Golden Globes: In many ways, ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ was the real star
With its three hours of wall-to-wall sex, drugs and greed, Martin Scorsese and Leonard DiCaprio’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” has sparked debate over its artistic merit, polarized audiences and even caused a minor row at an academy screening. But at the freewheeling Golden Globe Awards ceremony Sunday night, all that bad behavior provided something else--ample material for wisecracks and one-liners.
Though the film won just one award, a best actor in a comedy or musical for Leonardo DiCaprio, its presence loomed much larger.
During the show opener, hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler latched on to “The Wolf’s” lasciviousness. “I really loved the film, but some of it was too graphic,” Poehler said. “I mean, if I wanted to see Jonah Hill [committing a lewd act] at a pool party, I’d go to one of Jonah Hill’s pool parties.” Fey then added that Hill employed prosthetic genitalia in the film, “So you have that to look forward to next time you eat at Planet Hollywood.”
(The two hosts went relatively easy on Scorsese himself, with Poehler noting that the director had previously won the same honor being presented to Woody Allen later in the evening: the Cecil B. DeMille Award, aka “the award for tiniest man with the biggest glasses.”)
FULL COVERAGE: Golden Globe Awards 2014
Hill appeared later in the show in an unintentionally funny moment. Arriving onstage to introduce a clip alongside “Wolf” co-star Margot Robbie, the actor paused awkwardly, then said, “I’m not going to lie to you — right now they put up the wrong stuff on the teleprompter,” eliciting a peal of laughter.
“I’ve never done this before, so I don’t want to improvise,” Robbie said with a laugh before being bailed out with a hand-delivered script page. The two then gave a slightly shell-shocked intro for the “Wolf” clip.
Later in the show, Fey invoked “Wolf” again, introducing presenter Melissa McCarthy, who is notorious for bold, bawdy humor, as the film’s “cursing consultant.” (Fey had previously noted that “Wolf” drops more than 500 F-bombs.)
When DiCaprio came to the stage to accept his prize, he took what seemed like a small jab at the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. for its categorization of comedic and dramatic awards. “I never would have guessed I would have won for best actor in a comedy,” he said, “so I’d like to pay some congratulations to my fellow comedians here tonight.”
DiCaprio was back on stage minutes later to present the award for best actress in a drama, and his introduction by Fey nearly matched his own movie’s indelicacy. A direct quote would not be suitable for a family newspaper; suffice it to say the joke hinged on DiCaprio’s reputation as a Lothario among the supermodel set. DiCaprio took the joke in stride, smiling and flashing a thumbs-up as he came to the microphone.
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