The critics have spoken, and Slumdog Millionaire is their final answer.
The rags-to-riches tale won a leading five prizes, including best picture, at Thursday night s Critics Choice Awards. Slumdog also won honors for director Danny Boyle, writer Simon Beaufoy, star Dev Patel and composer A.R. Rahman.
Sean Penn was a double winner, earning best actor honors and sharing the acting-ensemble prize for Milk. The Dark Knight also won a pair of trophies: best action movie and best supporting actor for Heath Ledger.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button also had eight nods, but didn t win a single award.
Kate Winslet was named best supporting actress for The Reader, while Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep tied for best actress for Rachel Getting Married and Doubt respectively.
Bruce Springsteen won best song for The Wrestler, from the movie of the same name. WALL-E was the best animated feature and Tropic Thunder was best comedy.
The 14th annual Critics Choice Awards, presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, honored cinematic excellence in 17 categories. The group, which represents more than 200 TV, radio and online critics from the United States and Canada, founded the Critics Choice Awards in 1995. -AP
