Before I get into it winning Best Picture, I'll actually review the movie. One word... boring. You could argue the opening was exciting, but it wasn't at all and the characters that were taken hostage at the U.S. embassy were beyond bland. The only positive thing I have to say for this movie is the acting of Alan Arkin and John Goodman, and the rest is negative. Ben Affleck was one of the most boring leading actors I've seen in a movie, and I felt the screenplay would've been adapted into a much better movie with a better director and cast. This movie is also, purely lazy considering we ONLY get to see the "safer" hostages while we hear nothing of the other hundred or so that were being tortured. If the Academy would've went with another Best Picture with this genre, Zero Dark Thirty could've won, I would've been happy with any other nominee winning Best Picture winning, and I was in for a devastating blow when this crap won. The fact people could really like this movie is beyond me. My personal pick was between Silver Linings Playbook and Life of Pi for Best Picture... Oh well, maybe next year will be better.