Oscars: This Wasn't In The Script!

Written by DAVID M. KEYES

Posted April 24, 1998 (Reprinted online August 24, 1998)

The annual Academy Awards are something I look forward to each year. The weeks leading up to the awards are filled with anticipation. Who will show up? Who will win? What movies will win the most awards? How many predictions will I get right? Usually, I am correct 80 percent of the time. This year was no exception.

Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson made off with the acting awards this year (suprised?) for their roles in the hit comedy "As Good As It Gets." Helen Hunt was deserving of the award, but Nicholson himself came as quite a shock, especially after experiencing Duvall’s role in "The Apostle," a movie he wrote, produced, and directed with sheer power.

In the supporting acting categories, I was somewhat surprised at the winners. Kim Basinger was an obvious choice, but I was almost sure that Burt Reynolds would win in the supporting actor category for playing Jack Horner in the stunning "Boogie Nights." But Robin Williams received the award, perhaps because he demonstrated, for the first time in years, that he has talent. After being in "Jumanji," "Father’s Day," and "Flubber," you’d expect him to be booed right off the stage. Thank goodness "Good Will Hunting" came his way.

Speaking of that movie, Matt Damon and partner Ben Affleck took away the best original screenplay award for "Good Will Hunting," and "Titanic" reigned supreme in the best original song category. As Madonna quoted when she announced the winner, "What a surprise!" The "Titanic" soundtrack is only the most successful soundtrack in history, and Celine Dion’s "My Heart Will Go On" is only the most played song on the radio! It was obvious from the very beginning who would win.

Billy Crystal received rousing applause from his opening ceremony. The show began with a tape of him placed in scenes from movies nominated this year. At one point, he was positioned in the same spot Kate Winslet was in when she was posing nude for Leonardo DiCaprio to sketch her. Being uncomfortable, he declared, "This wasn’t in the script!"

Without a doubt, the 70th annual Academy Awards was the greatest Academy Awards show of the 1990s. After all, movies nominated for best picture were outstanding, unlike last year, when "The English Patient," a bad movie to begin with, took home nine Oscars. To quote Andrew Lloyd Weber when he won last year for best original song, "Thank God ‘The English Patient’ wasn’t nominated for this category." After all, it did take away several awards from movies that deserved them more.

At least it didn’t happen this year.