Download Wallpapers
Being Julia
julia duplicity
julia robert power
behind duplicity
hate duplicity
is it julia
Has Julia Roberts still got it?
For the first time in years, the 41-year-old actress returns to the big screen as a leading lady in Friday’s “Duplicity.”
Following such ensemble films as “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Closer” and two Danny Ocean heist comedies, Roberts plays a con woman in a battle-of-the-sexes comedy-thriller opposite Clive Owen.
As a 23-year-old ingenue, Roberts shot to stardom in 1990’s “Pretty Woman.” In 2000, she became the first actress to get $20 million for a movie role (for “Erin Brockovich”).
While no one is calling “Duplicity” a comeback, the big question remains: Is the box-office magic still there?
“It’s hard to say. Julia Roberts is still a big name, and no one can take away that great box-office run she had,” said Brandon Gray of the industry tracking site boxofficemojo.com.
Still, even among today’s top female draws - Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston - “Nobody today has matched her run from the ’90s among actresses,” Gray said about Roberts’ hits. “That’s saying something.”
“She was at the top of the old Hollywood food chain,” said Anne Thompson, the film industry analyst who writes for Variety. “But as a romantic-comedy star with a $20 million payday, she’s not there anymore. That’s not happening.”
Being a commercial Hollywood star is tougher for women, Thompson said. “One of the reasons Jennifer Aniston is doing well is she’s within the romantic comedy paradigm; that’s where you need to be to get the best scripts and the top money. Reese Witherspoon leaves that at her peril. When you go off and take a chance and do ‘A Mighty Heart’ (like Jolie) or ‘Rendition’ (like Witherspoon), you find the audience isn’t going to follow you. Julia is heading into Meg Ryan territory. What happens when the girl next door tries to mature into the woman next door?”
With “Duplicity,” Thompson said, “Julia does have something to prove. God know what she’s getting paid. The question is whether she can ‘open’ a movie.”
If Roberts wants to stay huge, Gray said, she would do a romantic comedy.
“Duplicity” is not “a traditional Julia Roberts movie based on the marketing,” he said. “It’s more in the ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ vein. It will be very interesting to see how this picture does. It doesn’t strike you immediately as a slam dunk. If it gets over $20 million this weekend, that’s very good.”
Added Thompson, “I think Julia Roberts has an enormous fan base. She knows what her audience wants. It may be that she doesn’t want to give it to them.”
JULIA ROBERTS’ TOP BOX-OFFICE HITS
2. “Ocean’s Eleven,” he said, “shouldn’t count as a Julia Roberts’ movie really, but it’s number two.”
3. “Runaway Bride,” in which she reteamed with her “Pretty Woman” co-star (Richard Gere) and director (Garry Marshall).
4. “My Best Friend’s Wedding”
5. “The Pelican Brief”
6. “Sleeping With the Enemy”
7. “Erin Brockovich”
8. “Notting Hill”
9.“Stepmom”
By Stephen Schaefer
