The thing is that Slumdog had an overwhelming momentum. It didn't really start picking up word of mouth until mid/late November. This was after the big market crash, and it's uplifting message struck a chord. And the relatively exotic setting helped paper over what was a slightly fantastical story that required tremendous suspension of disbelief. Meanwhile, some of the others films like Frost/Nixon, Milk, and Doubt were powerful but so much more depressing. They'll have an excellent shelf life, but they weren't so much what people were craving at the time.

Penn just disappeared into the Milk character . . . hardly seemed like the same guy from last night. That's why he won. It was a command performance in what was a pretty good movie, but not a great one. Sean had high praise for Gus van Sandt; I don't. And many who know him in Portland circles, those who've seen his quirks and ego and favoritism up close, would say the same. His work was competent, nothing more.