No matter how hard Hollywood tries to tempt them, these three actresses–each with a new low-budget comedy due later this month–won’t ever lose their state of independence:
Maria Bello
Last Seen: A History of Violence ($31.5 million)
Next: Thank You for Smoking (opened March 17 in limited release); The Sisters (April 14); Flicka (Oct. 20); World Trade Center (August 2006); Butterfly on a Wheel (2007)
The Bottom Line: Yes, we all know about Katie Holmes’ much-hyped–but actually quite tame–liaisons with Aaron Eckhart in Thank You for Smoking. But the future Mrs. Tom Cruise could learn a thing or two from Maria Bello, her costar in this fiery social satire about Big Tobacco. Bello’s made a name for herself in recent years with her gleeful willingness to portray strong and determined women who make no apologies for their sexual proclivities. Who could forget her hooker in The Cooler or her devoted wife in A History of Violence. Unlike Sharon Stone, though, Bello doesn’t reveal all for pure titillation: she refuses to play characters solely defined by their bedroom antics. Ultimately, it’s Bello’s fearlessness that’s made her invaluable to such risk-taking directors as David Cronenberg and Paul Schrader. But let’s not ignore the wit and intelligence she effortlessly conveys. Thank You for Smoking’s most outrageous comic moments involve the dinner tête-à-têtes of the “Merchants of Death,” a trio of body counting lobbyists played with morbid delight by, among others, this former ER operative. Fox Searchlight paid $6.5 million to acquire Thank You for Smoking, so expectations must be high. If Jason Reitman’s directorial debut catches fire beyond the art house circuit, and audiences are ready to reopen old wounds with Oliver Stone’s 9/11 drama World Trade Center, studio executives may finally open their eyes to what they have in Bello. As Reitman rightly says, Bello’s “proven over and over she’s got the goods. … She needs that one role where she’s the star, it’s her movie, and she gets to do all these different things you see her do in all these different movies–all in one movie. And it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen soon.”
Catherine Keener
Last Seen: Capote ($25.4 million, through March 5)*
Next: Friends With Money (April 7)
The Bottom Line: Hate to say it, but the best thing that happened to Catherine Keener was suffering through 2002’s back-to-back-to-back bombs Death to Smoochy, Full Frontal and S1m0ne. She then disappeared for three years before reemerging in 2005. But this wasn’t the same frosty and tart-tongued Keener who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. In The Forty Year Old Virgin, Steve Carell’s lovable dork brought out Keener ‘s sweet and soft side. And she earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Capote as the eternally patient Harper Lee, who essentially serves as Truman Capote’s moral compass. Revitalized and a willing to make such conventional studio films as The Interpreter, Keener may finally rise above her long-held position of independent cinema’s reigning dramedy queen. And old pal Spike Jonze, her Being John Malkovich director, is ready to help by sending her off to Where the Wild Things Are. Until then, Friends With Money offers a glimpse of the old Keener we fell in love with. In this droll but uneventful comedy about middle-class angst, Keener‘s bitingly funny as a self-involved screenwriter unaware that she’s trapped in a failing marriage. Friends With Money marks the third time Keener worked with director Nicole Holofcener (Walking & Talking, Lovely & Aamazing). And thanks to Keener‘s newly acquired fame–and, of course, Jennifer Aniston’s French maid outfit–Friends With Money should be their most successful collaboration.
Parker Posey
Last Seen: Blade Trinity ($52.4 million)
Next: Adam & Steve (March 24); Superman Returns (June 30); For Your Consideration (Sept. 22); Fay Grim (TBA); The OH in Ohio (TBA)
The Bottom Line: Hollywood simply doesn’t know what to do with–or make of–Parker Posey. Her no-nonsense demeanor, open hostility, and acerbic sense of humor work best when she’s playing more than just a back-stabbing bitch. Unfortunately, studio executives don’t realize this. Sure, sharpening her claws for Josie and the Pussycats made that furball of a flop less insufferable. But she literally sucked the life out of Blade: Trinity as the least frightful vampire since Tom Cruise’s Lestat. So that makes the congenial guy-meets-guy romantic comedy Adam & Steve all the more welcome. As the straight best friend, Posey’s hysterically caustic without being annoying or unlikable. And then there’s director Christopher Guest. The master mockumentarian’s harnessed Posey’s nervous energy to generate considerable laughs, most memorably in Best in Show. Hopefully he’ll do the same with his next spoof, For Your Consideration, which targets Hollywood’s awards season. Oh, and don’t think Posey’s selling out by doing Superman Returns and that Pepsi ad. She’s about to reunite with director Hal Hartley for Fay Grim–though whether there’s a need or a demand for a Henry Fool sequel remains to be seen. Still, an unwarranted Henry Fool followup is preferable to another mainstream mangling of Posey‘s dignity and reputation.
