosling’s boyfriend/husband (Blue Valentine), and Mark Wahlberg’s determined fighter (The Fighter).

For your information: Only one of these men has won before, and that’s Franco, who picked up a TV trophy for “James Dean” back in 2001, and was also nominated in 2008 for “Pineapple Express.” Firth earned his first nomination last year for “A Single Man,” Gosling was nominated for “Lars and the Real Girl” in 2007, and Wahlberg got a mention for “The Departed” in 2006. This is Eisenberg’s first nomination.

Who should win: Probably Franco, though Eisenberg and Firth would be good choices too.

Who will win: A tight race between Firth and Franco, with Eisenberg as the spoiler. My money is on Firth, whose film seems to be beloved by Globe voters.