Reactions to the 2009 Oscars

Even with the fresh presence of host Hugh Jackman, the Oscars this year turned out to be a ho-hum affair. You cannot fault Jackman for that, as his opening song and dance number lampooning the crop of nominees was a welcome contrast to the usual and now somewhat tiresome stand-up comedy routine. The ceremony, however, was too long as always and there was a sense of overt smugness among actors giving pats on each others’ backs and basically trying to please everyone. It also did not help that there were some disappointing wins based obviously more on politics than true merit.

But first, some positives: Slumdog Millionaire took home the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director as widely expected along with six other wins for Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, Cinematography, Original Score, Original Song for “Jai Ho,” and Sound Mixing. Considering that a number of brilliant films like WALL·E, The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, and The Visitor were left out of the Best Picture competition, it was the only sensible and valuable film to win. It was also nice to see the children from Mumbai getting their big, prestigious Oscar moment when the Best Picture was announced and the moment when Danny Boyle jumped up and down like Tigger was priceless.

Also, as widely predicted, Heath Ledger received the first posthumous Oscar in 32 years for The Dark Knight and I am relieved that they kept the emotionality of the late Ledger’s crowning moment fairly low-key. Heath’s parents and sister calmly came up to the stage to pay the most personal tribute to the distinctive work that he accomplished and no extra montage was needed to express the pervading sentiment that a great actor will be missed. And who knows, maybe his truly final role in Terry Gilliam’s upcoming The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus will also be worthy of a nomination next year.

Unfortunately, however, that was about the only thoroughly deserving acting win of the night. I know I am not alone in saying that the most disappointing was certainly Sean Penn in Milk upsetting Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler. Yes, Penn’s work was a technically great piece of acting but was nowhere near as raw or potent as that of Rourke, who found the role that he could just commit and throw himself into. The Academy, however, often likes to try to “dictate” their own winners’ speeches, I think, and they wanted Penn to make an Oscar speech that would make a grandstanding political statement for the times. Well, once the political issues and baggage pass by, time will tell which performance will be better remembered in the years to come.

Article Author: moviejohn

Joo-Wang John Lee is a computer programmer at Binghamton University by day and a movie critic by hobby. Upon insistent suggestion from people around him, he finally decided to start critiquing movies in writing instead of just verbal form among his friends. …

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