Angelina Jolie most commercially successful films, including "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001) and "Beowulf" (2007), overtly relied at least in part on her sex appeal, with "Empire" stating that her "pneumatic figure", "feline eyes", and "bee-stung lips" have greatly contributed to her appeal to cinema audiences. Conversely, "Salon" writer Allen Barra agreed with critics who suggested that Jolie's "dark and intense sexuality" has limited her in the types of roles she can be cast in, rendering her unconvincing in many conventional women's roles, while Clint Eastwood, who directed her Oscar-nominated performance in "Changeling" (2008), opined that having "the most beautiful face on
Angelina Jolie forced to take salary cuts in recent years, 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."