Oscar Hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway: Funny or flop?
By Tribute on February 28, 2011 | 15 Comments
Hoping they would bring a fresh take on one of Hollywood’s biggest awards shows, Anne Hathaway and James Franco missed the mark as Oscar co-hosts. It could have given them the buzz of the century, and many were looking forward to these two young stars to give a dynamic boost to the Oscars. But James Franco and Anne Hathaway did not fare well as co-hosts for Hollywood’s biggest event of the season: The Oscars.
Although Anne Hathaway tried her best to be entertaining and perky, James Franco seemed to have other things on his mind leaving Hathaway with the task of overcompensating for her dull, and vacant co-host. Already a risky move for Academy producers to allow two newbies to co-host Hollywood’s most glamorous event, it’s hard to understand what exactly went wrong, specifically with Franco. In the promos leading up to the telecast, viewers were led to believe that Franco and Hathaway were poised to give the show of a lifetime with sensational skits and comedy.
Here’s what other reviewers had to say:
“In what could go down as one of the worst Oscar telecasts in history, a bad and risky idea – letting two actors host – proved out in spectacularly unwatchable fashion on the biggest of all nights for the film world,” wrote the Hollywood Reporter’s Tim Goodman. “Anne Hathaway at least tried to sing and dance and preen along to the goings on, but Franco seemed distant, uninterested and content to keep his Cheshire-cat-meets-smug smile on display throughout.”
“Hathaway worked her derrière off,” the Washington Post’s Hank Stuever wrote, “[but] Franco came off like that lacrosse boy you wish your daughter didn’t hang out with so much, sort of heavy-lidded and smirky.”
In his live blog, the Guardian’s Xan Brooks wrote: “They’re not doing badly, exactly, but they sure as hell aren’t doing good. Where’s Steve Martin? Jon Stewart? Ricky Gervais? Hathaway and Franco just seem a shade underpowered. They are idling at half-speed, scared of giving offence.”
The Telegraph’s Toby Young said: “[They] actually made me feel nostalgic for Billy Crystal, something I didn’t think was possible,” he wrote. “It was as if the telecast’s producers were so desperate to compensate for the fact that this year’s big winner would only appeal to the over-50s that they decided to hand over hosting duties to a couple of children. When Franco appeared dressed as Marilyn Monroe and joked that Charlie Sheen had just texted him I felt like chewing my own arm off.”
Back in the U.S., USA Today’s Robert Blanco said Franco “seemed to be preparing for a remake of Dazed and Confused,” while Moviefone’s Alonso Duralde wrote simply “Franco flopped.”
-Toni-Marie Ippolito
For all the winners go to tribute.ca/Oscars
What do you think? What’s your review of Anne and James as Oscar hosts?
Comments & Discussion
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To be honest I think the intro where they incorporated their relatives into the skit was where it all went wrong. They lost all momentum when both relatives fumbled their lines in the skit (in comedy timing is everything). Having two civilians stand up in a crowded room and expect them to not get nervous is just insane. The top 10 Oscar speeches skit leading into the show and the intro. short skit (the ‘k’ is interchangeable with an ‘h’ in this case) was just not well done. Their were some funny bits in that skit such as the Black Swan scene but they were not drawn out long enough and almost all of the scenes which were edited after the comedic lines were all wrong (I blame the editor & director for that failure not Franco and Hathaway). The last nail in the coffin was how toned down the Franco in a dress skit was. That visual followed by his Charlie Sheen comment, Should have been GOLDEN! So much potential yet so poorly executed. That could have been used to boost the audience and the energy in the room. Instead it was an epic fail.
I won’t lie this was painful to watch on TV but I have not given up hope. Next year I am hoping the Oscars will redeem themselves by having Eddie Izzard as the host.
It was terrible. It was boring. They tried way too hard to be funny. Alec Baldwin in the beginning was the best part. I wanted to turn the channel so bad and then Melissa Leo dropped the “F-Bomb” in her speech…and it was acted out…Its like she didnt think she was gunna win it. Hello!!! If you get the Golden Globe for the same category you usually win the oscar too… People these days I tell ya….
flop……he was either drunk or high and she looked like she was really wanting him to step up and work with her but it didn’t happen…..the prepared skit things encorporating the films were funny as always but the live host aspect was terribly boring…..seems every time they get someone who knocks it out of the park they think they need a change…..stick with what works and if you have to pay them more than do it
I agreed and said it right away. This doesn’t work. He (Franco) put way more effort into the commercials leading up to the Oscars. Put Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin back up there! They rocked. And Billy Crystal can push the envelope and make you laugh too. He is comfy up there!
It was a nice try to change things, but really sick with what works at least as long as you can. This was a flop but a good try.
Not that I care. I haven’t watched tv in 4 yrs or something like that. So I could care less who hosts what. I would rather read a book instead.
I was SOO disappointed! Both Franco and Hathaway are great talents, but they had no chemistry and Franco was so SMUG! What a shame!
I thought Hathaway did a great job. Franco just looked like he was about to fall asleep in the middle of the show all the way till the end. He was just smiling and his eyes looked like it was about to close. The guy looked really tiered!!! He looked like he hasn’t slept in months.
Well Victor, he looked really tired; was Probably because hollywood works the actors/actresses Way Too Hard!! Also the actors most likely take on too many movie roles. I’ve heard it said that if they don’t make movies at least kind of regular, then we’ll forget about them. Isn’t that nice people make decisions For Us?? I’ll never 4get most all actors/actresses I’ve had the Priveledge and Honour to �meet�� via the movies/TV! I appreciate them so much! All the hard work they do and the energy they exert.
It wasn’t good for sure. I wanted to check and see if Franco had a pulse he was so dull. Hathaway tried, but she wasn’t gooed either….
I haven’t seen Bob Hope in my life time so i can’t comment but to me, Billy Chrystal was the best host Oscars ever had. Nobody came close to him since then although I though Stewart was pretty good and last year was OK too.
This year well, first, everyone that was expected to win the major awards won and the hosts were terrible so yes, I have to say that it was the worst Oscar Show I ever watched. Sandra Bullock was really good even though she looked like she had just got a face lift and some acceptance speeches were good too but that’s about it. Melissa Leo’s speech was too obvious and awkward to be a highlight but more of a “Faux Pas” than anything else.
I am not sure why everybody is surprised about James Franco. He has always given off that kind of persona. I think they took a big gamble by doing it and did it pay off? we will just see. I watched a bit of it and I felt like I was watching a teen award show. Though the teens might have thought they were too old.
bad bad bad
zzzzzzzzzzzz……next year try hathaway by herself
I thought Anne was the worst of it. That constant giggling and whooping? She acted like a silly 13 year old, it was so ditzy and unprofessional.
agree, Randall