hell's kitchen (1998), jolie returned to the screen in playing by heart (1998), part of an ensemble cast that included sean connery, gillian anderson, and ryan phillippe. the film received predominantly positive reviews, and jolie was praised in particular; san francisco chronicle critic peter stack wrote, "jolie, working through an overwritten part, is a sensation as the desperate club crawler learning truths about what she's willing to gamble." she won the breakthrough performance award from the national board of review. in 1999, jolie starred in the comedy-drama pushing tin, alongside john cusack, billy bob thornton, and cate blanchett. the film met with mixed reception from critics, and jolie's character—thornton's seductive wife—was particularly criticized; writing for the washington post, desson howe dismissed her as "a completely ludicrous writer's creation of a free-spirited woman who weeps over hibiscus plants that die, wears lots of turquoise rings and gets real lonely when russell spends entire nights away from home." jolie then co-starred with denzel washington in the bone collector (1999), playing a police officer who reluctantly helps washington's quadriplegic detective track down a serial killer. the film grossed $151.5 million worldwide, but was critically unsuccessful. terry lawson of the detroit free press concluded, "jolie, while always delicious to look at, is simply and woefully miscast." "jolie is emerging as one of the great wild spirits of current movies, a loose cannon who somehow has deadly aim." —chicago sun-times critic roger ebert on jolie's performance in girl, interrupted (1999) jolie next took the supporting role of lisa, a sociopathic patient in a psychiatric hospital, in girl, interrupted (1999), an adaptation of susanna kaysen's memoir of the same name. she won her third golden globe award, her second screen actors guild award, and an academy award for best supporting actress in 2000. for variety, emanuel levy noted, "jolie is excellent as the flamboyant, irresponsible girl who turns out to be far more instrumental than the doctors in susanna's rehabilitation." in 2000, jolie appeared in her first summer blockbuster, gone in 60 seconds, which became her highest-grossing film to that point, earning $237.2 million internationally. she had a minor role as the mechanic ex-girlfriend of a car thief played by nicolas cage; the washington post writer stephen hunter criticized that "all she does in this movie is stand around, cooling down, modeling those fleshy, pulsating muscle-tubes that nest so provocatively around her teeth." jolie later explained that the film had been a welcome relief after her emotionally demanding role in girl, interrupted. worldwide recognition (2001–2004) although widely praised for her acting and performances, jolie had rarely found films that appealed to a wide audience, but 2001's lara croft: tomb raider made her an international superstar. an adaptation of the popular tomb raider video games, the film required her to learn an english accent and undergo extensive martial arts training to play the archaeologist-adventurer lara croft. although the film generated mostly negative reviews, jolie was generally praised for her physical performance; newsday's john anderson commented, "jolie makes the title character a virtual icon of female competence and coolth." the film was an international hit, earning $274.7 million worldwide, and launched her global reputation as a female action star. jolie next starred opposite antonio banderas as his mail-order bride in original sin (2001), the first of a string of films that were poorly received by critics and audiences alike. the new york times critic elvis mitchell questioned jolie's decision to follow her oscar-winning performance with "soft-core nonsense." the romantic comedy life or something like it (2002), though equally unsuccessful, marked an unusual choice for jolie. salon magazine's allen barra considered her ambitious newscaster character a rare attempt at playing a conventional women's role, noting that her performance "doesn't get off the ground until a scene where she goes punk and leads a group of striking bus workers in singing 'satisfaction'". despite her lack of box office success, jolie remained in demand as an actress; in 2002, she established herself among hollywood's highest-paid actresses, earning $10–15 million per film for the next five years. jolie at the german premiere of alexander in 2004 jolie reprised her role as lara croft in lara croft: tomb raider – the cradle of life (2003), which was not as lucrative as the original, earning $156.5 million at the international box office. she also starred in the music video for korn's "did my time", which was used to promote the sequel. her next film was beyond borders (2003), in which she portrayed a socialite who joins an aid worker played by clive owen. though unsuccessful with audiences, the film stands as the first of several passion projects jolie has made to bring attention to humanitarian causes. beyond borders was a critical failure; kenneth turan of the los angeles times acknowledged jolie's ability to "bring electricity and believability to roles," but wrote that "the limbo of a hybrid character, a badly written cardboard person in a fly-infested, blood-and-guts world, completely defeats her." in 2004, jolie appeared in four films. she first starred in the thriller taking lives as an fbi profiler summoned to help montreal law enforcement hunt down a serial killer. the film received mixed reviews; the hollywood reporter critic kirk honeycutt concluded, "jolie plays a role that definitely feels like something she has already done, but she does add an unmistakable dash of excitement and glamour." jolie made a brief appearance as a fighter pilot in sky captain and the world of tomorrow, a science fiction adventure shot entirely with actors in front of a bluescreen, and voiced her first family film, the dreamworks animation shark tale. her supporting role as queen olympias in oliver stone's alexander, about the life of alexander the great, was met with mixed reception, particularly concerning her slavic accent. commercially, the film failed in north america, which stone attributed to disapproval of the depiction of alexander's bisexuality, but it succeeded internationally, grossing $167.3 million. established actress (2005–2010) in 2005, jolie returned to major box office success with the action-comedy mr. & mrs. smith, in which she starred opposite brad pitt as a bored married couple who find out that they are both secret assassins. the film received mixed reviews, but was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads; star tribune critic colin covert noted, "while the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." with box office takings of $478.2 million worldwide, mr. & mrs. smith was the seventh-highest grossing picture of the year and remained jolie's highest-grossing live-action film for the next decade. following a supporting role as the neglected wife of a cia officer in robert de niro's the good shepherd (2006), jolie starred as mariane pearl in the documentary-style drama a mighty heart (2007). based on pearl's memoir of the same name, the film chronicles the kidnapping and murder of her husband, the wall street journal reporter daniel pearl, in pakistan. although the multiracial pearl had personally chosen jolie for the role, the casting drew racial criticism and accusations of blackface. the resulting performance was widely praised; ray bennett of the hollywood reporter described it as "well-measured and moving," played "with respect and a firm grasp on a difficult accent." she received nominations for a golden globe award and a screen actors guild award. jolie also played grendel's mother in the epic beowulf (2007), created through motion capture. the film was critically and commercially well-received, earning $196.4 million worldwide. in 2008, jolie was the highest-paid actress, earning $15–$20 million per film. while other actresses had taken salary cuts during the time, jolie's perceived box office appeal allowed her to command as much as $20 million plus a percentage. she starred alongside james mcavoy and morgan freeman in the action film wanted (2008), which proved an international success, earning $341.4 million worldwide. the film received predominantly favorable reviews; writing for the new york times, manohla dargis noted that jolie was "perfectly cast as a super-scary, seemingly amoral assassin," adding that "she cuts the kind of disciplinarian figure who can bring boys of all ages to their knees or at least into their theater seats." jolie in character as christine collins on the set of changeling in 2007 jolie next took the lead role in clint eastwood's drama changeling (2008). based in part on the wineville chicken coop murders, the film centers on christine collins, who is reunited with her kidnapped son in 1928 los angeles, only to realize the boy is an imposter. chicago tribune critic michael phillips noted, "jolie really shines in the calm before the storm, the scenes when one patronizing male authority figure after another belittles her at their peril." she received nominations for a golden globe award, a screen actors guild award, a bafta award, and an academy award for best actress. jolie also voiced tigress in the dreamworks animation kung fu panda (2008), the first work in a major family franchise, later reprising her voice role in the sequels kung fu panda 2 (2011) and kung fu panda 3 (2016). after her mother's death in 2007, jolie appeared in fewer films, later explaining that her motivation to be an actress had stemmed from her mother's acting ambitions. her first film in two years was the 2010 thriller salt, in which she starred as a cia agent who goes on the run after she is accused of being a kgb sleeper agent. originally written as a male character with tom cruise attached to star, agent salt underwent a gender change after a columbia pictures executive suggested jolie for the role. with revenues of $293.5 million, salt became an international success. the film received generally positive reviews, with jolie's performance in particular earning praise. empire critic william thomas remarked, "when it comes to selling incredible, crazy, death-defying antics, jolie has few peers in the action business." jolie starred opposite johnny depp in the thriller the tourist (2010). the film was a critical failure. roger ebert defended jolie's performance, stating that she "does her darndest" and "plays her femme fatale with flat-out, drop-dead sexuality." despite commercially underperforming in the us, the film succeeded at the international box office, cementing jolie's appeal to international audiences. she received a golden globe award nomination for her performance, which prompted speculation that it had been given merely to ensure her high-profile presence at the awards ceremony. expansion to directing (2011–2017) jolie at the 2011 cannes film festival after directing the documentary a place in time (2007), which was distributed through the national education association, jolie made her feature directorial debut with in the land of blood and honey (2011), a love story between a serb soldier and a bosniak prisoner, set during the 1992–95 bosnian war. she conceived the film to rekindle attention for the survivors, after twice visiting bosnia and herzegovina in her role as a unhcr goodwill ambassador. to ensure authenticity, she cast only actors from the former yugoslavia—including stars goran kostić and zana marjanović—and incorporated their wartime experiences into her screenplay. upon release, the film received mixed reviews; todd mccarthy of the hollywood reporter wrote, "jolie deserves significant credit for creating such a powerfully oppressive atmosphere and staging the ghastly events so credibly, even if it is these very strengths that will make people not want to watch what's onscreen." the film was nominated for a golden globe award for best foreign language film, and jolie was named an honorary citizen of sarajevo for raising awareness of the war. after a three-and-a-half-year absence from the screen, jolie starred in maleficent (2014), a live-action re-imagining of disney's 1959 animation sleeping beauty. critical reception was mixed, but jolie's performance in the titular role was singled out for praise; the hollywood reporter critic sherri linden found her to be the "heart and soul" of the film, adding that she "doesn't chew the estimable scenery in maleficent—she infuses it, wielding a magnetic and effortless power." in its opening weekend, maleficent earned nearly $70 million at the north american box office and over $100 million in other markets, marking jolie's appeal to audiences of all demographics in both action and fantasy films, genres usually dominated by male actors. the film went on to gross $757.8 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year and jolie's