Oscars Review: Jimmy Kimmel Hosted the Best Show in Years

There may be no greater endorsement for a piece of entertainment than Donald Trump logging onto Truth Social and trashing it. So consider Jimmy Kimmel’s revelation right before the end of Sunday night’s Academy Awards that the former president had taken to the site to call the telecast a “really bad politically correct show,” asking “has there EVER been a WORSE HOST than Jimmy Kimmel” as close to a rave as an awards ceremony can get.

Praise is deserved, though, because, for those of us who are not former-presidents-turned-internet-trolls, this was one of the best produced and most pleasant Oscars in a long time. This was the rare case where almost every award went to a deserving winner, there was an engrossing balance of gravitas and goofiness, there were several show-stopping moments, gorgeous speeches, and a swift pacing that kept the typically bloated affair from ever seeming like a slog—to the point that the show nearly ended early. That never happens!

Oppenheimer won seven awards including Best Picture, sweeping the night as expected. That’s what made Sunday’s telecast even more remarkable. Going into the ceremony, almost every category’s winners seemed preordained, which should be lethal for a show that mines much of its drama from the element of surprise. But thanks to the emotional heft of having past winners present the acting nominees—an awards obsessives’ favorite presentation style from 15 years ago—a truly show-stopping musical moment courtesy of Ryan Gosling, a nude John Cena, and Kimmel’s breezy hosting, the telecast still managed to feel monumental, skirting expectations that the predictability could have made for a very boring night.

Most striking—and a change of pace after this last decade of Oscars ceremonies—is that the show seemed to remember that the best telecasts are the ones that embrace the movies and performances that were nominated, creating a show for people who actually like watching films, have seen the nominees, and enjoy award shows. The worst ceremonies are the ones that chase a mythical audience that has little interest in movie awards, pandering to them with bits and segments that distract from what the actual task at hand is: giving out trophies and recognizing great art. But it turns out that putting care to do the job you’re supposed to do—rather than treating it as an afterthought—leads to a legitimately great show.

This was a year when moviegoers flocked back to the cinema with an enthusiasm there hasn’t been in years, thanks to Oppenheimer and Barbie. It was fitting to start the show by Kimmel inserting himself into one of Barbie’s most iconic scenes, and for the two films’ stars to be such a major presence in the telecast.

Having Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling allude to the Barbenhemier “rivalry” was a stroke of genius, while Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” may go down as one of the greatest Oscars musical numbers in the show’s history. “I’m Just Ken” is the single most talked-about movie scene of the year, so it was gratifying to see it given such a showcase. It was impossible not to grin from ear to ear throughout the entire number, while people all over the world are likely now being tested on just how intense one’s crush on Ryan Gosling can be.

But it wasn’t just Gosling. Barbie’s Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera were the night’s funniest pair of presenters, while Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr. stole the opening monologue with his reaction shots to Kimmel’s ribbing of him. Kimmel’s best monologue jokes were Barbie-related. He marveled that Greta Gerwig managed to “take a plastic doll nobody even liked anymore”—before the film, he said his wife would be more likely to buy his daughter a “pack of Marlboro Reds” than a Barbie—and create this phenomenon. And when the audience clapped at the suggestion that Gerwig should have been nominated for Best Director, he hilariously shamed them, reminding them that they were the ones who didn’t vote for her.

After the monologue, the night got started with the first of the supersized acting presentations. I love this format so much. The tributes to each nominee are so lovely, especially when they come from colleagues who admire each other and are friends. There’s a weight to these speeches that is befitting of the Academy Awards. It’s the Oscars! That’s a big freaking deal! And you can see how touched the nominees are, as evidenced by both Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Danielle Brooks breaking down in tears during their tributes.

Having the former winners present together also adds bombast to the announcement of the winner, like the actor is being welcomed into a club, supercharging the emotion in the speeches. Randolph, who won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers, gave a speech for the ages. Robert Downey Jr., winning Best Supporting Actor for Oppenheimer, did a perfect juggling of snarkiness and poignance. Cillian Murphy was poised and eloquent after his Best Actor win for Oppenheimer, while Emma Stone gave the kind of tearful, overwhelmed speech when she won Best Actress for Poor Things that warrant rewatches for years to come.

Oscar moments are woven into our pop culture psyche. But those moments, almost exclusively, are from speeches. “Right now, you like me.” “Hello, gorgeous.” “It came true.” “The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels.” That photo of Julia Roberts and her gazillion-dollar smile holding the gold trophy. Halle Berry weeping while clutching her history-making Oscar. It’s not the random montages, appearances by the stars of the latest superhero movie, or musical mash-ups inserted into the show for no reason. The speeches are what make the Academy Awards great, so it was a pleasure to see them given such a spotlight this year.

Stone’s win over Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone was the night’s biggest surprise, and it almost looked like Stone herself didn’t want to win. It would have been momentous for Gladstone to be the first North American Indigenous actress to win, but it’s hard to gripe when the Best Actress was so stacked with sensational performances. And even though the same films kept winning—it seemed like every other award went to either Oppenheimer or Poor Things—but the night was programmed in a way that things never felt monotonous. I’m so glad producers decided to skip the usual “here is what sound editing is and here is the lengthy history of its importance,” letting the show speed through the bathroom-break categories and get to the good stuff.

Whether or not producers had a hand in making it happen, it was also refreshing to see the show meet the moment we’re in. Jonathan Glazer, winning Best International Feature for The Zone of Interest, addressed the war in Gaza during his speech, saying “Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization—how do we resist?” Many stars in attendance wore red pins supporting a ceasefire, while the show itself started a few minutes late because pro-Palestine demonstrations blocked traffic to the auditorium.

20 Days in Mariupol director Mstyslav Chernov addressed the crisis in Ukraine in his speech, saying, “Probably I will be the first director on this stage to say I wish I’d never made this film, I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine,” and encouraging the talent in the room to keep making art that exposes the truth. While not related to a global crisis, Kimmel acknowledged the Hollywood strikes from the last year and, in a classy move, thanked the production crews that supported striking actors and writers, promising to return the support when their union negotiations start.

A telecast shouldn’t be bogged down by moments like these, and there are certainly those who reject the idea of award shows ever being political. But each of these examples seemed earned and necessary. Was it jarring for the orchestra to blare “I’m Just Ken” after Glazer’s speech? God yes. But maybe that’s a lesson learned to maybe have a backup plan for pivoting depending on the tone of a speech.

For all the talk about the emotion and seriousness of the ceremony, though, it was truly a lot of fun to watch. Kimmel was a welcome presence whenever he returned to joke with the audience, mostly because he never overstayed his welcome, appearing only sporadically. A lot of the presenter banter was surprisingly funny, not staid and stuffy like the presentations can sometimes be. I especially loved Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito roping former Batman Michael Keaton into their bit, and John Mulaney’s Field of Dreams was as inspired as it was utterly random. And, of course, we had the gift of John Cena scooting across stage naked, save for a strategically placed envelope, leading to what will likely be the most rewound moment of the night. More Hollywood stars should be this game for hijinks!

While not a surprising night when it came to the awards themselves, the show itself was surprising in that there was so little to complain about. Producing and hosting the Oscars can be so thankless. No one’s ever happy with how the show went. So if the only vocal detractor of a telecast is facing dozens of felonies and ending his pan of the show with “Make America Great Again” in all capital letters, it’s been a successful night.