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George Clooney and Jean Dujardin were in a virtual tie as the favorite to win for Best Actor at this year’s Oscars.
Clooney was coming in at EVEN while Dujardin was listed at -155.
"Each one has things benefiting them that could give them the edge," Paul Dergarabedian, a Box Office analyst for Hollywood.com told ABCNews.com. "That's why it's such a tough race."
Clooney is nominated for his role in “The Descendants” where he plays a Honolulu-based lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kaua’I. Clooney’s character had planned to sell the trust to an individual he later learns is the brother-in-law of a man who was having an affair with his now deceased wife.
Dujardin is nominated for his role in “The Artist” where he basically doesn’t have to utter a word. The silent movie is about a silent film star who becomes romantically involved with a female starlet of the new talkies at a time when the silent cinema is no longer in fashion.
There really are no other true competitors in this category. As Gambling911.com’s own Jenny Woo pointed out, Brad Pitt was good in “Money Ball” but the film itself was a disappointment. Pitt’s odds were set at 15/1.
In “The Descendants”, Clooney sheds his typical sex appeal.
"In this film he's somebody that can't really rely on his charm like George can in life," Peter Travers, movie critic for Rolling Stone told ABCNews.com. "He's wearing boat shoes, shorts, and Hawaiian shirts that nobody looks good in. He is everything we don't expect to find in a George character."
The role, many say, is too similar to his character in “Up In The Air”, a 2009 Oscar-nominated film.
"The only thing he has going against him is that he has won before and Jean Dujardin has not," Travers said.
"People who vote on the Academy are all in the industry," Travers told ABC News. "They love 'The Artist' because it is a love letter to their history, it is a love letter to their past."
- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com
