The Oscars: Not exactly an enchanted evening

I guess reinventing the Oscars is harder than it looks.

The academy gave the gig this year to producers Larry Mark and Bill Condon, two classy industry veterans who've been involved with all sorts of admirable films over the years. But after watching this year's Hugh Jackman-hosted awards, which were undermined by a pair of lackluster Jackman musical numbers, nearly three hours of earnestly dull, emotion-free acceptance speeches (of course excepting Kate Winslet, who's apparently been overflowing with emotion for the entire awards season) and hardly any surprises, I'm beginning to believe that saving the Oscars is a job for Iron Man or Hancock, a kick-ass superhero with the kind of unassailable powers that would allow them to radically overhaul what has become the year's stodgiest awardsfest.

From Jackman's strangely self-conscious low-rent opening musical number to Ben Stiller's very inside-the-Beltway spoof of Joaquin Phoenix's recent appearance on David Letterman's late-night show, the awards had a tone problem--they tried to be something for everyone, coming off like a movie script that had its edginess and guts airbrushed out by too many studio notes. It was hard to find any focused narrative for the awards, which were busy veering wildly from making fun of serious movies (mocking "The Reader," for example) to being entirely too reverential about the past, treating a banal montage of supporting actress "thank you" speeches as if they were lost outtakes from "Citizen Kane."

It's hard to blame the producers for some of the problems. It certainly wasn't their fault that "Slumdog Millionaire" swept the evening, robbing the proceedings of any real suspense--you know you've got a drama deficit when the biggest upset of the night came in the foreign language film category. New ideas were attempted but not always executed with success. It was a treat to see Queen Latifah crooning and Sophia Loren paying tribute to Meryl Streep. My 10-year-old son was especially impressed that all his favorite movies were represented in a nicely edited action film montage, although it reminded us only of how cloistered the Oscars have become, since virtually none of the films in the montage were nominated for any major awards (and the visual effects Oscar went to "Benjamin Button," the one non-action film in the bunch.

It also wasn't the producer's fault that the much antipated Judd Apatow comedy sketch, which featured his "Pineapple Express" costars, was so hit and miss that the best line in the whole bit came from Polish cinematographer Janus Kaminski, who waved his Oscars and, with perfect timing, apologized by saying, "They made me do it, Mr. Spielberg, [work is] really slow in town."

But you'd have to say that Jackman was a bust. The idea of having a song and dance man instead of a traditional comedian seemed like a step in the right direction. But Jackman never radiated any real heat. His shortcomings were especially obvious when Will Smith, someone with real star power, showed up to give out a bunch of technical awards. You wanted Will to stick around--he had real presence. Jackman disappeared for so many big chunks of the evening that I found myself shouting at the TV: "Who kidnapped Hugh Jackman?" (Of course, I also found myself shouting: "What does Philip Seymour Hoffman have on his head?)

I find it hard to quibble with anything "Slumdog" director Danny Boyle might have to say after making last year's most wonderful movie, but when he announced on stage that the show felt "bloody wonderful in the room," those of us at home, on the couch, begged to differ. After all, the Kodak Theatre crowd gave six standing ovations during the course of the evening, including one for Jackman just for showing up, but back at home, we were mostly sitting on our hands. Even Jerry Lewis, who was expected to bring some loose-cannon fireworks to the evening, was surprisingly restrained, giving a very pro-forma acceptance speech for his Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. And where was Jack Nicholson--at a Lakers game?

Jackman was supposed to earn his stripes with a knock-'em dead musical extravaganza created by Baz Luhrmann. But the much-vaunted, Busby Berkeley-style number felt like most of the rest of the show--awkward, listless and underwhelming, the opposite of what Luhrmann brought to his great Oscar-nominated film, "Moulin Rouge." It hardly felt like a surprise to see Jackman trading licks with Beyonce, who (memo to the academy) has been wildly overexposed lately, showing up everywhere, including at the inaugural ball.

What the awards sorely lacked--with rare exception--were the wonderful unexpected, unrehearsed moments that make live TV worth watching, one of the rare exceptions being Boyle's Tigger-like pogo bounce after he arrived to accept his director award. It was a joyous burst of spontaneity in an otherwise over-scripted evening that made Hollywood's oldest award show feel even older and more in need of reinvention than ever. 

(Photo courtesy Getty Images)

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Comments

[Sara D.]

Jackman was sincere and ernest and you gotta love the guy - if anything, he wasn't used enough as the host (too much hoofing). And really, who could take more of Will Smith? His studied "alphaness" is wearing thin. In fact, he's been on the verge of the ick factor for sometime (where his good friend Tom C is already).

It wasn't really Jackman's fault that the dance routines were just messy - that was in the choreography and direction. And please High School Musical? That's not entertainment.

The real problem was relying on too many market driven stars as presenters. Sorry Sarah Jessica - SITC is a franchise, it isn't a classic. Where was George Clooney? And why Jack Black and Jennifer Aniston? Why not Sarah Silverman and Benicio Del Toro? (actors honoring actors was cool though and kept the Hollywood brand strong)

And shame on Danny Boyle and his team. I think there was nary a big-old shout out to the people of the slums and the children who gave a rather contrived story its life and blood. Where is the soul Danny?

[Jessica Colvin]

Oh, thank you. I thought the same exact thing while I was watching the show. I kept telling my boyfriend that this was the worst Oscars show I'd ever seen. He disagreed and said it was the best he'd seen. I'll never be able to put too much stock into his opinions anymore.
I kept asking myself, "Where is the magic? A multi-billion dollar industry, and this is the best they've got?" I felt the musical numbers were little better than high school musical productions.
I used to watch The Oscars and feel so inspired, but last night I watched and actually felt like I could have put on a better show.
I hated that they didn't show clips from the movies of the nominees!! I haven't seen Benjamin Button, and without the clips, I don't know what all the fuss is about. Taraji P. Henson? How am I supposed to know if her performance was Oscar-worthy? If they had the clips like they've always had, I would have some idea of her performance.
Overall, I felt the entire show was restrained, awkward, and dead!!
Where was the magic??

[Brian]

Were we watching the same Oscars? The supporting and leading actor/actress salutes on a one-on-one level were classy, moving and unique. The entire show flowed like a great episode. Dude, get out of your "industry" bubble and look at it through the consumer/viewer's eyes. The Oscars this year were amazingly well done, and my critical viewing group concur.

[Charles Pell]

Mr.Goldstein:

I can't believe how disconnected Patrick Goldstein is from reality. Everyone I have talked to loved the show and especially Hugh Jackman's performance. Does Mr. Goldstein have an ax to grind, it seems that he does from reading his poor review of tonights Oscar Show?

Just go to the BBC site and read the great feedback from Oscar Show viewers in the UK, they also loved it.

I have attended numerous screenings at the Landmark Theater in West Los Angels in which Patrick Goldstein moderated the Q & A after the screenings. When I attend next year, I will personally ask Goldstein what on earth he was thinking when he wrote his very poor review of an absolutely enchanting show?

Thank you,
Charles Pell
AMPAS Sound Branch

[Tom B.]

Bland and flast. The only memorable moment was Sean Penn's acceptance speech. An hour into it, I was really missing Jon Stewart.

[arbiter of taste]

I totally agree. I was pulling for Jackman and co., but this felt like a dress rehearsal to me. Like maybe they were holding back the fireworks for some other night? And the video clips were way too long and seemed to mix films together that didn't want to be together. Old classics with new bits... without any sense of arc. And oh, yeah.. did they leave Heath Ledger's name out of the "recently dparted" reel? Oops..

[Eddie T.]

I disagree. I think 2008 was a great year for movies, and thus was a hard one to "organize" as far as the Oscars are concerned. I thought Jackman was tremendous for the most part. There don't need to be surprises for a show to be good. If you want to talk about surprises, perhaps Mickey Rourke's snub is the biggest of them all. The Academy has its ways, and it'll never change. Having this in mind, I thought this year's show was great.

[MMA]

What's the alternative? Awarding lesser-deserving movies all for the sake of shock and surprise? The truth is, this particular ceremony isn't really for the public: it's the industry recognizing itself. It simply shares the event with the public. And I'm not saying action movies, etc can't be good - but film-making is a craft with varying standards of excellence. I love 7-Up! But I'm not going to put it on the same level as a 1995 bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé.

Like any field, it will be held to different standards by those behind the scenes and the grand audience. Just because CitySearch or yelp.com members give a restaurant a best rating doesn't mean that chefs in the culinary world will see it the same. I realize that we, the movie-goers, are a big reason they are what they are. But - like my previous example - that's why they have ceremonies to reflect the mainstream public's tastes: it's called the People's Choice Awards.

Besides getting a great host, there's only so many ways you can jazz up an award ceremony, especially one that's created by an industry geared towards that industry.

All that said... I couldn't agree more that Will Smith would make an exciting host.

[Jarler805]

I've read three reviews of the Academy Awards tonight and it seems the knives are out. If I may offer a minority opinion, I'd just like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast, watched every minute of it, and I thought the producers did a fantastic job.

I especially liked the acting awards being given out by the "gang of five" -- it's like each nominee got his or her moment to shine. Nicely done. I could have done without the dance number, especially since Peter Gabriel had his song cut to 60 seconds. But I thought Jackman did a great job in the opening. It was clever, funny, and got the night off to a great start.

I also give kudos to the look of the show. The set was fantastic. And I disagree about the lack of emotional moments: all the Slumdog Millionaire winners, Lance Black, Penelope Cruz, Sean Penn. All nice, sweet moments.

Two tacky moments: (1) Ben Stiller insulted the cinematographers with his lame bit; (2) cutaways to Angelina during Jennifer Aniston's time on stage.

And what was Tina Fey doing at the Oscars?????

[M. SCOTT]

"OLD" IS THE OPERATIVE WORD HERE. THIS YEARS OSCARS BROADCAST SEEMED LIKE A 1960'S VARIETY SHOW--LONG ON MUSIC, SHORT ON LAUGHS. IF THE ACADEMY AIMED TO LURE THE "MATLOCK/MURDER SHE WROTE" CROWD FROM CBS, THEY MAY HAVE SUCCEEDED. (MORE VIAGRA AD SALES FOR NEXT YEAR'S TELECAST). BUT IF THEY WANT TO BECOME MORE RELEVANT TO A FUTURE GENERATION INSTEAD OF A PAST ONE, THEY SHOULD SEND IN THE CLOWNS. COLBERT CAN SING AND DANCE AS WELL AS JACKMAN, BUT IS A HELL OF A LOT MORE ENGAGING.