From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Clint Eastwood in the 2000s
Clint Eastwood in the 2000s
Main article: Clint Eastwood
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Clint Eastwood
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In 2000, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in Space Cow-
boys, which also starred Tommy Lee Jones, Donald
Sutherland, and James Garner. Eastwood plays Frank
Corvin, a retired NASA engineer called upon to save a
failing Russian satellite. Space Cowboys was one of the
year’s commercial hits and was generally well-received,
with a 79% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. The film received
a moderately favorable review from Roger Ebert, who re-
marked, "it’s too secure within its traditional story struc-
ture to make much seem at risk—but with the structure
come the traditional pleasures as well... Eastwood as di-
rector is as sure-handed as his mentors, Don Siegel and
Sergio Leone. We leave the theater with grave doubts
that the scene depicted in the final feel-good shot is even
remotely possible, but what the hell; it makes us
smile."[1]
In 2002, Eastwood played an ex-FBI agent on the track
of a sadistic killer (Jeff Daniels) in the thriller Blood Work,
which was loosely based on the 1998 novel by the same
name from Edgar Award-winning writer Michael Connel-
ly. The film was a failure, grossing just $26.2 million on an
estimated budget of $50 million and received mixed re- Eastwood in 2007
views, with many critics finding it well-made but marred
by lethargic pacing. A. O. Scott of The New York Times be- Fishburne. It was shot on location in Boston.[4] Mystic Riv-
lieved that the film was too similar to many other East- er was received well by critics and viewers. The film won
wood films, although he commented that, "there is some- two Academy Awards, Best Actor for Penn and Best Sup-
thing comforting in seeing this old warhorse trot gamely porting Actor for Robbins, and garnered nominations for
out of the gate for yet another run on familiar turf."[2] Best Director and Best Picture.[5] The film has an 88% ap-
Despite the lackluster performance at the box office and proval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and an even higher
mixed reception, Eastwood won the Future Film Festival rating of 95% from the website’s "Top Critics".[6] The film
Digital Award at the Venice Film Festival. grossed $90 million domestically on a budget of $30 mil-
In 2003, Eastwood and Warner Brothers purchased lion.[7]
the film rights to James R. Hansen’s First Man: The Life of In 2005, Eastwood found critical and commercial suc-
Neil A. Armstrong, the authorized biography of astronaut cess when he directed, produced, scored, and starred in
Neil Armstrong.[3] No production date was announced the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. Eastwood played a
and the film has still not been made. Next, Eastwood di- cantankerous trainer who forms a bond with a female
rected the crime drama Mystic River, a film about mur- boxer (Hilary Swank) he is persuaded to train by his life-
der, vigilantism, and sexual abuse written by Brian Hel- long friend (Morgan Freeman). The film won four Acad-
geland, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane. Starring emy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress
were Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, and Laurence (Swank), and Best Supporting Actor (Freeman).[8] East-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Clint Eastwood in the 2000s
After four years away from acting, Eastwood ended
his "self-imposed acting hiatus"[13] with Gran Torino. It
grossed close to $30 million during its wide release open-
ing weekend in January 2009, making Eastwood, at age
78, the oldest leading man to reach number one at the
box office. Eastwood directed, starred, held a producer
role, and co-wrote the theme song for the film. Biogra-
pher Marc Eliot called Eastwood’s role "an amalgam of
the Man with No Name, Dirty Harry, and William Mun-
ny, here aged and cynical but willing and able to fight on
whenever the need arose."[14] Gran Torino grossed over
$268 million worldwide in theaters and is the highest-
grossing film of Eastwood’s career so far without adjust-
ment for inflation. Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer
stated that Eastwood "... caps his career as both a director
and an actor with his portrayal of a heroically redeemed
bigot of such humanity and luminosity as to exhaust my
supply of superlatives."[15] Eastwood has said that the
role will most likely be the last time he acts in a film. [16]
In 2009, Eastwood directed Invictus, with Morgan
Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as rugby
team captain François Pienaar. John Carlin, author of the
book on which the film is based, sold the film rights to
Freeman.[17]
References
[1] Ebert, Roger (August 4, 2000). "Space Cowboys".
Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on
December 11, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/
Eastwood with Angelina Jolie at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival 5uukr7Rtq.
for Changeling’s premiere [2] Scott, A. O. (August 9, 2002). "Blood Work (2002)".
The New York Times. Archived from the original on
wood also received a nomination for Best Actor,[9] and December 11, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/
the trio was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild 5uukxRGPF.
Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion [3] "Clint Eastwood to Produce and Direct Film Based
Picture. Eastwood received a Grammy nomination for the on Life of Neil Armstrong". Allbusiness.com. March
score he composed. Million Dollar Baby was in theaters 12, 2003. Archived from the original on December
from late January to early June 2005, and was his highest- 11, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uul6rUzB.
grossing film at the time, with box office receipts of $216 [4] "Mystic River: Story". Warner Brothers.
million. http://www.warnerbros.co.uk/movies/
In 2006, Eastwood directed two films about the battle mysticriver/cmp/story.html. Retrieved April 29,
of Iwo Jima in World War II. The first one, Flags of Our 2010.
Fathers, focused on the men who raised the American flag [5] "Acclaim flows for ’Mystic River’ at Oscars".
on top of Mount Suribachi. The second one, Letters from Reuters. 2 March 2004. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Iwo Jima, dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on lifestyle/news/
the island and the letters they wrote to family members. article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=3552323. Retrieved 25
Letters from Iwo Jima was the first American film to show a July 2010.
war issue completely from the view of an American ene- [6] "Mystic River: Top Critics". Rotten Tomatoes.
my.[10] Both films were highly praised by critics and gar- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mystic_river/
nered several Oscar nominations, including Best Director ?critic=creamcrop#mo. Retrieved September 4,
and Best Picture for Letters from Iwo Jima. In 2008, East- 2009.
wood directed Changeling, which is based on a true story, [7] "Mystic River". Box Office Mojo.
and stars Angelina Jolie.[11] After releasing in several film http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/
festivals, the film grossed over $110 million, the majority ?id=mysticriver.htm. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
of which came from foreign markets.[12] [8] Roberts & Skutt (2006), p.689
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Clint Eastwood in the 2000s
[9] Eliot, p.313 original on December 11, 2010.
[10] Eliot, p.320 http://www.webcitation.org/5uulSk9Xj.
[11] Eliot, p.327 [14] Eliot, p.329
[12] Pamela McClintock (March 10, 2009). "Clint mints [15] Eliot, p.330
overseas box office". Variety. Archived from the [16] Jamieson, Alistair (November 23, 2008). "Clint
original on December 11, 2010. Eastwood to retire from acting". The Daily Telegraph
http://www.webcitation.org/5uulP7r2V. (London). Archived from the original on December
[13] Turan, Kenneth (December 12, 2008). "Review: 11, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5uulXVx6S.
’Gran Torino’". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the [17] Keller, Bill. – "Entering the Scrum". – The New York
Times Book Review. August 17, 2008.
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