Last night’s Mickey Rourke interview on Charlie Rose was really some kind of beautiful. I haven’t felt quite so affected, softened and soothed by a one-on-one in a long time. The vast majority of Academy members have voted by now and there’s probably no changing fate at this stage, but Fox Searchlight (or someone) has to get that interview captured, embedded and sent out to Hollywood Elsewhere and everyone else. It was good for the soul, good for the heart, good all around. 1:07 pm update: Here it is on Rose’s site.

Rose always zealously guards his interviews, it’s always hard to find embed codes for them, and when they do show up it’s always several days if not weeks later. But Fox Searchlight needs to exert pressure upon Rose and his producers and put it out there rapidamente. And I don’t mean Monday or Tuesday. Now.

I’ve felt admiration and grudging respect for Rourke before but I fell in love with him last night, as far as that’s feasible or possible from an electronic remove. I don’t care if it was an act. I loved it anyway.

That resolution he showed, that knowledge that he needs to focus on the better angels of his nature and not allow the hard side to run the show ever again. The admission that for him it’s not one day at a time but almost one hour at a time, and that he knows deep down it could all fall apart again if he’s not careful, cautious, focused. His calm determination that no matter what goes down there’s no stopping him, no quitting now. His saying that if Penn wins he’ll stand up and cheer because he’s great and a brother and maybe he’ll have his turn a year or two down the road. That quiet, settled, almost-dweeby quality he showed with those black horn-rim glasses…man!

Someone has to grab that interview and put it out there right away. It was important, landmark, for the ages…please.