There was plenty of Oscar gold for old men Sunday night. At least for one film with them in its title ...
"No Country for Old Men," screenwriting and directing team Joel and Ethan Coen's thriller about a deadly crime wave in a sleepy Southwestern community, took home four trophies during the 80th annual Academy Awards ceremony. The film was nominated for eight Oscars in all.
The multiple wins could be seen as a redemption of sorts for the now-middle-aged Coen brothers, the acclaimed makers of such movies as "Raising Arizona," "Miller's Crossing" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Though they had been nominated several times, they had only won once previously, scoring a Best Original Screenplay Oscar in 1997 for their darkly comic thriller "Fargo." This time, they won for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Joel Coen suggested that perhaps they were more successful this year because they were "selective" about the material they adapted, and cited both Homer and Cormac McCarthy as examples of that. ("O Brother" was supposedly based on "The Odyssey," while McCarthy's novel directly inspired their latest film.)
And Ethan Coen was a man of few words. Accepting the Best Director trophy, he said, "I don't have a lot to add to what I said before. Thank you."
Spanish actor Javier Bardem was honored for Best Supporting Actor for playing "No Country's" seemingly unstoppable killer. He jokingly thanked the Coens "for being crazy enough to think that I could do that and for putting one of the most horrible haircuts in history over my head."
This was one of Oscar's more veteran fields of nominated filmmakers and actors. Sixtysomething Julie Christie was a Best Actress nominee for the drama "Away From Her," while octogenarians Ruby Dee and Hal Holbrook each got supporting performance nominations (for their work in the movies "American Gangster" and "Into the Wild," respectively).
All three left empty-handed, however. French actress Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose") upset the heavily favored Christie and was clearly surprised, appearing to be as "speechless" as she claimed to be.
Speaking of favorites, "No Country for Old Men" went into the Oscars as the film to beat. Its main competition was supposed to be "There Will Be Blood," screenwriter/director Paul Thomas Anderson's turn of the century, oil-industry drama. That movie received eight nominations as well, but only scored two wins — for Best Cinematography (Robert Elswit) and Best Actor, given to Daniel Day-Lewis.
The British-born actor is a second-time honoree (the first time was in 1990 for the drama "My Left Foot"). "That's the closest I'll ever come to a knighthood," Day-Lewis said, after being mock "knighted" by presenter Helen Mirren.
And fellow Brit Tilda Swinton won for her supporting turn as a corporate attorney in the dramatic thriller "Michael Clayton." She noted the Oscar trophy's resemblance to her American agent, saying he "is the spitting image of this."
Comic pundit Jon Stewart, from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," hosted the televised event. His opening monologue poked fun at liberal Hollywood politics and the now-settled Writers Guild of America strike.
The best moments came when Stewart riffed and poked fun at the celebrities in attendance at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, including Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Johnny Depp and diverse actress Cate Blanchett, who was nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress this year.
But at other times Stewart looked a little uncomfortable, despite this being his second stint as the Oscar emcee. To be fair, he was working from a script that was an obvious rush job, thanks to the writers strike, which delayed work on the ceremony.
As a result, there were fewer elaborate and lengthy scripted pieces. Yet it still took nearly 3 1/2 hours to pass out the six major awards and more than a dozen others.
And as usual, the broadcast was preceded by a Red Carpet event. Co-host Regis Philbin helped add a little class to a program that had turned into a tasteless farce in recent years.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com