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I find myself wanting to discuss the field of Academy Award best-actress nominees.

Maybe that's because I think it's the toughest acting category for picking a winner this year. Or maybe it's because I have a bone to pick with comments I keep hearing about one of the nominees.

Or maybe it's because I'm a huge fan of four out of the five women up for the honor.

Enjoy your nomination, Rooney Mara. Because you have absolutely no chance of winning. In fact, it's something of an upset you got nominated over Tilda Swinton, a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominee for her harrowing performance in "We Need to Talk About Kevin."

It's not that I didn't admire your performance in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Rooney, though I preferred Noomi Rapace's take on the part in the original Swedish version. And I do remember that great opening scene you had in "The Social Network" when you dumped your boyfriend Mark Zuckerberg, thereby giving him the incentive to create Facebook.

But the average Academy voter is just too old to go for the punked-out psychological mess you played in "Dragon Tattoo," even if you had a more substantial body of work behind this nomination.

On the other hand, I wouldn't mind seeing Glenn Close, a comeback kid at 64, win an Oscar. She's one of those people who's so talented you can't believe she's never won, and this is her sixth nomination. It's not going to happen for "Albert Nobbs," though.

I'd have preferred that Close be honored for "Dangerous Liaisons" in 1989, but Jodie Foster won for "The Accused." If you're thinking "Fatal Attraction," I think the Academy got that one right by giving the prize to Cher for "Moonstruck." I'd have liked it if Close won for "The Big Chill" in 1984, but Linda Hunt was pretty terrific in "The Year of Living Dangerously," so what can you do.

I truly admire Michelle Williams. She was mesmerizing every minute onscreen as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn." She, too, has an impressive body of work that includes Oscar nods for heartbreaking performances in "Blue Valentine" and "Brokeback Mountain."

I first noticed her on "Dawson's Creek," and I've been impressed with Oscar-caliber turns that weren't nominated in movies like "Synecdoche, New York," "Wendy and Lucy" and "Meek's Cutoff." She likes challenges.

But I don't think she'll win, either.

No, I think this race is between Meryl Streep, playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady," and Viola Davis, playing a housemaid in 1960s Mississippi in "The Help."

Davis first got on my radar screen in "Kate & Leopold" (2001), playing a New York cop who makes Hugh Jackman pick up doggy doo left by his borrowed pet. Bit part, but funny.

Then another bit part, not funny at all, in "Antwone Fisher." She played Antwone's crack-addict mother, who abandoned him when he was a baby. She had one brief scene in which she is confronted by the adult Antwone, for the first time since giving him up. And as he talks to her about what it felt like for him, she simply weeps, without speaking or even looking at him. Devastating.

Another terrific weeping scene snagged her an Oscar nomination three years ago for "Doubt," in which she played the mother of a possible sexual-abuse victim at a parochial school.

I've also admired her in "State of Play," "Knight and Day," "Eat Pray Love" and "It's Kind of a Funny Story," all decent rentals if you haven't seen them.

The nominee I keep hearing besmirched is Streep, which goes down hard if you're as big a fan as I am. She was just about flawless in "The Iron Lady," making you forget you weren't looking at Margaret Thatcher herself.

Some say they're tired of Streep's humble act, like she doesn't know how good she is, like she's surprised when she wins the Golden Globe.

Are you kidding me? This is a woman who has lost three times as many Oscars and Golden Globes as she has won. She's 8 for 26 at the Globes, 2 for 13 at the SAG Awards, 2 for 16 at the Oscars — and hasn't won an Academy Award in 28 years.

Her competitors for these awards are some of the best actresses in the world. Wouldn't that make you insecure?

You'd probably dislike her even more if she acted like she did know how good she was.

I also often hear that Streep gets nominated for anything, like Academy voters are on automatic pilot. It's hard to imagine how you could reach that conclusion if you've seen her work: "The Devil Wears Prada," "Julie & Julia," "Doubt," "Angels in America," "The Hours," "Adaptation," "The Bridges of Madison County," "Ironweed," "Heartburn," "Out of Africa," "Silkwood," "Sophie's Choice," "The French Lieutenant's Woman," "Kramer vs. Kramer," "The Deer Hunter," "Holocaust."

Now, that's a body of work. In my book, she's the best American actress of her generation or era.

I know people like to root for underdogs, and they get tired or resentful of anybody who has too much success. Spread it around, I understand that sentiment. But not the thought that Streep is undeserving or disingenuous.

Who deserves to win this Oscar? Maybe all five of these tremendously talented ladies. But I'll be happy if either Streep or Davis gets the gold Feb. 26.