What was Wrong with James Franco at the Oscars?

The 83rd Oscars have come to a close. There were winners, there were losers, there weren't a great deal of surprises. Most of the awards went to the films that many were predicting. Christian Bale and Melissa Leo won for Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively for their work in "The Fighter." Natalie Portman won the Best Actress award for "Black Swan." Colin Firth took home the Best Actor Oscar for his work in "The King's Speech." "The King's Speech" will actually be considered the big winner of the night, also taking the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film. However there was one thing about the night that seemed slightly off, and it's name was James Franco.

Franco was of course nominated for Best Actor for his work in "127 Hours," but he was also one of the hosts of the evening along with Anne Hathaway. As the evening started Franco seemed ok during the initial introduction to the evening. Then again much of that was a pre-filmed segment where the two hosts were inserted into scenes from the various Oscar nominees. However soon after that something seemed to be a bit off about Franco. He spent much of the night squinting and never seemed to look directly at the camera. In fact he seemed to constantly be looking slightly off to his right. There were a few instances where his words became slightly garbled and he stumbled over syllables during present introductions. Overall he just seemed unfit to be hosting the show.

There will doubtless be numerous theories as to why Franco seemed out of it. In all honesty though, the man seemed to either be drunk or stoned. Even if this was not the case it is no doubt going to be the speculation that abounds. Franco's recent involvement in the stoner comedy "Pineapple Express" and his upcoming "Your Highness" probably aren't going to help him when it comes to convincing the public that he wasn't lighting up backstage. He couldn't even appear to manage a full smile, instead he sported an odd grin for most of the night. Perhaps the most telling moment came at the very end when he seemed to stall trying to remember what movie had just won Best Picture and Hathaway leaned down to the microphone to say the title.

It may not have been that he was out of it just the night, that may simply have been how he was planning to do it. Given that his involvement seems to have been minimized to a certain extent makes one wonder if the producers realized during the rehearsals that he wasn't giving his all and opted to feature Hathaway more prominently. Hathaway was given her own musical number while Franco came out awkwardly in a dress and made a Charlie Sheen joke. He was given the cheap joke while Hathaway did the heavy lifting. She also seemed to appear by herself far more often than Franco did (almost every time in a dress.) Hathaway was a bubbling cauldron of energy and seemed to be very sincerely trying, doing her best to counteract the laid back "it's all good" vibe that Franco was giving off.

Regardless of the reason it seems doubtful that the Academy would ask Franco to return given his performance. Even if he wasn't stoned then the only explanation would be that he wasn't taking it seriously at all. Hathaway on the other hand acquitted herself quite well and didn't let him drag her down with him. Though ultimately what may have been the Academy's biggest mistake was having the far superior Billy Crystal deliver a mid-show monologue and then present us with clips of the incomparable Bob Hope from his hosting days. The last thing the audience needed was to see how much better it could and has been done. That just served to drive home the point that Franco was completely out of his depth.