Toronto critics anoint ‘Queen’ best picture

TORONTO—The Toronto Film Critics Association on Tuesday chose “The Queen” as the best picture of 2006, while Helen Mirren won the actress award for her title role. The royal drama dominated the voting, with Michael Sheen winning supporting actor honours for his performance as British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Peter Morgan taking the screenplay award.
The film’s director, Stephen Frears, split the directing nod with Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne for their Belgian drama “L’Enfant,” winner of the Palme D’Or at the year’s Cannes Film Festival. Mirren has already won the actress honours from the New York and Los Angeles critics, and received nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.
Sacha Baron Cohen won the Toronto critics’ actor award for his star turn in “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” and Cate Blanchett earned best supporting actress honours for “Notes On a Scandal.” Jason Reitman’s “Thank You For Smoking” was the critics’ pick for best first feature, while George Miller’s “Happy Feet” earned top honours in the animated feature category. “L’Enfant” was named best foreign-language film.—Agencies