The 73rd annual Academy Awards last night saw few surprises and a very long speech by Julia Roberts.

The heavily favored Roman epic "Gladiator" took away five awards, including best actor Russell Crowe and best picture.

In what was a surprise to absolutely no one, Julia Roberts won Best Actress for her role in "Erin Brockovich." Instructing the orchestra conductor to "put down his stick" and refrain from cutting her off, she launched into a speech thanking her fellow actors, her family and everyone that she had ever met.

The actual broadcast clocked in at a merciful 3 1/2 hours, with comedy legend Steve Martin taking over the hosting duties.

Martin filled the show with his own unique brand of sardonic humor, giving the show a different feel and moving away from the rim-shot humor and stagy antics of frequent host Billy Crystal. His dry delivery, biting satire and quick-witted improvisation added some much needed humor to a relatively uneventful evening. He even found time to bring on a carrot-chomping Danny DeVito, producer of "Erin Brockovich."

In a mild upset, Steven Soderbergh took home a best director statuette for "Traffic," beating both himself for "Erin Brockovich" and front-runner Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Soderbergh"s double nomination threatened to cancel out both films, but the Academy opted for his more critically acclaimed film.

Benicio del Toro scored his first Oscar for his role as Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez, a Mexican police officer with conflicting loyalties in "Traffic."

In one of the evening"s few surprises, Marcia Gay Harden of "Pollock" beat favorites Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand, both nominated for their roles in Best Original Screenplay winner "Almost Famous," Cameron Crowe"s "love letter to music."

The award for best adapted screenplay went to Stephen Gaghan of "Traffic" for his adaptation of the British mini-series "Traffik."

The broadcast"s highlights were the musical performances for best original song, including appearances by Randy Newman, Bjrk and Bob Dylan. Dylan, sporting a pencil-thin Vincent Price mustache, performed his song and accepted his award for "Things Have Changed" (from "Wonder Boys") via satellite from Sydney, Australia.

The Irving G. Thalberg Lifetime Achievement Award was given to producer Dino De Laurentiis, whose films range from Fellini"s "La Strada" to the recent box office juggernaut, "Hannibal."

Other honorary awards included cinematographer Jack Cardiff and screenwriter Ernest Lehman.

One shortcoming of the show was that the acceptance speeches were, for the most part, stilted and rushed, thanks to the Academy"s suggestion of a 45 second time limit, and the guideline took its toll on the show, which did not feel quite as personal as in years past.