Jodie Foster is without a doubt one of the most talented actresses of the modern era, but the 58 year-old hasn’t been particularly active in front of the camera over the last decade. Of course, that’s understandable when you remember that the former child star has spent more than half a century in the industry, and has already cemented her legacy with two Academy Awards under her belt.
Foster has starred in just four movies in the last ten years, directing and acting alongside Mel Gibson in black comedy The Beaver, lending support in Neill Blomkamp’s misguided sci-fi Elysium, and taking top billing in Roman Polanski’s forgotten Carnage and dystopian thriller Hotel Artemis. Instead, the focus has largely been on getting behind the camera, with the Taxi Driver star helming episodes of Black Mirror, Orange Is the New Black and House of Cards, along with feature film Money Monster.
However, the erstwhile Clarice Starling is back in star-studded prestige drama The Mauritanian, which has ‘awards season contender’ written all over it. The story follows a man held in Guantanamo Bay without being charged or given a trial, with Foster playing the defense attorney trying to pursue justice, before a conspiracy is eventually unearthed and unraveled.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley and Zachary Levi co-star in the true-life tale set for release in February, with The Last King of Scotland director Kevin Macdonald tackling his first movie since 2014 after spending the past several years focusing on documentaries. There’s an awful lot of pedigree on display, and if The Mauritanian avoids the typical descent into melodrama that plagues so many awards-baiting titles, then Foster and Cumberbatch look poised to deliver powerhouse performances in the sort of thrilling dramatization of real events that always tends to play well in the early months of the year.
