Jan. 11--On a night when Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais came off like a troll, Mel Gibson propped up his unwelcome appearance with a colonoscopy joke and Leonardo DiCaprio forgot there were cameras on site, Denzel and Pauletta Washington saved the show.
The couple, on stage with three of their four children to collect Denzel's Cecil B. DeMille award, had the truest, warmest exchange of the evening when the actor, fumbling to read his notes, leaned into his wife for help, only to be reminded by her (for the second time) that he needed his glasses.
"Yeah, I do need my glasses," he says, flashing that signature, seductive grin before asking his wife to read his notes for him.
"I don't have mine either," she says, flashing an equally gorgeous smile.
They fumble some more. Jamie Foxx offers to bring some glasses on stage. Pauletta nudges Denzel to remember the people on stage with him.
"I didn't thank the family?" he says, looking genuinely surprised. The family grins.
It's 2 1/2 minutes of adorable is what it is.
I'm not going to pretend to know what their marriage of 30-plus years is like based on fewer than three minutes.
But I will say that it's one of the only times I've ever watched two people interact with each other on an awards show stage when I didn't want to crawl out of my skin to avoid the stilted, unfunny, we-rehearsed-this-but-we're-pretending-we-didn't tete-a-tete.
I love Amy Schumer and Jennifer Lawrence, but their bit fell flatter than flat.
Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling on stage together? How can you find fault with that? When you have to watch them pretend they're surprised to see each other there. Painful. (And they're actors!)
The Washingtons, on the other hand, managed to strike a perfect note: Had something prepared, sort of forgot most of it. Happy to be honored, fully aware they haven't cured cancer.
I love that he leaned on her for support, and I love that she didn't swoop in and save him -- didn't have his extra glasses tucked in a beaded clutch, didn't sneak a copy of his speech on stage, didn't bring her own glasses along (why would she?).
I love that neither of them rolled their eyes at the other. I love that there wasn't a hint of blame or condescension in the air.
I love, most of all, that they seemed to genuinely enjoy being up there together, having a moment, surrounded by their kids and basking in goodwill.
They could have been any of us in that moment: The couple who arrives at the housewarming party empty-handed because each one thought the other one was grabbing the bottle of wine. The family that drives 30 miles out of the way on a road trip because Dad can't maneuver Google maps and he won't stop for directions. The kids who watch their parents navigate, day after day, bills, errands, deaths in the family, layoffs, betrayals and all the rest, and wake up the next day and do it all again. Side by side.
They were exactly what the Golden Globes -- steeped in fakery and self-regard -- needed on stage. And exactly what those of us watching at home needed to see.
hstevens@tribpub.com
