Sunday's Golden Globes promised to be one of the few awards programs in a long time that would actually be worth tuning in to see. The reason was very simple: its host, acid-tongued English comic Ricky Gervais.
In interviews leading up to the telecast, Gervais pledged to shake up the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's ritual of self-congratulation by drinking a lot, being rude and saying whatever came into his mind. "I think it's the similar job description for a hobo," he declared.
True to his word, his opening remarks splattered the star-studded audience with a hailstorm of sarcasm. The English comic, whose HBO series "Extras" won a 2008 Golden Globe for mocking filmland's absurdities, performed his gig as if he was hosting a rude celebrity roast.
"Looking out at all these faces reminds me of all the good work that's been done this year ... by cosmetic surgeons," he said during his first moments at the podium. Gervais expected the audience to hate him and never asked for anything else, and because of that he earned our rapt admiration.
Unfortunately, he was only an intermittent presence after his monologue -- making brief jibes about Sir Paul McCartney's expensive divorce and Colin Farrell's reputation as a "drunk, swear-y hell-raiser" -- and as the evening wore on a weary sense of business as usual shrouded the proceedings. Ultimately the evening belonged to the very people he was brought in to lampoon.
After his opening, Gervais handed the baton to presenter Nicole Kidman, who embodied the glamorous self-absorption Gervais was hired to ridicule. She addressed the Haiti crisis in terms defined entirely by show business. She noted that most of the celebrities attending were wearing solidarity ribbons -- bully for them -- advised viewers to send relief donations via NBC.com -- why not through an actual charity? -- and noted that George Clooney would host a benefit telethon later in the week -- why should this week be different?
Best-acting film honors went to four of the night's biggest stars: Sandra Bullock for "Blind Side," Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," Meryl Streep for "Julie & Julia" and Robert Downey Jr. for "Sherlock Holmes." Downey's acceptance speech was the evening's comic high point as he vaingloriously refused to thank anyone.
"I'm sorry, everyone's been so gratuitous. 'It was all a collaboration, we did this together,'" he said in faux-sarcasm, all the while naming many of his collaborators and industry colleagues.
