Mickey Rourke’s Triumphant Indie Spirit Tops Award Festivities

Holding his mantleware, Mickey Rourke flashed the grin of a fighter on a dazzling comeback as he celebrated at the 24th annual Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica. His acceptance speech for Best Male Actor was a fittingly free-spirited, profanity-filled highlight of the festivities. He thanked his deceased dog, Loki, mentioned speaking with the local Santa Monica police who “gave me a bed to sleep in 10 years ago,” threatened actor Rainn Wilson who had parodied him in ‘The Wrestler‘ earlier in the show (”I’m going to beat your ass,” he declared), and said actor Eric Roberts should be next in line for a comeback. He”is the f***ing man,” he said, “and he deserves, like i got, a second chance.”

Following Rourke’s speech, Tom McCarthy won the best-director award for “The Visitor.’ “I feel like we should just stop the show after Mickey, because who could follow that, really?” McCarthy said.

The complete list of Independent Spirit Winners is on the jump.

The complete list of Independent Spirit Winners:

Best Feature
The Wrestler

Best Director
Tom McCarthy/The Visitor

Best Male Lead
Mickey Rourke/The Wrestler

Best Female Lead
Melissa Leo/Frozen River

Best Supporting Male
James Franco/Milk

Best Supporting Female
Penelope Cruz/Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Screenplay
Woody Allen/Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Cinematography
Maryse Alberti/The Wrestler

Best First Feature
Synecdoche, New York

Best First Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black/Milk

Best Documentary
Man on Wire

Best Foreign Film
The Class

John Cassavetes Award
In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Someone to Watch Award
Lynn Shelton/My Effortless Brilliance

Producers Award
Heather Rae/Frozen River & Ibid

Truer Than Fiction Award
Margaret Brown/The Order of Myths

Robert Altman Award
Charlie Kaufman, Jeanne McCarthy, Ensemble Cast of Synecdoche, New York

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