Awards-show speeches worth talking about
Posted: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 7:00 AM by Paige Newman
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Movies
Mickey Rourke’s Golden Globe acceptance featured everything I love about a good awards show speech. It was heartfelt; he seemed genuinely surprised and delighted to win; it was funny (not everyone calls their director "a tough son of a b---h" and thanks their dogs, saying, "Sometimes when a man's alone that's all you got is your dog"); and, thank goodness, he didn’t read from a tiny, sweat-stained piece of paper.
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Mickey Rourke and Bruce Springsteen share the pleasure of Golden Globes wins. Springsteen was excited to be in the same category as Clint Eastwood.
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This is awards-show season, and as someone who watches most of them, I know what I like in a speech. For example, when Daniel Day-Lewis took home the SAG Award last year for “There Will Be Blood,” it was just days after Heath Ledger’s death. And when he mentioned the actor in his speech, it felt as though it just popped into his head, and he had to say it. You could feel the energy in the room.
However, Day-Lewis won many awards that year, and he kept mentioning Ledger. For me, telling the same story or thanking everyone is a no-no. The year Jamie Foxx won for “Ray,” it was touching the first time he gave the speech about how his grandmother had raised him. But the Oscars, it was rote.
Colin Farrell gave a wonderful acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, too. Maybe people who have survived substance abuse give the best speeches (which means Robert Downey Jr. has a good one ready and waiting when the time comes). With tears in his eyes and a sense of humor (at the last minute he remembered to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for their late-night phone calls), Farrell, too, seemed genuinely surprised to win.
Some tears can be good. The waterworks, however, make this viewer a touch uncomfortable. With Winslet’s double Globe wins, she can probably be given a pass, since she doesn’t usually win awards and she did seem caught up in the moment. But, she’s starting to look like a lock for the best supporting actress Oscar, so she should be more prepared. No tears at Oscar time! After all, President-elect Obama didn’t break down during his acceptance speech for the presidency; so surely, Winslet or Anne Hathaway (who broke down at the Critics Choice Awards) should be able to hold it together.
I always want the person who’s likely to make the most shocking acceptance speech to win. Tracy Morgan’s speech for the “30 Rock” win was one of my favorites. He opened with "I'm the face of post-racial America, deal with it Cate Blanchett." A classic crazed line. (You can watch Rourke and Morgan's speeches here).
The best possibility for a surprising Oscar speech this year has to be Marisa Tomei (for her work in “The Wrestler”). It’s well-known that she’s the center of an urban legend that Jack Palance read the wrong name the year she won for “My Cousin Vinny.” She could easily give one of those Sally Field, “You like me, you really like me,” speeches or she could be a bit more like Tina Fey and tell the naysayers to “suck it.”
What are your favorite awards show speeches and what do you think makes for a great speech? Share your thoughts in the comments space below.
