Because her thinking man's Ilsa act in The Reader is at least conceptually
riskier than her put - upon dishrag Debbie Downer in Revolutionary Road, we were that close to throwing her by the wayside in this
category, especially because there's a clearly superior crypto - leading role in the mix (Rosemarie DeWitt, whose titular character in Rachel Getting Married has been shut out of a lot of races thus far, but we feel anyone who actually watches enough of the film to justify throwing their vote toward frontrunner Anne Hathaway should have no
other choice but to recognize DeWitt's equally tricky, equally attention - stealing performance).