Girls with Guns

Variety blogger Anne Thompson reaffirms Angelina Jolie's girlpower.

In her article, Thompson addresses the action genre, the studio clout action stars attain, and Jolie's rare ability to "push the limits for women in action." This year's Forbes Star Currency list (Hollywood's Most Valuable Actors) placed Will Smith at the very top of their power-money-fame index, though Jolie came in a close second alongside male peers Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio. While Jolie has certainly earned critical claim through her roles in such films as Changeling, her high ranking is attributed to her action roles, e.g. this year's Wanted, which earned her $15 million. Likewise, Smith may not have taken home any gold trophies tonight, but industry executives agree he is certainly mining gold in this business.

Action stardom has its downside, in that the celebrity's real life persona often overshadows their character. No matter how much Jolie loses herself in her other roles, e.g. in A Mighty Heart, Changeling, or The Good Shepherd, and no matter how skillfully she performs, the audience never once forgets that she's Angelina Jolie. Nonetheless, the bigger-than-life personas also give actors the power to greenlight films. Cruise may not have disappeared into his role in Valkyrie, the film may have been better received and more profitable with a less famous, less expensive actor more skilled at German accents, but Cruise was able to get the movie made. Thompson stresses Jolie's rare clout as a female action star, the "first ever to compete on a level playing field with her male peers."

Read the full article here.