Angelina Jolie: Summer's Female Action Hero

NY Post:

Here's a fun game: Try to imagine Angelina Jolie in the "Sex and the City" movie. You know, hanging with Carrie and the girls. Shoe shopping, giggling, brunching. Kind of makes your head hurt, doesn't it?

Now picture her playing Tony Stark's dutiful assistant in "Iron Man." Or Bruce Banner's long-suffering love interest in "The Incredible Hulk." Not much easier, right?

No, Jolie is in a category all her own - and she's nobody's best girlfriend. Just in the nick of time, this real-life superhero is here to rescue us from a summer movie season monopolized by testosterone and handbags.

In Timur Bekmambetov's Matrixy thriller "Wanted," out Friday, Jolie is in top form: lean, scowling, firing big guns at bad guys - and not exactly taking it easy on the good guy, either.

Watching the film, you get the feeling that Jolie intimidated every male actor around her, and she probably did - as critic Pauline Kael once said of her, "this girl would scare the crap out of Jack Nicholson in 'Cuckoo's Nest.'"

So why isn't she getting more lead action roles?

In "Wanted," Jolie plays Fox, an assassin in a league known as the Fraternity (oh, the symbolism!). Plot-wise, she's not exactly in the driver's seat; Fox is charged with shaping James McAvoy's wimpy office-drone character into the hero he'll eventually become. It's a plum role, but not a starring one.

Read the whole story: NY Post

Comments

[rzan]

I just can't stand Angelina on screen and will not see one of her movies. It is something about her voice that I find irritating. I also do not think she is beautiful. It is a matter of taste I guess. But I do truly admire her humanitarian efforts all over the world, and when she is being interviewed about what is really important, I like listening to her. She is a good person essentially.

[unfettered]

Again with her? I wish she would just stay home.

[GQTaste]

She aint Audrey Hepburn. She aint Mother Theresa. And also she has an eating disorder. Ask Laura Dern how she feels about the spoken one. Or ask Jennifer Aniston about this beauty. And please dont' censure my comments moderators.

[ANN1E]

"Ask Laura Dern how she feels about the spoken one. Or ask Jennifer Aniston about this beauty."
Wow, you must have spoken to these two, then. Please share with us what they told you.

[GrandyK]

Billy broke up with Laura Dern months before he and AJ got together. HHMM -- Laura Dern -- the same Laura Dern who was living with Thornton while he was married to his fourth wife (mother of his two very young children!) or the Laura Dern who started a relationship with Ben Harper while he was married to his wife, the same wife who had just delivered their second child? The same Laura Dern who gave birth to a child with Ben Harper 6 weeks after his divorce was final? Jennifer Aniston said her marriage didn't end because of another woman, Brad said Angelina didn't break up his marriage and Angelina said she didn't have a relationship with Brad before his marriage ended -- but you know better? Audrey Hepburn carried on a decade long affair with a married William Holden. She lived openly with a man outside marriage for over twenty years before her death. She chain smoked and drank heavily, She loved the UN and traveled to dangerous areas -- just like AJ. What eating disorder to you think AJ has?

[missviv]

Everytime I see a picture of Angelina with her adopted babies, I'm always reminded of a certain Absolutely Fabulous episode...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKv_Q5sogZ0
"A MIXED RACE BABY IS THE FINEST ACCESSORY ANYONE IN MY POSITION COULD EVER HAVE.. IT'S THE CHANEL OF BABIES!!!"

[GrandyK]

Do you really believe Angelina is "accessorizing" with her children "missviv?"?

[rzan]

She appears to be a great mother! It wasn't so long ago that she was really goofy, talking about having sex with her husband and hanging a vial of blood around her neck. It is an incredible transformation. She saw how tragic so much of the world is, and it profoundly changed her.

[hilts]

Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow are the sexiest actresses on the planet. They have perfect, flawless bodies.

[rzan]

By your standards perhaps. I think anorexia is way overrated. I will say that Gwyneth approaches greatness in her acting. She was mesmerizing in Sylvia and also in Proof (I hope I got the names of these movies right). But when she opens her mouth to talk, I hear someone who is not terribly intelligent.

[jesdakota]

Testosterone and handbags, very clever.

[jetdog]

Wow, she is in another crappy movie, so exciting. I just don't get the hype about her, she does have a pretty face and all but seems to be very boring otherwise. Woo-hoo. Snore.

[brooklyncitizen]

Puhleezeeee! enough of this Jolie obsession...she's a freak.

[ligaya]

I just don't get it. Why do people who are bored or tired of Ms. Jolie click on articles about her? If they wanted to be consistent, they'd ignore/skip anything that mentioned her. Could it be that they have an addiction/obsession of their own about her?

[ANN1E]

Some of them are obsessed. Just check out Posterella's profile to see how frequently she posts about Jolie and the amount of printed material this poster references.
He/she really needs a hobby.

[GrandyK]

How is Angelina a "freak"?

[Posterella]

Why does JoLIE constantly get a free pass from the press? Apparently, no reporter is allowed to ask her any questions that she does not pre-approve, yet she freely spouts her political opinions in an attempt to influence US foreign policy. For instance, in a recent interview, she said she was not a democrat and that she is looking at McCain. She also went to Iraq and said that we should not withdraw the troops. Now she is playing an assassin in a hyper violent movie. How does that square with her fauxmanitarian role? Does she wear the machine gun necklace that her six-year old adoptee from Cambodia designed to meetings related to her post as Honorary UN Goodwill Ambassador? Isn't the whole point of that position to improve conditions for children who are victims of violence and war? This is the same woman who told her two adopted boys aged six and four that their respective countries have a history of warring with each other (Cambodia and Viet Nam). JoLIE is a calculating chameleon who changes her political and personal opinions depending on the movie role she is promoting. Her primary concern is her bank account. I won't hold my breath to hear a reporter ask her why she doesn't just let the magazine who is paying her millions of dollars for photos of her twins to pay the fee to the alleged charity directly.

[raymondsmother]

+1.

I'm sure her celebrity will fade with her looks.

[appacom]

Check your facts before posting. Nearly every sentence you wrote contains a tabloid lie or distortion. Wether you like it, or not, Angelina Jolie's actions have earned her the respect of thoughtful people all over the world. How she did this has been well-documented in legitimate news reports. No need to rely on Star or Us Magazine unless you like sounding stupid and mean spirited.

[Posterella]

Um, I did check my facts. Why don't you check out the June 2008 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" magazine? JoLIE wears the machine gun necklace that her six-year-old son, Maddox, designed on the cover. She IS starring in "Wanted," a VERY violent movie about assassins. From what I've seen, it's all about shooting pretty much everything in sight. As far as her talking about telling Maddox and Pax about their warring homelands, it was in one of the myriad interviews she gave wherein she talks endlessly about her personal and private life. So, trying to write off all of JoLIE's transgressions as unsubstantiated tabloid fodder isn't going to work this time.

[Posterella]

One more thing, JoLIE talked about wanting to keep troops in Iraq in her OpEd piece in the Washington Post (not a tabloid). The John McCain quote was in a recent interview she did while promoting Changeling.

[GrandyK]

You think Angelina is getting a "free pass" from the press. WOW! You haven't been paying attention!

[rzan]

She's looking at McCain? You have got to be kidding.

[illinoisan]

Did I just get a "bad words filter" pop up because I attempted to post a comment with the word 5ex in it?

Seesh! (I hope "seesh" passes muster).

[Kaos911]

Girls just wanna have fun...like men. Nothing wrong with it.

[eXcommunicate]

Team Jolie here. ;)

[LaShon]

DITTO! Angelina is in a league of her own.....I love pretty much everything she's in.

[ligaya]

Ditto squared. Angeilna Jolie is one of my favorite humans. So count me in on Team Jolie!

[sanaa]

Really? You've seen Mighty Heart? If so, you're one of five people in the US.

[TJRich]

Ditto me2

[avraamjack]

.
I am skeptical of the wisdom of portraying assasins in a favourable light.
.

[arvay]

It's about time people started seeing her as the opportunist she is, posing as a humanitarian, snatching kids for "adoption" from helpless third-world people while lionizing "heroines" who work for the CIA and other criminal agencies who murder people for George Bush's concept of a "higher cause."

Her most revolting recent project was that neocon/AIPAC pimping of herself as the widow of Danny Pearl. We're all supposed to be outraged at the Muslim murderers, right? Well, Pearl was foully murdered, no one can argue with that, the question is -- why focus on his particular murder when there are so many US and Israeli-inspired murders? And why glamorize "preemptive" murder-as-policy, oh so exciting,we're gong to climax our pants!

The answer is green and crinkly, and we should turn of the money-spigot to this propagandist, with her laughable "stares" and other pseudo-acting, computer game-derived gestures.

[cruisepuppy7452a]

Thank you, its nice to see someone who sees her as the phony she is. Bravo.

[dadw5boys]

I am sure she worrys about what you think.

Can't stand it when your not the center of attention I bet!!

[TJRich]

Angelina is the bomb! And everybody knows it. Don't be jealous!

[sussex]

Yes indeed, how dare this uppity woman donate thirty per cent of her earnings to charity every year, and what about that disgusting gesture some years ago when she gave five million dollars to fund a wildlife refuge in Cambodia! There seems to be no lengths to which this woman won't go to get publicity.
And as you pointed out, what about that Daniel Pearl film?... Making a big deal about his murder, the NERVE of that Angelina Jolie!
You are also right about her acting. Let's force her to return the Oscar, the Critics Choice Award, the Golden Globe, the Grand Jury Award and all those other awards for which she is so obviously undeserving.
Thank God, arvay, that there are people like you who can show us the error of our ways in thinking that there might be something good in Angelina Jolie.

[arvay]

The awards are part of Hollywood's phony self-congratulation machine. Art? Gun battles and flashing her b**bs in computer game makeovers? Hardly. Her role in Alexander wasn't bad, but less than art, for sure. A mediocrity with a good acting coach.

Admittedly, the PR payoff does result in some money going to good causes. But let's see it for what it really is.

The Daniel Pearl film? A distraction from the much larger issue of why all these Muslims are angry at the US. Glad to see that one was a flop.

[andvoodoo2]

"...snatching kids for "adoption" from helpless third-world people..."
LOL! You're kidding, right?
Yeah, I'm sure those kids she adopted would have been so much BETTER off living and dying in an orphanage in a third world country! Your ignorance is showing. You have obviously never left your own safe little USA.

[arvay]

Sure this one kid will lead a better life, probably. Ask the kids in 15 years. I was referring to her using the children and their helpless countries as publicity fodder. Look at me! I have adopted this little brown baby! Revolting, self-serving, rich girrrl self-indulgence.

Pathetic ignorance is falling for this kind of PR crap.

[rzan]

I think "A Mighty Heart" was really about the widow, and also about forgiveness. I hope no one saw it as an indictment of Muslim people.