(Photo: UNIVERSAL PICTURES) Few people would have been surprised if Crowe's name had turned up on the list of nominated actors. After all, Paul Giamatti, in a supporting role, made Oscar's grade, and Crowe was nominated for a Golden Globe and for the Screen Actors Guild award. Crowe fills a pair of big shoes as prizefighter James J. Braddock, who became a national symbol of hope during the Great Depression. But sometimes the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences goes for the detailed etchings and not the sweeping landscapes.