'Chicago' dances away with awards in run-up to Oscars

The exuberant all-singing, all-dancing cast of Chicago ran away with the lion's share of this year's Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards, confirming the film's status as firm favourite for the Oscars in two weeks.

Renée Zellweger, playing one of a clutch of celebrity female murderers in the Prohibition-era Windy City, was named best actress against stiff competition from Nicole Kidman (The Hours), Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), Diane Lane (Unfaithful) and Salma Hayek (Frida). Catherine Zeta Jones, playing Zellweger's on-screen nemesis, was named best supporting actress. The entire cast – which includes Richard Gere, Queen Latifah and John C Reilly – won the Guild's ensemble award.

Best actor honours went to Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of a 19th-century mobster in Gangs of New York, while Christopher Walken was best supporting actor for the Steven Spielberg caper Catch Me If You Can.

The pitch-perfect escapism of Chicago appears to have struck a special chord with American film award juries, despite – or perhaps because of – the dark clouds of recession, terrorism and war. This year has not lacked for rich, brilliant meditations on violence, war, hatred and imperial power, and European awards juries have bestowed multiple honours on The Pianist, Roman Polanski's emotionally wrenching recreation of life in Warsaw during the Holocaust.

Nevertheless, it is Chicago that goes into the Oscars with the most nominations – 13 – Chicago that won top honours with the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild and Chicago that clearly earned the admiration of America's 98,000 registered film actors for the SAG awards on Sunday night.

"I didn't know what it meant to really be an actor until I did this," Gere said, accepting the ensemble award on behalf of his fellow players. "And I think we all feel the same way." Zellweger referred to her colleagues as "the naughty kids in church".

Chicago's stiffest competition in the Oscars is likely to come from The Hours, Stephen Daldry's postmodern take on Virginia Woolf, and from The Pianist.

The SAG awards are the most reliable barometer for the top acting Oscars. Day- Lewis's tour de force as Bill the Butcher now looks more likely than ever to find favour with the Academy, although there has also been much talk of Jack Nicholson for his role as a retired Midwestern salesman in About Schmidt.

Screen Actors Guild - the winners

FILM:

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York

Actress: Renée Zellweger, Chicago

Supporting actor: Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can

Supporting actress: Catherine Zeta Jones, Chicago

Cast performance: Chicago

TELEVISION:

Actor in a TV movie or mini-series: William H Macy, Door to Door

Actress in a TV movie or mini-series: Stockard Channing, The Matthew Shepard Story

Actor in a drama series: James Gandolfini, The Sopranos

Actress in a drama series: Edie Falco, The Sopranos

Actor in a comedy series: Sean Hayes, Will & Grace

Actress in a comedy series: Megan Mullally, Will & Grace

Ensemble in a drama series: Six Feet Under

Ensemble in a comedy series: Everybody Loves Raymond

Lifetime Achievement Award: Clint Eastwood