Jon Stewart lived up to the expectations of his loyal fans and silenced skeptics Sunday night, delivering a pointed and amusing monologue that most Americans probably didn’t see.
Stewart, who may be the funniest TV personality not named Dave Chappelle, demonstrated his political wit, lampooning Dick Cheney and Hollywood’s Democratic bent, plus coming up with some original laugh lines for “Brokeback Mountain” and “Capote.” While his performance is unlikely to make anyone forget legendary hosts Johnny Carson and Billy Crystal, fears that his hip, acerbic East Coast wit would flop seemed unfounded.
The evening opened with a self-deprecating video montage in which previous Oscar hosts Crystal, Chris Rock, David Letterman, Steve Martin and Whoopi Goldberg say no thanks to hosting duties.
The tone continued as Stewart took the stage: “Tonight we celebrate excellence in film with me, the fourth male lead in ‘Death to Smoochy.”‘
Stewart lived up to his reputation for political humor with a quick jab at the vice president: He noted that singer Bjork, famous for her swan outfit at the 2001 awards, couldn’t make it because “she was trying on her Oscar dress and Dick Cheney shot her.” (In fact, Bjork took the stage to perform “In the Deep” from “Crash.”)
Stewart managed some gay-themed jokes that didn’t sound tired despite the plethora of them in recent weeks. Referring to “Capote,” he said, “It showed America that not all gay people are cowboys. Some are actually effete New York intellectuals.”
Later, Stewart introduced a montage of classic clips from cowboy films saying, “There’s nothing remotely gay about the classic Hollywood Western.” The video, of course, emphasized what you might call the close bond among cowboys.
Stewart’s monologue was among the high points of a show that began dragging in the second hour. Unlike this year’s Grammy broadcast, which was an exciting and entertaining spectacle interspersed with awards, the Oscars seemed to forget that it needs to be fun for the audience along with being a big party for the Hollywood glitterati.
An extended clip job on biopics, another on epics and a third on Robert Altman came off as self-indulgent, especially when paired with running comments about how you can’t really enjoy movies on a TV screen or a portable device. Americans seem to be enjoying movies just fine that way, no matter how much a shrinking film industry wishes otherwise.
Even Stewart took a jab at the endless clips: “I can’t wait until later when we see Oscar’s salute to montages.”
One of the evening’s most electrifying moments – other than the surprise best picture victory for “Crash” – came halfway through the third hour: a performance of the song from “Hustle & Flow,” “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” with Tareji Henson from the film and the rap group Three 6 Mafia. The academy insisted, of course, on removing the F-word and the N-word. But when the B-word became “witches,” it began to look silly.
Still, some sympathy for the academy. As “Pimp” won for best song, that clicking sound you heard was people across Middle America turning off their TVs.
Stewart might not have corralled permanent-host status, but he did a more than respectable job. Still, the combination of a little-known host – Stewart’s “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central draws about 1.4 million viewers – and largely serious films that were not box office blockbusters made it likely ABC would see a drop from last year’s 41.1 million viewers.
Although the Academy Awards show is one of the few mega-events left on TV, second only to the Super Bowl, history shows it’s the movies, not the host, that draw viewers. When “Titanic” – the all-time box office champ at $1.8 billion worldwide – won in 1998, the show drew 55 million viewers, its biggest audience in two decades.
The awards opened with George Clooney’s best supporting actor award, which set off a series of bits throughout the night about Clooney’s sex appeal and wide-ranging talents.
Clooney managed a classy acceptance speech and a snappy riposte to criticism that Hollywood is out of step with the rest of America. Pointing to movies about AIDS and race and other controversial topics made before many of them were high profile, he said: “I’m proud to be out of touch.”
Award for the lamest presentation of the night had to go to Ben Stiller, who leaped around he stage in a green jumpsuit to present the best-visual effects Oscar to “King Kong.” Possibly the best was Will Ferrell and Steve Carell in hideous makeup, including false eyelashes, presenting the award for best makeup.
Certainly the award for most appropriate clothing choice for an Oscar winner had to go to best adapted screenplay winner Larry McMurtry for his jeans and cowboy boots.
Staff writer Edward P. Smith can be reached at 303-820-1767 or esmith@denverpost.com.
This item has been corrected in this online archive. Due to a reporting error, it originally mis-identified a performer in the Oscar ceremony as Bjork. In fact, the performer of “In the Deep” was Kathleen “Bird” York.
