Auteur Watch - Jodie Foster

Sigh. Everyone's turning 40! I've noticed... Well, not this week's auteur: Jodie Foster. She's just south of 50 herself, but still going strong, especially given recent roles like The Brave One. Oh, why must she taunt us guys so?
Anyway, on to the patented Decade Theory. Whaddaya think? Is it the 70s, where she found herself stuck between Disney on the one hand, and Scorsese on the other? Or perhaps the 80s when she graduated to less colorful, more respectable roles? Even though she won the Oscar for The Accused, it must've been a bad time on the set because she hasn't worked with director Jonathan Kaplan since. But then again, who has? That's one of the good things about doing TV work: certain stars HAVE to work with you again!
And so, every once in a while, stars like Sean Penn win acting Oscars virtually back to back, and the 90s would start out so promisingly for ol' Jodie, but after working for so many dufusii directors named Jonathan, one can't help but think, "Hell! I can direct this turkey myself!" And direct she did. Well, Little Man Tate was well received by critic and popcorn chewer alike. Home for the Holidays, not so much. Well, this was while Robert Downey Jr. was a little more troubled. Now he gets high on life... and his new-fangled success. But back to J.F.
If Death Becomes Her taught us anything, it's that a) directors always feel the urge to commit career suicide, and b) a movie star's shelf life is 10 years at best... or is it 20, as with Jodie? The 90s surely are her favorite: in addition to being a great chef and movie star, she was probably ahead of the curve on the whole eco-movement stuff. She focused on the acting all through the 2000s as well... until now, which means the 2010s will be her favorite decade. And how will she re-inaugurate her directing career? How else? By piggybacking on Mel Gibson's rejuvenated career with something called The Beaver. Sounds a bit like Lars and the Real Girl meets Dummy. Just what we all need! I look forward to it, especially if it's in IMAX 3D or something. A toast to Jodie Foster, everybody!