If only to get a little blogging crossover going here, let me respond to my friend Peter David who, this morning, asks the musical question…
How in the HELL can Richard Gere be bypassed for "Chicago" while John C. Reilly was nominated in the same category. Reilly was very moving in his portrayal, yes, but Gere was outstanding. And when a film gets thirteen nominations and Gere is ignored, that's a slap in the face. For that matter, when Christopher Walken is nominated for his perfectly good, but not outstanding, work in "Catch Me If You Can" instead of Gere, it's a kick in the crotch besides.
I think the easy answer is that Miramax pushed Mr. Gere for Best Actor, not Best Supporting Actor. Gere wasn't beaten out by Reilly or Walken but by Jack Nicholson, Daniel Day-Lewis, etc. That probably makes a little more sense.
Just how these folks are submitted and promoted has a lot to do with whether they get nominated or not — and it should be noted that it isn't always the studio's decision. Some stars have it in their contracts that they get to decide, and it is not uncommon (when it's arguable) to look at the field of contenders and pick your fight. When Walter Matthau and George Burns starred in The Sunshine Boys, many onlookers were baffled that Burns was submitted in the supporting category — but the studio was undoubtedly thinking as follows: If they both were submitted for Best Actor, they'd split the vote of folks who liked that movie, and Burns wouldn't stand a chance against the other contenders for that year, who included not only Matthau but Jack Nicholson (for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Al Pacino (for Dog Day Afternoon). The candidates for the supporting statuette weren't as formidable so they put him there and, sure enough, he won not only a nomination but the little gold statuette, as well.
That kind of thinking was probably in play here. Chicago submitted Renée Zellwegger in the Best Actress category, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the supporting group where there was more room. They could have pushed Zeta-Jones for Best Actress but they decided to risk her splitting the votes (with Queen Latifah) in the lesser classification, rather than endanger Zellwegger's chances in the top category. In that case, it worked and all three were nominated. Gere may have insisted he be submitted as a lead or the studio may have felt that, given the other contenders, he stood a better chance there. But it was probably more of a strategic decision than one based on the merits of his work.
As for him not being nominated there…well, there are many good reasons not to take things like the Academy Awards too seriously, and one is that they nominate a fixed number, regardless of the quantity of excellence around. If there are 20 outstanding performances in a year, they nominate five. And if there are 3 outstanding performances in a year, they nominate five. This year, as usual, it was inevitable that some categories would have some worthy who would lose the game of Musical Chairs. As my Uncle Aaron used to say, "Never feel sorry for anyone who makes more than a million dollars a year."