Hugh Jackman gets mixed reviews

Last updated 15:19 02/03/2009

Reuters

MIXED REVIEWS: Aussie actor Hugh Jackman has received mixed reviews for his performance as Oscars host.

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Some US TV critics may disagree, but Hugh Jackman's performance as Oscar host has received a big thumbs up from the American public.

The affable Aussie's singing, dancing and stand-up comedy performance spearheaded a reverse in the troubling slide in US TV ratings for the film industry's glitzy night of celebration.

Preliminary figures pointed to a six percent rise in American viewers for the Jackman-led US TV Oscar telecast over the dismal performance a year ago when the Jon Stewart-hosted ceremony pulled in a record low audience of 32 million.

Polls in the US also overwhelmingly gave Jackman the thumbs up.

New York newspaper Newsday asked its readers to rate the Australian host's performance and 65.5 percent deemed it "excellent", 21.5 percent "good", 8.1 percent "satisfactory" and just five percent gave him a "fail".

Entertainment Weekly asked its readers if Jackman should return as host.

Just over 70 percent said he should and only 29 percent said he should not.

Most negative reviews from TV critics pointed to Jackman's use of the words "excrement" and "pubic hair" and other lines they considered low grade humour.

"We knew that with Jackman involved, metallic lame was a real possibility, but to make fun of the Nazi-war-crimes-paedophilia-themed The Reader?," Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara, who voiced her complaints about Jackman when it was announced last year, wrote.

New York Daily News' David Hinckley agreed.

"His showcase opener would have been better served, however, without the line about 'human excrement'," Hinckley wrote.

"You'd think someone somewhere in the production process would have said, 'That's not entertaining. That's gross'.

"It pretty much killed any chance Jackman could summon the classy ghost of Fred Astaire, which made it ironic that his midshow number, an all-hands-on-deck Busby Berkeley blowout, was built on Astaire's
Top Hat."

Other critics applauded Jackman.

"He sang, he danced, he sat on Frank Langella's lap and he also presented the 81st annual Academy Awards," New York Times' Alessandra Stanley wrote.

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"Hugh Jackman was a shrewd, even thrifty choice for a recession-era Oscar night - the hosting equivalent of a value meal."

LA Times' McNamara did have some kind words for the family of Heath Ledger, father Kim, mother Sally and sister Kate, and the way they accepted the best supporting actor Oscar.

"To the Ledger family, we are all sorry for your loss," McNamara wrote.

"Thank you for the simple and heartfelt words about your son and brother and for reminding us that just one step back from all the glamour and craziness are ordinary people who understand both the importance and the limitations of a night like this."

* What did you think of Hugh Jackman's performance as Oscars host? Post your comments below.

- AAP