Leading up to the Oscars, I will be revisiting some of the most heavily-debated and controversial Oscar choices. Will the victors keep their crown or will a new winner emerge? Today, we look back on Marisa Tomei's upset.

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At the 65th Academy Awards ceremony in 1993, the previous year’s Best Supporting Actor winner, Jack Palance, presented the first award: Best Supporting Actress.

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The nominees were:

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1. Vanessa Redgrave: a previous Oscar winner

2. Joan Plowright: a beloved, veteran theater star

3. Judy Davis: an acclaimed actress, previously nominated as lead for A Passage to India

4. Miranda Richardson: a rising British star from three of the year’s most celebrated films who won the BAFTA eight days earlier.

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Oh, and Marisa Tomei.

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Before My Cousin Vinny, Tomei had only four official screen credits (including one in which she only appeared in the director’s cut), all minor roles in poorly-received comedies. My Cousin Vinny was a genuine breakout, Oscar nod or not.

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Tomei had gone nearly unrecognized before the nomination announcement on February 17, 1994. She hadn’t gotten nominated for the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, or virtually any of the Critics' Circle awards, which made her nomination a shocker in and of itself.

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When Palance opened the envelope, the world held its breath. Would it be Redgrave, the cinema darling? Would it be Richardson with the career maker? Would it be Plowright with the “Attaboy” Lifetime Achievement Oscar following her Golden Globes victory? Would it be Davis as another salute to Woody Allen’s inexplicable career?

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It was none. It was Tomei.

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It was the Oscar shocker heard 'round the world and arguably remains the biggest ever. A wailing banshee shrieked in excitement as a shocked Tomei stumbled to the stage, and somewhere, "critic" Rex Reed waited to admonish the Academy and condemn Tomei’s surprise victory.

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He claimed that Palance was inebriated and read the wrong name, a ludicrous claim considering none of the other nominees bore a name similar to Tomei’s, and only one name was on the card. It was a pretentious, self-aggrandizing, mean-spirited upending of what Reed undoubtedly ruled an insult to the cinematic arts or whatever nonsense that insufferable hack had swirling around in his worthless “brain.”

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Over 30 years later, reception to Tomei’s victory is favorable; in an Oscars revote conducted by The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, Academy voters re-awarded the win to Tomei.

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Tomei's charm, sex appeal, and charisma have secured her place among the industry’s best and most reliable stars. Still, retrospective support of her victory stems partially from Reed’s antics and that her fellow nominees and their films hold little mass appeal.

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So, the task is simple: rewatch some flicks, analyze some acting, and decide if Marisa Tomei really deserved that controversial Oscar 31 years ago.

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First, let’s review the nominees…

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Judy Davis - Husbands and Wives as Sally Simmons

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Woody Allen’s 1992 dramedy about four friends in two couples whose unions splinter when one announces their separation is Allen at his self-indulgent worst. Let’s set aside that he once again plays a version of himself who’s either dating or infatuated with a significantly younger woman and came out the same year his pseudo-incestuous relationship with his adopted step-daughter, who was 35 years his junior, came to light. As a movie independent of its lecherous, life-mirroring undertones, it’s lackluster, desperate to incorporate stylistic elements to distract from the movie’s emptiness.

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The sole redeemer is Davis, who defies Allen's narrowness to create a full-bodied character. Allen envisions Sally as just another of his nauseating twits, but Davis layers her grandiosity and self-absorption to deliver someone frustrating, oddly charming, and, when necessary, sharp and humorous.

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Joan Plowright - Enchanted April as Mrs. Fisher

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Joan Plowright is a good sport with impeccable comic charm. If you grew up with her scene-stealing role in Bringing Down the House, she offers the same acid-tongued brilliance in Enchanted April. When Plowright needs to deliver a chuckle, she overcomes spotty writing to make Mrs. Fisher, the eldest of four women renting an Italian castle, reliable relief. When asked to inject dramatic life, she thrives. Unfortunately, she gets little material.

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Vanessa Redgrave - Howards End as Ruth Wilcox

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In retrospect, Redgrave's nod is slightly surprising. She hardly got recognized before the nomination announcements; co-star Helena Bonham Carter scored the BAFTA nod. Alas, the elder statesman got unjustly rewarded over the up-and-comer despite the uproar over her infamous pro-Palestine victory speech 15 years before.

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Redgrave's performance as the dying, elderly Mrs. Wilcox, who ultimately bequeaths the titular estate to Emma Thompson’s Margaret Schlegel, is a treacly, manipulative performance so intent on justifying Mrs. Wilcox's plot-defining choice that it’s insulting.

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Miranda Richardson - Damage as Ingrid Fleming

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Richardson’s performance doesn’t “kick in” until after the climax, leaving her with little opportunity to make a classical impression. It’s a deliberate choice; Ingrid’s general normalcy feels accented with quiet suspicion, a brilliant blend that makes her big moment after her son Martyn’s suicide well-earned. We can feel her shock, but there’s a subtle distrust of future daughter-in-law Anna throughout, which makes Ingrid’s anguish over her husband's affair and its devastating consequences feel more tangible than if a lesser actress had misinterpreted the character or, even worse, the film.

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Marisa Tomei - My Cousin Vinny as Mona Lisa Vito

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Tomei steals every scene, not even leaving scraps for Joe Pesci, which is quite a compliment, considering he turns in a brilliant comedic performance himself. Mona Lisa Vito is an iconic character that could’ve easily felt contrived without Tomei’s pinpoint timing and irresistible charisma. Better yet, let her speak for herself:

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And the Oscar goes too…..

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Marisa Tomei - My Cousin Vinny as Mona Lisa Vito

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Tomei faced (mostly) strong competition and lapped the field despite her lack of experience and having come from a comedy movie, which the Academy famously undervalues. So, yes, Tomei did deserve that Oscar.

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Case closed.