“Crash“?
Well, I don’t think anybody saw that one coming, including the cast of the film, who were jumping out of their seats in complete amazement last night when presenter Jack Nicholson read the name off the envelope. I had previously predicted that if there was one film that could upset frontrunner “Brokeback Mountain” for the prize, it would be the Paul Haggis-directed drama, but it was still a shocker when it happened. Since Ang Lee had won Best Director honors only minutes before the announcement of Best Picture, it seemed like That Gay Cowboy Movie had it in the bag. Perhaps the Academy chose “Crash” over “Brokeback” for its incredible ensemble cast, because that’s the only leg up that the former had on Lee’s drama.
The rest of the night went down exactly as expected, with Philip Seymour Hoffman picking up the award for Best Actor in “Capote” and Reese Witherspoon winning the Best Actress award for “Walk the Line.” The complete list of winners in all of the major categories are as follows:
Best Picture – Crash
Best Director – Ang Lee (“Brokeback Mountain”)
Best Actor – Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote”)
Best Actress – Reese Witherspoon (“Walk the Line”)
Best Supporting Actor – George Clooney (“Syriana“)
Best Supporting Actress – Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener“)
Best Original Screenplay – “Crash”
Best Adapted Screenplay – “Brokeback Mountain”
Best Documentary – “March of the Penguins”
Best Animated Feature – “Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit”
