Worst movie ever nominated for more than one academy award?

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Good question, lebowski, and respectfully asked so I feel inclined- as one of those that finds the film so engrossing- to demystify my reasons for loving this film (there are a lot of them too).

Let's start off with a simple one. Hollywood "period" movies- no "period" movies in general, wherever they come from- seem to glorify or condemn periods of time they're talking about. More often than not it's solid shallow glorification. "Look at the pretty costumes", these movies gush. "Oh, the men were so romantic" they mew. "Those poor beautiful, beautiful women! How oppressed and brave they were", they cry. They make me sick. It never rings true. This movie did. I know it was based on true events, but so was "Braveheart" and we never saw a clear flaw anywhere in William Wallace. Anywhere. When we tear the mask from the most suffering character in "Ragtime" (Coalhouse Walker) we see that, in his own words, his rage is his flaw. Is he justified? Sure. But he has a parapetia before the end of the movie that makes him almost worthy of Shakespearean or Greek tragic heroes. If you follow his story closely, it's heart-breaking and horrific from all sides. Including his.

That brings me to the second point. "Ragtime" is a period film that doesn't focus only on one group- or even class- of people. It's a movie that (thank god, for ONCE) acknowledges that America has always been made up of many classes and races and that those CLASSES occurred in ALL of the races. I've never seen a movie do that before or since. At least not in such a profound and matter-of-fact way. This is a movie that could only take place in the U.S., yet we as Americans never see this type of interraction on film. It's always just a plot device (if it exists at all). What do we get? Shallow romances like "Titanic" getting best picture and films that examine our history like this one being ignored.

And let's not even start talking about the performances. All of them are good, but many of them were subtle and nuanced. One that comes to mind immediately is James Olson who played "Father" in the movie. The moment when he is freed as a hostage and he realizes the plans of his captor- a man he didn't even see as human before- is etched in my mind. He doesn't even have to rely on a lot of dialogue. It nearly bought tears to my eyes.

And where else are you gonna see Sam Jackson, Jeff Daniels and John Ratzenberger (!)all before they became "names" and having to WORK HARD to be noticed? Hell, even the end theme by Randy Newman made me cry, and I am NOT a crier.

I could go on and on about this film, but if people don't love it, they probably never will. I, for one, believe it was a great moment in American film making. Especially given the time it was made.