Last night, the
Golden Globe Awards were handed out. I tuned in for the last hour or so, you know, when the 'major' awards are presented.
In the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama, there were a quartet of high-powered Hollywood types nominated: Leonardo DiCaprio for
Revolutionary Road; Frank Langella for
Frost/Nixon; Sean Penn for
Milk; and Brad Pitt for
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.
And then there was Mickey Rourke, the self-described almost has-been who managed to rip the award from the outstretched hands of the high-powered DiCaprio, Penn and Pitt trio, for his portrayal of an aging professional wrestler named Randy "The Ram" Robinson in
The Wrestler. Rourke also managed to make it up the stairs to the stage without falling over (well, he did trip!).
It is quite apropos that Rourke won for a role he played that has a sort of symbolic parallel to Rourke's rather up-and-down, tumultuous life.
What endeared me to him even more than ever was his
acceptance speech. After accepting his award from a stylish looking
Susan Sarrandon, Rourke spoke rather well and managed to thank all the right people. Although I do believe he prompted the 'oops' moment of the night when his director managed to both blow him a kiss and gave him the finger after Rourke called him "
tough son of a bitch". I am sure this totally shocked the American audience (oh, for God's sake, just get over it!) and it may take years for him to be forgiven again.
And then, near the end of his thanks, he said the following:
I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here and the ones who aren't here anymore, because, uh sometimes when a man's alone, uh, that's all you got is your dog and uh, they meant the world to me.
Men and women dog lovers alike can totally understand what it is that he was saying and how very well he said it. Good one.
