Oscar the Slouch

Rarely has an Oscar telecast been so long, so suspenseful…and yet so warm and fuzzy. While hosts of past shows like Chris Rock and Jon Stewart used their widely-seen podium to stir up controversy with their politically pointed jabs, Ellen DeGeneres took the opposite route this year.

Possibly the most down-to-earth comedian now working, DeGeneres did what any other one-time film student would do with such a prestigious gig. She sweet-talked Martin Scorsese into reading one of her screenplays, and had Steven Spielberg take a picture of herself with Clint Eastwood for her MySpace.

Most importantly, she exuded an intoxicating aura of naturalness and jubilation that made the entire night seem a lot less about winning, and more about enjoying the honor of being nominated. She danced in the aisles, as if she was merely hosting her talk show, as a hallelujah choir congratulated the nominees. Amidst all the tension and unpredictability, DeGeneres set the tone for what would ultimately be the most relaxed and enjoyable Academy Award ceremony in memory.

Many of the award recipients were either hopeful underdogs or sorely deserving veterans of the craft. Too bad no one could have put a LoserCam on Simon Cowell’s pompous mug as the South Side’s Jennifer Hudson, 25, won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for a performance that stole Dreamgirls from its three vastly more popular headliners. One of them, Eddie Murphy, lost the Best Supporting Actor trophy to Alan Arkin, 72, one of America’s most beloved character actors, whose portrayal of an anarchic grandpa brought some marvelously edgy wit to Little Miss Sunshine.

The lead actor winners were as expected—Forest Whittaker for The Last King of Scotland and Helen Mirren for The Queen—and the great Martin Scorsese finally won a Best Director award for Best Picture winner The Departed. The film also won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for William Monahan, while Sunshine’s rookie writer Michael Arndt took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

And in one of the night’s biggest upsets, first-time-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others won the Best Foreign Film Oscar over Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, which was nominated for five other awards. It was typical of the night’s proceedings that del Toro was the first to hug Donnersmarck as he moved to the stage. In these eight particular instances, it was the winner’s first-ever Oscar, which gave the entire night a decidedly celebratory feel.

Sure, the night had its share of cringe-inducing losses, which were never more head-slapping unfair as when Emmanuel Lubezki’s jaw-dropping work on Children of Men lost the Best Cinematography Oscar to Pan’s Labyrinth. Yet there was enough levity in the evening to never let me get too down in the dumps.

Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly sang a hilarious number about the lonely fate of a “comedian at the Oscars.” Meryl Streep did a brilliantly timed routine with presenters Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt, as she snapped into her silently brooding character from Devil Wears Prada, while simultaneously bringing down the house. And Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin acted as the big sister to Will Smith’s son Jaden, who was hopelessly lost—though not uncharismatic—while co-presenting the Short Film awards.

Even Tom Hanks scored a laugh as smarmy backstage host Chris Connelly pulled him aside before a commercial break and asked, “We’ve got more fun ahead, right Tom?” In the most overly-enthusiastic demeanor possible, Hanks gushed back, “You bet, Chris! More fun!!!”
It was a truly fun night that even managed to loosen up Best Documentary Oscar-winner Al Gore for a deadpan double-take. Ellen summarized the welcoming nature of the night when she declared, “If there were no blacks, Jews, and gays, there would be no Oscars.” After thunderous applause, she added, “Or anyone named Oscar, if you think about it.”