Class act: Sunday's star-studded Screen Actors Guild Awards show how it could/should be done
01/28/08 09:59 AM
By ED BARK
Blessed with a free non-picketing pass from the striking Writers Guild of America, the in-solidary Screen Actors Guild put on a glitzy, star-drenched show Sunday night without making an undue spectacle of itself.
Many of the acceptance speeches were memorable, and most of the winners were hard to dispute during a two-hour, four minute ceremony shown live on both TNT and TBS cable. Here's one big disagreement, though. SAG awarded its best male actor in a movie or miniseries statue to Kevin Kline, who didn't show up and wasn't that big a part of HBO's not-so-great As You Like It. Rebuked were terrific performances by nominees John Turturro in ESPN's The Bronx Is Burning and Michael Keaton in TNT's The Company. That's a travesty.
Deservedly honored in full, however, was HBO's The Sopranos, which had its much-debated series finale last June. James Gandolfini and Edie Falco both copped acting awards and the series won for best ensemble.
"We worked real hard on this show, and what a helluva way to go (out)," said Tony Sirico (Paulie Walnuts) amid a throng of fellow cast members.
Absent production numbers and other filler, the SAG awards kept it simple without "playing off" any of the acceptance speeches. It's also a great idea to begin the show with a few self-deprecating testimonials from attendees, each ending with, "And I'm an actor."
"I used to walk down runways in my underpants," said Rebecca Romijn, now co-starring in ABC's Ugly Betty.
Doug Savant (ABC's Desperate Housewives) recalled being a "prolonged pain in my parents' ass." Jane Krakowski of NBC's 30 Rock ended with, "I'm Johnny Depp, and I'm an actor."
The word "actress," apparently considered demeaning, is never uttered during the SAG awards. Instead of a "Best Actress" category, it's "Best Female Actor," which Tina Fey won for her lead role in 30 Rock.
Fey likened herself to "being the hat rack for Fred Astaire," referring to her many scenes with scene-stealing Alec Baldwin, who later won but wasn't there. NBC's The Office then bested 30 Rock for the best ensemble award.
The SAG show, which never sagged, also was graced by a career achievement award for Charles Durning, who has survived both Hollywood and World War II's D-Day.
Denis Leary (Durning has a recurring role as his dad on FX's Rescue Me) and Burt Reynolds (they co-starred in both Evening Shade and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas) extolled Durning before he slowly made his way to the stage. It all merited the night's biggest ovation from an audience that included paparazzi prey Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Mickey Rooney, 87, also went to the podium, as a presenter. And Ruby Dee, 83, won a best supporting actor award for American Gangster. Both were enthusiastically applauded as long distance runners in a town without much pity. Rooney ably joked that acting isn't work. But at his age, opening an envelope is.
Another stalwart, Julie Christie, was honored for Away From Her. And Daniel Day-Lewis, a winner for There Will Be Blood, gave the night's most memorable and gracious speech in dedicating his award to the late Heath Ledger.
The big-screen ensemble award, presented by Tom Cruise, went to No Country For Old Men, with a frisky Josh Brolin speaking for the cast.
Making "risky" films is energizing, he said. "The studio system is backfiring awfully, and it's fun for us actors."
The film's writers and directors, Ethan and Joel Cohen, are "freaky" guys, Brolin said. "And we did a freaky little movie, whether you liked the ending or not."
That turned out to be the end of the show as well. And it all went very, very well.
***Alas, SAG couldn't control a pair of very abrupt commercial breaks, at least on the TNT telecast. This sometimes happens when local ads are timed to air at regularly scheduled intervals regardless of whether a program is in progress or not. One of the breaks came just as Christie was starting her acceptance speech. But on TBS, her remarks aired in full.
SAG also couldn't monitor the red carpet arrival appetizers on E! and the TV Guide Channel. And the comportment of TV Guide's Lisa Rinna made one long for the comparative subtlety of Joan Rivers, who's been sacked by both networks.
Rinna, whose surgically altered mug is starting to resemble a Picasso painting, made a determined effort to spill out of a leopard print evening gown while also gushing at the mouth.
She squeaked and squealed, sucked up and flat-out sucked. Actor Casey Affleck had no idea what to make of her, dismissing Rinna's inquiries with disdain until she finally asked him what gum he was chewing. "Orbitz," he replied, sending her into another hoarse cackle.
Rinna also told Romijn, "You know what, you make me sick, you're so gorgeous."
And a perplexed looking Javier Bardem (who later won for his deeply dark performance in No Country For Old Men), scooted away after Rinna informed him, "You're so handsome. You're so stunning."
Ugh. And look out, Oscars, if the writers' strike is settled in time for a full-blown red carpet rollout.
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