Colin Farrell hasn’t won a major film award (a proper, televised one, anyways) in a while. His last Golden Globe win was for In Bruges in 2009; he’s never even been nominated for an Oscar.
In truth, he’s kind of been flying under the radar of the awards industrial complex for over a decade now, making culty indie movies that, while acclaimed, never quite breach the surface of the wider public consciousness. But now, having reunited with his In Bruges fam – Brendan Gleeson and Oscars darling Martin McDonagh – for The Banshees of Inisherin, Farrell is firmly back in the pocket.
And picking up the award for best actor at the Golden Globes, Farrell reminded everyone why he's so deeply beloved by the people that have been paying attention to his weirder films (Killing of a Sacred Deer hive stand up). He gave it both barrels, laying the charm, the jokes and the genuinely moving expressions of love – which we rarely see at these things – on thick.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
He kicked things off with an endearingly earnest compliment to Ana De Armas, who presented the award to him. “I cried myself to sleep the night I saw your film, Blonde,” he said, with De Armas smiling awkwardly in the wings. “Martin McDonagh, I owe you so much, man. 14 years ago, you put me working with Brendan Gleeson, my dance partner, and you changed my life forever in ways that I'll begrudgingly be grateful to you for the rest of my days.” Then, he washed his younger co-star Barry Keoghan for stealing his Crunchy-Nut Corn Flakes. But he saved his most effusive comments for Gleeson. “Brendan, I love you so much. I love you so much," he said, as Gleeson looked on with a proud smile. “To get to cohabitate this creative space with you every day, all I did when I came to work every day was aspire to be your equal. I'm not saying I even got there, but the aspiration kept me going.” My beautiful boys! As the writer Meecham Whitson Meriweather put it: ”Toxic masculinity found dead in a ditch!"
How often do you see such a deeply heartfelt expression of love between two middle-aged men on TV? Not all that often! It's the only kind of anti-Banshees – in which they play friends who've fallen out – sentiment that we can get on board with.
Now, the long march towards Colin Farrell's Oscar begins. Banshees picked up the award for Best Comedy or Musical Film on the night, too, and Martin McDonagh won for best screenplay. This suggests that the lads are firmly in the running for gold in March. If that speech didn't win over Academy voters, then there's no hope for any of us…
