Crystal had a few gems, but show didn’t sparkle

You can seldom go wrong by bringing back the best. Even if he wasn’t exactly at his best. Hosts live and die by their opening routine, and to be fair to Billy Crystal, who returned to ABC’S broadcast of the Academy Awards on Sunday for his ninth stint, his was being held to an awfully high standard — as in, the one he’s set for himself over the years. Odds are most people were more excited to see Crystal insert himself into the nominated films, his longtime signature bit, than they were to see the films themselves.

Those are high expectations, and Crystal didn’t quite meet them. You may have smiled, but with Crystal, we’re used to laughing.

Part of the problem stemmed from the relative obscurity of many of the movies: By the time people figured out what movie Crystal was in, he’d moved on to the next one. And the routine, built around Crystal’s decision to return as host, ended up feeling too much about him and not enough about the films.

Things picked up when Crystal moved on to his other Oscar signature: the medley, dedicated to the nine bestpicture nominees. While it wasn’t his strongest ever, it was a reminder of how comfortable he seems in the job, and how comfortable the audience seems to be with him.

Part of that comfort level no doubt stems from the audience’s knowledge that Crystal’s jokes may land, but they won’t sting. He knows where the line is between gentle teasing and cruel mockery, and he never crosses it.

That gentle approach led to some cute moments throughout, from a humorous sight gag with Melissa Mccarthy to a fun Wizard of Oz- themed spoof of focus groups. But it just never was enough to kick-start a flat evening.

There were, as always, highlights: Those who collect well-done acceptance speeches can add an emotional one from Octavia Spencer and an amusing, touching one from Meryl Streep. The “in memoriam’’ segment was unusually classy, and clap-free. And thanks to Will Ferrell, the original-song award was less painful than it has been of late.

Unfortunately, duller moments and head-scratchers dominated. Even fans of Cirque du Soleil had to wonder what their act had to do with the Oscars. Or anything else, for that matter.

Still, if the show and its host weren’t all we might have hoped, it would be unwise to underestimate the value of the reliable competence Crystal brought. If that strikes you as unimportant, compare that to last year’s hosting performance by Anne Hathaway — who was sweet but seemed unsure of what she was doing — and James Franco, less sweet and unsure of where he was.

Give me Crystal, even a second-level Crystal, anytime.