Witherspoon, Clooney Earn Golden Globes

13 minutes ago

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Reese Witherspoon won the Golden Globe for best actress in a movie musical or comedy Monday for her role as country singer June Carter in "Walk the Line," solidifying her prospects to win an Academy Award.

"This film is really important to me," said Witherspoon, who offers a spirited performance and fine singing as Carter, the love of country legend Johnny Cash's life. "It's about where I grew up, it's about the music I grew up listening to, so it's very meaningful."

Witherspoon also thanked co-star Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Cash and "put his heart and soul into this performance."

George Clooney won the supporting-actor Globe for the oil-industry thriller "Syriana" and Rachel Weisz earned the supporting-actress prize for the murder thriller "The Constant Gardener."

"Syriana" spins a convoluted story of multiple characters caught up in a web of deceit, greed, corruption and power-brokering over Middle Eastern oil supplies. Clooney plays a fiercely devoted CIA undercover agent who comes to question his country's actions in the region.

Clooney thanked writer-director Stephen Gaghan for a movie "that asks a lot of difficult questions."

There are similar corporate undertones to "The Constant Gardener," in which Weisz plays a humanitarian-aid worker whose husband ( Ralph Fiennes) is drawn into a dogged investigation of business interests connected to her murder.

"I share this with Ralph Fiennes," said Weisz. "One couldn't ask for a more magical, a more magical, committed actor."

The cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain," which led the Globes with seven nominations including best dramatic film, won the screenplay award for Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana.

McMurtry thanked his constant companion during the lonely process of writing.

"Most heartfelt, I thank my typewriter. My typewriter is a Hermes 3000, surely one of the noblest instruments of European genius," McMurtry said.

The Palestinian film "Paradise Now," a dark tale of two Arab friends tapped to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel, won the prize for foreign-language film.

Television winners included Geena Davis for best drama series actress as the U.S. president in "Commander in Chief," Hugh Laurie for drama series actor as a cranky, pill-popping doctor in "House," Steve Carell for best comedy series actor as an incompetent boss in "The Office," Jonathan Rhys Meyers for miniseries or movie actor as Elvis Presley in "Elvis," and S. Epatha Merkerson for miniseries or movie actress as a boarding house proprietor who takes in an outcast teen in "Lackawanna Blues."

"This is really wonderful for a fledgling little show like ours," said Davis, who added that a little girl coming into the Globes stopped her to say, "Because of you I want to be president some day.

"Well, that didn't actually happen," Davis joked. "But it could have."

Mary-Louise Parker of "Weeds" beat out the four key actresses of "Desperate Housewives" for best actress in a comedy series. "Desperate Housewives" did win for best musical or comedy series.

"Brokeback Mountain," "Capote" and "Transamerica" were among key contenders going into the Golden Globes, a potential breakthrough night for movies dealing with homosexuality or transsexualism.

Director Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," the story of two rugged Western family men ( Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) concealing their affair, has emerged as a potential front-runner for the Oscars.

Along with Ledger, "Capote" star Philip Seymour Hoffman was a favorite for the dramatic lead-actor prize for his role as gay author Truman Capote. Felicity Huffman was a front-runner for best dramatic actress for "Transamerica," in which she plays a man preparing for surgery to become a woman.

Key wins by those films could help position them for major honors at the Oscars, which occasionally have handed out top acting prizes for performers in homosexual or gender-bending roles but have never given the best-picture Oscar to a gay-themed film.

Oscar nominations come out Jan. 31, with the awards presented March 5.

Besides "Brokeback Mountain," the Globe nominees for dramatic picture were "The Constant Gardener"; "Good Night, and Good Luck," about Edward R. Murrow's stand against Sen. Joseph McCarthy; the mobster tale "A History of Violence"; and "Match Point," a Woody Allen drama about infidelity.

Competing for best musical or comedy: the London theater tale "Mrs. Henderson Presents"; the Jane Austen adaptation "Pride & Prejudice"; Mel Brooks' farce "The Producers"; "The Squid and the Whale," about a family going through a divorce; and the Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line."

The Globes are awarded by the relatively small Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has about 80 members, compared with the 5,800 film professionals eligible to vote for the Oscars.

Still, the Globes have an excellent track record at predicting the Oscars. Globe winners catch momentum that can boost their chances come Oscar night.

Two years ago, Globe winners Sean Penn, Charlize Theron, Tim Robbins and Renee Zellweger all went on to receive the four acting Oscars. Best picture "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and director Peter Jackson earned their Oscars after winning first at the Globes.

A win at the Globes is no guarantee of Oscar success, though. Last year, the Howard Hughes epic "The Aviator" took the drama prize at the Globes, but the boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby" won the best-picture Oscar.

Globe winners Jamie Foxx of "Ray" and Hilary Swank of "Million Dollar Baby" went on to earn lead-acting Oscars, while supporting players Clive Owen and Natalie Portman of "Closer" won at the Globes but lost at the Oscars to Morgan Freeman of "Million Dollar Baby" and Cate Blanchett of "The Aviator."

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