Imagine how different life would be for Angelina Jolie—both personally and professionally—had she not replaced Nicole Kidman and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
No Brad Pitt.
No adoptive daddy for Maddox, 5, and Zahara, 1.
No baby Shiloh.
No blockbuster to put her back on the map after years of commercial and creative mediocrity.
Yes, we only went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith to see whether the onscreen heat generated by the tightlipped “Brangelina” revealed they were indeed getting hot and heavy between takes.
But Jolie needed Mr. and Mrs. Smith as much as Mr. and Mrs. Smith needed Jolie (the love-and-bullets comedy thriller would have been a disaster with Zeta-Jones, based on her lack of chemistry with Pitt in Ocean’s Twelve). In the years between winning an Oscar for 1999’s Girl, Interrupted and falling for Pitt while making 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Jolie enjoyed just three hits. Even then, Nicolas Cage was behind the driver’s wheel for Gone in 60 Seconds, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider’s adventures ended when its sequel failed to dig up any box office booty, and she only lent her voice to the animated Shark Tale (as she will for next year’s Beowulf and 2008’s Kung Fu Panda).
Predictably, she turned herself into an action heroine (and rumor has it she’ll star in Sin City 2). But that hardly required much effort considering the take-no-prisoners attitude and sexual aggressiveness she projects in real and reel life.
- Mr. and Mrs. Smith $186.3 million
- Lara Croft: Tomb Raider $131.1 million
- Gone in 60 Seconds $101.6 million
- The Bone Collector $66.5 million
- Girl, Interrupted $28.9 million
Regardless, Jolie’s failed to live up to expectations since she effortlessly stole Girl, Interrupted from Winona Ryder. Who knows what possessed her to take on the tawdry likes of Taking Sides and Original Sin.
So it’s hardly a stretch to declare her private life to be infinitely juicier than the dramatic roles she taken since winning her Oscar.
But, finally, she seems intent on challenging herself in a way she hasn’t since Girl, Interrupted.
In the fact-based CIA saga The Good Shepherd (Dec. 22), Jolie stars as the estranged wife of counter-intelligence agent Matt Damon. Even with a supporting cast that includes Robert De Niro, William Hurt and Alec Baldwin, Jolie stands out despite being saddled with the thankless task of portraying Damon‘s driven-to-drink spouse.
- Playing God $4.1 million
- Beyond Borders $4.4 million
- Hackers $7.5 million
- Life, Or Something Like It $14.4 million
* Wide releases only
Unfortunately, The Good Shepherd threatens to be another disappointment à la Alexander. Second-time director De Niro moves the action along so slowly and stiffly that you feel like you had lived every day of the 22 years it spans. Given its dull and lifeless approach to what is an extremely fascinating time in recent American history, The Good Shepherd probably won’t earn back its $90 million budget or find itself in Oscar contention.
Jolie will likely receive more attention for A Mighty Heart, which is now shooting in India. All eyes already are on this film that stars Jolie as Mariane Pearl, the wife of executed Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. As a producer, Pitt’s already had to apologize to Mumbai police for an incident involving Jolie’s bodyguards. Not exactly the publicity Jolie was probably seeking for a film that could put her in next year’s Oscar race. Ultimately, A Mighty Heart’s commercial fate hinges on director Michael Winterbottom—whose uncompromising approach to the likes of In this World and The Road to Guantanamo usually wins him strong critical praise—for once making what should be a harrowing and controversial film accessible to the masses.
An Ayn Rand fan, Jolie’s also contemplating a film version of Atlas Shrugged. If anyone can pull off the role of the strong-willed railroad executive, it’s Jolie. Whether there’s an audience in today for Ayn Rand‘s paean to Objectivism remains to be seen, but at least Jolie’s finally come to the realization that kicking butt or parading around in her birthday suit can only take her so far.
The Bottom Line
Keeping up with the Smiths is now the priority for Jolie. And she seems to be making the most of Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s success by revealing she actually possesses a sense of artistic integrity to match the humanitarian work she does as an ambassador for the UN High Commission for Refugees. Regardless of their fates, and their inability to squash all “Brangelina” talk, The Good Shepherd and A Mighty Heart should go a long way to garnering the respect Jolie never strived for or attained after Girl, Interrupted.
