Jane Fonda (1966), opposite Jason Robards and Dean Jones, and "Barefoot in the Park" (1967), again co-starring Redford. In 1968, she played the title role in the science fiction spoof "Barbarella", which established her status as a sex symbol. In contrast, the tragedy "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969) won her critical acclaim and marked a significant turning point in her career; "Variety" magazine wrote, "Fonda, as the unremittingly cynical loser, the tough and bruised babe of the Dust Bowl, gives a dramatic performance that gives the film a personal focus and an emotionally gripping power." In addition, renowned film critic Pauline
Jane Fonda totally that her performance is very pure -- unadorned by "acting." She never stands outside Bree, she gives herself over to the role, and yet she isn't lost in it -- she's fully in control, and her means are extraordinarily economical. She has somehow got to a plane of acting at which even the closest closeup never reveals a false thought and, seen on the movie streets a block away, she's Bree, not Jane Fonda, walking toward us. There isn't another young dramatic actress in American films who can touch her." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" also praised Fonda's