For many movie fans, summer has come to mean another Harrison Ford action film, one more Batman, even grumpier Grumpier Old Men, and Disney’s latest animated feature. For Hollywood executives, summer equals an important percentage of their annual revenue. To get top billing, a star must be able to “open a picture,” in other words, to attract a significant audience for the film’s first weekend. This summer that responsibility was given to at least four women.
Four films featured established Hollywood actors–Julia Roberts in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Conspiracy Theory”; Jodie Foster in “Contact”; and Demi Moore in “G.I. Jane.” In the fifth, “Picture Perfect,” television’s Jennifer Aniston of “Friends” headlines, even though her co-stars, Kevin Bacon and Ileana Douglas are proven box-office draws. What may have seemed a big gamble paid off well–“Picture Perfect,” which opened nationwide the first weekend of August, grossed about $7.5 million in its first weekend and was No. 5 in that weekend’s Top 10 films; “Contact” remained in the Top 10 for five weeks; and “My Best Friend’s Wedding” had a respectable box office.
Can women viewers be as satisfied with these offerings as studio executives probably are? Normally, characters that we might identify with seem oddly relegated to other seasons or to the latest adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. It is a requisite part of summer that we criticize Disney’s animated heroine, go to every “date movie” in search of the next “Sleepless in Seattle,” search for intelligent life in science fiction films, and finally give up, renting timeless favorites, or give in, going to theaters to see the next special effects bonanza. Those of us who live in or near a big city have the option of scouring art houses for foreign and independent cinema that might satisfy our cinematic cravings. Not that I’m complaining, but every so often, it would be nice to see a woman on screen to whom I can relate. This summer I found her. Several times.
In “Contact” Jodie Foster plays Dr. Eleanor Arroway, a radio astronomer whose belief that there must be other life in the universe displays conviction and intelligence. Director Robert Zemeckis allows Foster’s powerful acting to drive this film. In turn, Foster gives a performance in which her intelligence does not eclipse or deny her beauty.
“Contact” provides more than a convincingly empowered and determined heroine, as other critics have noted. As much as “Contact” is about Ellie’s search for intelligent life in the universe, it also charts her spiritual development and her emotional maturation.
“Contact” does, however, acknowledge the problems a woman might encounter in her workplace. Foster’s superior, David Drumlin (Tom Skeritt) chides Ellie about the Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence project, which culminates her childhood dreams. When she finally does make contact with another planet, Drumlin steps in, suavely taking credit for the work.
We have come to expect intelligent and challenging films from Jodie Foster, and “Contact” is no surprise. But this summer’s romantic comedies are.
In “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” Julia Roberts returns to romantic comedy, and her character Julianne is not necessarily admirable. After all, she tries to steal her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) away from his bride-to-be Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), pulling a series of desperately outrageous stunts. She lies, cheats and deceives, all in the name of “love.” But, wait a minute, didn’t Katharine Hepburn use similar means to get Spencer Tracy to fall for her in “Bringing Up Baby” (1938) and other Hepburn/Tracy classics? She sure did. Hepburn is usually redeemed at the end when Tracy falls (sometimes literally) for her.
Director P.J. Hogan, however, does not redeem Julianne at this film’s end. So while we might empathize with her desperate quest for love, we do not congratulate her methods. However, rather than leaving her alone in the middle of a wedding party at the end of the film, Hogan sends in Julianne’s other best friend, George (Rupert Everett). The film leaves us pondering the idea that romance does not make the woman–responsibility, generosity and warmth do. Roberts may be unpartnered, but she is not unloved. She exits a stronger, wiser woman.
Kate Mosley (Jennifer Aniston) in “Picture Perfect,” does get the guy, but not the one she thought she wanted. Like Roberts, Mosley is conniving, but her lies are initiated in order to further her advertising career. Ultimately, Mosley confesses her subterfuges to her superiors–a move that wins their admiration–and in the end, her honesty is rewarded.
Unfortunately Jordan O’Neil (Demi Moore) in “G.I. Jane” and Alice Sutton (Julia Roberts) in “Conspiracy Theory” do not develop as characters in quite as satisfying ways. O’Neil is a tough girl, made tougher during her Navy SEAL training. Her ordeal presents a good motive to spotlight Moore’s sculpted body. The SEAL training is punctuated with smoky, blue shots of O’Neil in a makeshift gym honing her glistening muscles. Like Reebok or Nike ads for women’s shoes, these shots isolate body parts, leaving the whole woman a figment of our imagination.
In “Conspiracy Theory,” the Alice Sutton character is barely developed. We never really know what makes her tick. She appears almost naive when she risks her career in the New York Justice Department in order to help a seemingly demented guy (Mel Gibson) with a string of paranoid-sounding conspiracy theories. In the end, we truly feel proud when she canters across the screen, emotionally healed and much stronger for the experience. For the second time this summer, Julia Roberts doesn’t get the guy. But she does develop self-confidence, peace of mind, and inner strength.
Certainly there are women in this summer’s films who are less interesting and more two-dimensional than these. There are caricatures and sidekicks, a Greek chorus in point shoes, and even a seductive medical examiner.
Progress is made one frame at a time. Expect to see more. Now that five of the seven major studios have elevated women to powerful executive positions, we are attracting attention as an untapped audience. For the studios, that means millions of dollars from a previously undervalued demographic. For us it just may mean more reasons to enjoy the magic of the silver screen.
