The Golden Globes 2011: the results

Was this the most sensible awards ceremony ever (Ricky Gervais excepted…)?

Ricky Gervais has predicted that he won’t be hosting the Golden Globes ceremony next year – and, judging by his performance in Los Angeles last night, he’s probably right.

Gervais called Bruce Willis ‘Ashton Kutcher’s Dad’ and Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner ‘the walking dead’. He also joked that voters ‘accepted bribes’ to nominate ‘The Tourist’. Best – worst? – of all was his mention of ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’, in which, he reminded the audience, straight actors play gay. Gervais’s pay-off? ‘So, the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists – probably!’ Adding, 'My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke.' The likes of Robert DeNiro and Alec Baldwin were shown laughing during proceedings.

But, Gervais aside, last night’s Golden Globes were eminently sensible. Watching the big American awards ceremonies can be dispiriting: the frustration mounts and anger rises as voters reward familiarity over originality, mediocrity over quality, ‘Crash’ over ‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘A Beautiful Mind’ over ‘Gosford Park’… The list goes on.

Which only makes last night’s ceremony, voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), all the more pleasantly surprising. The big winner – ‘The Social Network’ ­– was the film most serious film fans were hoping but not quite believing would win.



David Fincher’s film could be the most challenging and literate Best Picture: Drama winner at the Golden Globes since the event began in 1982. It was a truly worthy recipient not just of the big prize, but the Best Director award for David Fincher, Best Original Score for one-time wild boy Trent Reznor and his collaborator Atticus Ross and a richly deserved Best Original Screenplay prize for that titan of the tongue-twisting tirade, Aaron Sorkin.

In fact, the entire winners’ enclosure was studded with Time Out favourites, several of which made our Films of the Year list last month: ‘Toy Story 3’ was a predictable but deserving ‘Animated Feature’ winner, while ‘Best Picture: Musical or Comedy’ winner ‘The Kids Are All Right’ got a five-star review in our magazine, and anyone who’s seen this week’s new release ‘Black Swan’ knows how impressive Natalie Portman’s lead performance is (though some of us may have felt a twinge of sadness that the award didn’t go to the remarkable Jennifer Lawrence in ‘Winter’s Bone’).

The big news for British audiences came on the acting front, as Colin Firth took home a welcome Best Actor gong for his terrific turn in ‘The King’s Speech’, with Christian Bale taking Best Supporting Actor for his bug-eyed, slightly OTT turn in Boston boxing drama ‘The Fighter’. That film also helped Melissa Leo to a very welcome Best Supporting Actress win as a domineering, mad-eyed mother.

The big question now is what effect, if any, will these results have on the Oscars?

‘The Social Network’ may be firmly ensconced as the leading contender, but even though the Academy and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who vote for the Golden Globes, tend to nominate roughly the same group of films, the winners can be very different: last year, ‘Avatar’ took the Golden Globe but lost the Oscar to ‘The Hurt Locker’.

This year, for once, we’ll be hoping the Academy follow the HFPA’s lead and rewards the films which truly deserve it.

And all the winners:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
'The Social Network'

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Natalie Portman – 'Black Swan'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Colin Firth – 'The King's Speech'

Best Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
'The Kids Are All Right'

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Annette Bening – 'The Kids Are All Right'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical
Paul Giamatti – 'Barney's Version'

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Melissa Leo – 'The Fighter'

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale – 'The Fighter'

Best Animated Feature Film
'Toy Story 3'

Best Foreign Language Film
'In a Better World' (Denmark)

Best Director - Motion Picture
David Fincher – 'The Social Network'

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Aaron Sorkin – 'The Social Network'

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - 'The Social Network'

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
'You Haven't Seen the Last of Me' – 'Burlesque'

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