Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

The competition:
Christian Bale (Vice) plays former Vice President Dick Cheney. His film is the nominations leader, contending for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical. Bale won a Globe in 2010 for “The Fighter” and was also nominated for his performances in “American Hustle” and “The Big Short.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) plays lamplighter Jack. His film is nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical. He was nominated in 2016 for his work on a song from “Moana.”

Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) plays driver Tony Vallelonga. His film is nominated for Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical. He was previously nominated for his performances in “Captain Fantastic,” “A Dangerous Method,” and “Eastern Promises.”

Robert Redford (The Old Man and the Gun) plays older criminal Forrest Tucker. He is the lone nominee from his film. He actually only has one acting bid, for 2013’s “All is Lost,” but he won the Most Promising Newcomer – Male award in 1965, the World Film Favorite – Male prize three times in the 1970s, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1993, and the first of his four Best Director bids in 1980 for “Ordinary People.”

John C. Reilly (Stan and Ollie) plays legendary comic Oliver Hardy. He is the lone nominee from his film. He was nominated for his performance and songwriting in “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” and for his supporting role in “Chicago.”

Additional notes: Bale and Mortensen are both nominated for individual SAG Awards. The winner of this category sometimes goes on to be nominated for an Oscar, and two victors – Jean Dujardin and Jamie Foxx – have actually won the Oscar.
Who should win? I didn’t find Miranda to be the best part of his film, and Reilly was fun but not spectacular. I can appreciate Bale’s immersion in his character. I thought Redford was terrific, and I’d choose him or the almost effortlessly great Mortensen.
Who will win? This shouldn’t be much of a challenge for Bale, though Mortensen triumphing would be an intriguing surprise.