Pro: Since breaking through five years ago with a Best Actress win for “La Vie en Rose,” Cotillard hasn't found an equivalent showcase part – or hadn't, until her remarkable performance as a double amputee in Jacques Audiard's emotionally draining melodrama. Though not all critics are entirely sold on the film, there's enough consensus around Cotillard's work for Sony Picture Classics to make a concerted push for her. Meanwhile, her Hollywood-crossover status should make it easier than usual for this foreign-language turn to nab votes...

Con: ...if voters see the movie, that is. Abrasive and sometimes brutal, it won't be to all tastes. Meanwhile, Cotillard is facing some in-house competition from compatriot and Sony stablemate Emmanuelle Riva, who is no less astonishing in the buzzier foreign player “Amour.” The Academy hasn't nominated two foreign-language performances in the same category since 1976 – can both ladies make the cut?

- Guy Lodge