I had a similar one at BOM, but since the opinions on this topic still interest me (after having seen Mystic River and 21 Grams again recently), I'll post it here as well.

By now, I have seen most of the oscar nominated movies from 2003 and I noticed one thing (at least to me): the nominees in the category Best Supposrting Actor last year were some of the best performances of the last year overall. Very strong nominees that time. Personally, I though that Benicio del Toro's turn in 21 Grams was the best out of those. Not only did I think he was the best Supporting Actor nominee last year, but also delivered the best performance of the whole last year, It was just magnificent. He is followed by Tim Robbins in Mystic River. Ken Watanabe and Djimon Honsou were both great as well, though. Alec Baldwin in The Cooler is the only one I haven't seen yet.

Which one of the nominated performances in this category was the best in your opinion?

It's indeed a very strong group of candidates. I haven't seen In America, but out of the other four, I have the same order as you: Del Toro, Tim Robbins, Ken Watanabe, and Alec Baldwin. The first three are deserving, while Baldwin could be replaced by another nominee. His performance is good, but not a signature one, while in the case of Del Toro, I think that's the best performance of his career, surpassing his role in The Usual Suspects and Traffic.

I haven't seen "The Cooler", but from the other four, I thought Tim Robbins gave the best performance. Benicio, Djimon and Ken were all great also, but Tim was a little better than they were.

Del Toro all the way.

I haven't seen the Cooler but the other 3 performances are good, but overrated.

The winner, Tim Robbins, probably gave the best performance. However, Baldwin and Del Toro were both quite solid, and Hounsou and Watanabe were terrific.

I thought Tim Robbins deserved his Oscar. He was the best in his category and gave one of the best performances of the year. I would place Del Toro behind him, but I would agree his performance in 21 Grams was better than his Oscar-winning work in Traffic. Next, Ken Watanabe, then Djimon Hounsou. I haven't seen The Cooler yet.

I did think it was a shame Paul Bettany wasn't nominated for Master And Commander. He was better than both Watanabe and Hounsou.

I agree with Xiayum in that it was the performance of his career for Del Toro.
Second up would be Tim robbins, then Wattanabe.

Personally, I think he was better in Traffic.

I completely agree attodr with what u said about Paul Bettany's, one of the biggest snubs last year!

Absolutely spot on

Tim Robbins was amazing in Mystic River. It may be his single best performance.

Alec Baldwin deserved his nomination, although he wouldn't have been my choice. None of the others did in my opinion.

Del Toro was good but has been better in better movies, Watanabe... well, lets not talk about The Last Samurai, and although Djimon Houndsou is great in In America, his character as written sinks the story into the depths of melodrama farrrrrr deeper than it needed to go. It destroyed that movie for me.

The line up should have read:

Sean Astin - Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Paul Bettany - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Rawiri Paratene - Whale Rider
Peter Saarsgard - Shattered Glass
Tim Robbins - Mystic River

Those were the definiative five supporting roles in my book last year.

I rewatched Traffic yesterday, and I don't know why Del Toro got so much love. Can anyone explain why? He was good, but it wasn't an Oscar-winning performance, imo. He showed hardly any emotion, except for the car scene near the end, but other than that, he basicly kept the same face. He was much better in 21 Grams, I thoght.