Leonardo DiCaprio's newest film is winning one award after another, also shining on the prestigious National Board of Review (NBR) winners' list, released on Wednesday.
The Oscar-winning actor stars in Warner Bros.' "One Battle After Another" as Ghetto Pat, a broken, pot-smoking former revolutionary who retreats into a life of danger while a corrupt army colonel (played by Sean Penn) relentlessly pursues his teenage daughter.
The NBR honored the film with five awards, more than any other film this year, including: best picture, best director for Paul Thomas Anderson, best actor for DiCaprio (who previously won two NBR awards for “What's Eating Gilbert Grape?” and “Django Unchained”), best supporting actor for Benicio del Toro, and the Breakthrough Performance Award for young talent Chase Infiniti.
After wins at the Gotham Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle, many critics predict that the film could also triumph at the Oscars in March.
The film has been well received by both audiences and critics, receiving a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and widespread praise for the performances of Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Chase Infinity, Del Toro, Teyana Taylor, and Regina Hall. It topped the box office in September and has grossed over $200 million worldwide.
In addition to “One Battle After Another,” NBR also included 10 other films on its list of the year’s best, including: “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Jay Kelly,” “Marty Supreme,” “Rental Family,” “Sinners,” “Train Dreams,” “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” and “Wicked: For Good.”
Another big winner was Rose Byrne, who was named best actress for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," in which she plays a mother dealing with her child's mysterious illness, an absent husband and a strained relationship with her therapist (played by Conan O'Brien).
The NBR winners will be officially honored on January 13 at a gala evening in New York hosted by NBC News' Willie Geist, just two days after the Golden Globes.
The National Board of Review, founded in 1909 and made up of passionate film people, directors and academics, is considered an early indicator of potential awards season success, with big winners over the years including "Wicked," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "The Social Network" and "Slumdog Millionaire."
