Movies that Work
Here are the best roles for women in 2009.
There are good roles for women in movies and roles that are good for women in general. The two don't always match up. For example, Audrey Tautou is adorable in a French film called Priceless — an adorable gold digger, that is. Conversely, Gwyneth Paltrow's character in Iron Man does everything for her boss (Robert Downey Jr.) except tuck him in at night. Of course, by the end of the movie she's regressed to damsel-in-distress status, but that's Hollywood.
Here's a look at the best of the year, in alphabetical order.
1. THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI >> Radha Mitchell is as sturdy as she is beautiful as an Aussie nurse who helps rescue 60 Chinese orphans during the Japanese occupation of China in the mid-1930s.
2. FLAWLESS >> Demi Moore makes an early statement about women in the workplace as a junior executive in a London firm who keeps getting passed over for a promotion.
3. GET SMART >> Anne Hathaway is a lot more serious about her work as Agent 99 than Barbara Feldon was in the TV series. A lot more capable too.
4. SEX AND THE CITY >> Well, if I have to be picky, I choose Sarah Jessica Parker's columnist and Cynthia Nixon's lawyer over Kim Cattrall's professional flirt/Hollywood agent and Kristin Davis's stay-at-home mom.
