Jodie Foster production, and he later credited her for helping him define the character. Released in February 1991, "The Silence of the Lambs" became one of the biggest hits of the year, grossing close to $273 million, with a positive critical reception. Foster received largely positive reviews and won Academy, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards for her portrayal of Starling; "Silence" won five Academy Awards overall, becoming one of the few films to win in all main categories. In contrast, some reviewers criticized the film as misogynist for its focus on brutal murders of women, and homophobic due to its portrayal of
Jodie Foster box office hits, earning over $140 and $183 million respectively. Foster's first project for Egg Pictures, "Nell", was released in December 1994. In addition to acting as its producer, she starred in the title role as a woman who grew up isolated in the Appalachian Mountains and speaks her own invented language. It was based on Mark Handley's play "Idioglossia", which interested Foster for its theme of "otherness", and because she "loved this idea of a woman who defies categorization, a creature who is labeled and categorized by people based on their own problems and their own prejudices and what