Hathaway, Franco lead smooth Oscar ceremony
By the time Steven Spielberg announced “The King’s Speech” as the Academy’s choice for Best Picture of 2010, the 83rd Oscars had decidedly announced themselves as thoroughly middle-of-the-road.
On the one hand, there were very few — if any — surprises in any of the categories, making for a relatively predictable night of announcements and speeches. On the other, the Academy managed to spread the wealth among many of the year’s films. Best Picture winner “Speech” won four, tying it for the most wins of the evening with Christopher Nolan’s “Inception.” “The Social Network” won three including Adapted Screenplay, while “The Fighter” and “Alice in Wonderland” each earned two awards.
It was a “spread the wealth” year, where the Academy chose to single out many films instead of piling accolades on one, and in many ways that made for a more rewarding ceremony, even despite the ultimately safe choice of “The King’s Speech” as Best Picture.
While co-hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco had a splash of an opening, going into Alec Baldwin’s dreams to learn how to be good Oscars hosts, only to find themselves navigating through scenes of the nominated films, the rest of their hosting job was thoroughly one-sided, with Hathaway more than stealing the show.
She sang, danced and managed to seem both relaxed and professional even through her series of wardrobe changes, proving she has the capability to play to a room of Hollywood’s finest without making jokes out of them.
Franco played a great straight man to her, especially in the few moments where he really let himself run with the various gags (such as coming on stage in drag as Marilyn Monroe), but his face of choice, one of slack amusement, ultimately made him feel like an accessory to Hathaway rather than a true co-host.
Part of this may stem from their innate differences as performers — Franco is more muted, and Hathaway is far showier — but they still injected enough flavor in the show without overstaying their welcome or disappearing needlessly. That is Franco’s best persona, and in setting up a contrast to Hathaway, he ultimately distanced himself too greatly from the audience and appeared out of touch when he tried to be witty.
The ceremony itself managed to move more briskly than any in recent memory, ending 20 minutes sooner than last year’s telecast, largely due to the omission of many of the montages and tributes that have bogged the show down in the past.
The show’s theme, the history of movies, was illuminated not so much through montages as through a virtual backdrop that changed throughout the program to talk about industry innovations and major benchmarks. The only real flaw, as one might expect, was that it ultimately appeared too simplistic and limited in its view of movie history. But the backdrop was gorgeous and never intruded into the overall proceedings.
This design, new to the show, offers a great starting point for future producers to build off, and its sleek design and incorporation into the show made the stage itself an interactive experience without feeling bulky in ways that previous designs have.
Ultimately, the 83rd Oscars were an affirmation of everything the Academy likes to stand for: a series of well-made films and an uplifting winner, a brisk telecast and hosts that charmed without feeling overbearing.
It didn’t break new ground, but it did the job smoothly.
That’s Entertainment.