New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

It's important to look at the timing of this film in relation to her Oscar win. View from the Top fits the aforementioned textbook notion of a studio thinking that because a person wins an Oscar that they can win at the box office. There is no other reason to justify that large of a payday for Paltrow, who, regardless of her talent, was an unproven box office draw. And which studio was the one that was gullible enough to think that paying her that kind of money was a wise investment? It was none other than her benefactor Miramax. Maybe the Weinsteins justified that substantial of a salary hike as penance for her only being paid $750,000 for Shakespeare in Love. Admittedly, this is merely the shell of a conspiracy theory but not one that should be dismissed outright. Whatever the reason for the cash grab, it put a ding in her otherwise smart post-Oscar strategy.

Like a moth to a flame, Paltrow went back into the loving embrace of her period drama genre that had been so kind to her before with the release of the Sylvia Plath biopic, appropriately titled, Sylvia. She seemed to be showing the powers that be that she wasn't particularly interested in making films for a buck's sake but rather in building a career on choices that interested her, as seen by the suicidal author biography's skeletal take of $1.3 million.

If the rumored reason she signed on for the effects extravaganza Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is true, then Paltrow really was marching to her own beat. Supposedly, she agreed to the film for a minimal salary because she was blown away by the short film it was based upon. Her pro bono work on Sky Captain likely enabled the makers to keep the budget to the reported $40 million. While many people recall Sky Captain as a flat out flop, in reality, it made $49.7 million worldwide ($37.8 million in domestic gross). But once again, the entire film didn't rest on her shoulders as she shared the screen with rising star Jude Law and Lara Croft herself, Angelina Jolie.

For Paltrow, familiarity apparently doesn't breed contempt, as she not only returned to Miramax for 2005's Proof but to John Madden, her Shakespeare in Love director, and a role she had played in the original play on which the movie was based. Proof was just that — proof — for those that who didn't think that Paltrow alone was a box office draw. While the Madden-Paltrow reunion tour cost $20 million to make and only made $7.5 million domestically, it did give Paltrow her second Golden Globe nomination. So, it was a logical choice for her given all the players involved and she garnered the type of critical praise and satisfaction that seems to fuel her choices.

With an Apple in the oven during the making of Proof, Paltrow would enter the next phase of her career – part-time actress and full-time mother. Over the next three years, she would appear as nothing more than a supporting player in films like Infamous, the Capote biopic NOT starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the Royal Tenenbaums-esque Running with Scissors.

By 2008, Paltrow was back in the forefront as one of four Oscar-nominated or Oscar-winning actors, who to appear in a film from an unlikely genre. Alongside Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard, she bust out of pseudo-maternity leave with the blockbuster Iron Man. As Tony Stark's longtime assistant and eventual love interest, Pepper Potts, Paltrow got a big-time role in one the largest movies of 2008. It was reported that once again her decision was based on her kids because she lived close enough to the studio that could be home during the course of filming.

So where did Oscar lead Paltrow? The answer is "wherever she chose to go." Aside from her View from the Top, she didn't seem tempted by the lure of big paydays and cookie-cutter mainstream projects. By surrounding herself with people she trusted, like the folks at Miramax, family and frequent co-stars, Paltrow filled her resume with films that she believed in. You have to respect her for that and personally, it makes me a bigger fan.

Unfortunately, many other winners succumbed to the hype that surrounded their Oscar glory and followed a much different and drastically disastrous path to either box office ruin or continual critical bashing. These types of train wrecks will be fodder for future looks in Where Oscar Leads.

Continued:       1       2       3       4