| By Fred Topel
In Theaters Now
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This weekend, Ben Affleck attempts his big screen comeback after a string of flops. He won’t be the first Hollywood star to win his way back into our good graces. Check out some of the other comeback kids in our picks for the top 10 people to turn things around.
10. John Travolta in Look Who’s Talking - This was merely the first time John Travolta rose from the netherworld. When the talking baby movie came out, people already forgot that Barbarino was the seminal force on the late ‘70s. Sure, he was reduced to dancing with infants, but it was cute.
9. Teri Hatcher in Desperate Housewives - A flash in the pan once with Lois and Clark followed by a movie career consisting most notably of downloadable topless scenes, Hatcher struck gold with a second TV drama. Now she’s bigger than ever.
8. Diane Lane in The Perfect Storm - Diane Lane was on the rise throughout the ‘80s and never quite got there. Suddenly she’s pining for guys lost to a big wave and now she’s a headline star.
7. Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity - Hard to believe Hollywood’s golden boy ever had trouble, so we conveniently forget Legend of Bagger Vance and All the Pretty Horses. Once Damon started kicking ass, no critic wanted to take shots at him.
6. Steven Seagal in Exit Wounds - Sure, it only lasted one movie, since he followed this up with Half Past Dead and went back to the video shelves, but this Joel Silver/DMX collaboration showed that Seagal could still kick in the right vehicle.
5. John Travolta in Swordfish - You’d think Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers would put the final nail in anyone’s coffin, but not John Travolta. Just when you thought he was out, he pulls himself back in.
4. Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain - After the whole “He Will Rock You” hype, Ledger disappeared in the mist of Aussie westerns, war non-epics and religious mumbo jumbo. But we just can’t quit him now.
3. Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding - Yes, even America’s Sweetheart had some down time. Remember Mary Reilly? We don’t either. But this return to form showed that she still had it.
2. Kiefer Sutherland in 24 - There was probably no actor more stereotyped than go-to lowlife hoodlum Kiefer Sutherland. Now he’s the ultimate American hero. Did Chloe
1. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction - The peak of Johnny T’s many comebacks, this showed that he was not only a kitschy gimmick for kids movies, but he still had the dramatic weight. Now if only Tarantino could guide the rest of his choices, he’d be in the clear. |
