George Clooney in Up in the Air (Dale Robinette / Paramount)
The Utah Film Critics have revealed their list of winners, which includes both the predictable and the unexpected. In the former category are best picture Up in the Air, best animated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox, best documentary The Cove, and best supporting actress Mo'Nique for Precious.
In the latter category are best actor Viggo Mortensen for his role as a concerned father in the futuristic The Road, Park Chan-wook's Korean vampire thriller Thirst as best foreign language film, and best supporting actor Christian McKay, who plays Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles, opposite Zac Efron and Claire Danes.
The choice of Carey Mulligan as best actress for An Education was no surprise, either, though Maya Rudolph showing up in second place for Away from Home was. Curiously, Kathryn Bigelow's widely praised Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker failed to top any of the categories, but was the runner-up in two of them: best picture and best actor (Jeremy Renner).
Jason Reitman, not critics' fave Bigelow, was the best director for Up in the Air. In another surprise, The Road's John Hillcoat was the runner-up.