Michelle Pfeiffer Makes a Comeback

Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust.

Making a comeback in the entertainment world is always a tricky thing. Has the audience forgotten about you? Will they still respond to you? Most importantly, will it be a favorable response? In the case of Michelle Pfeiffer, things are looking great.

Pfeiffer was last seen on the big screen in the 2002 chick flick White Oleander. She did the voice of the evil Eris in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas in 2003. Now, four years later she has three movies coming out in one year. They prove what a beauty she is at 49 and what amazing range she has as an actress.

In Hairspray she stole every scene she was in. She rattles off some of the movies most memorable lines, “Incredible! I could do a fan dance with a lettuce leaf and you would remain completely obtuse!” She also reminded everyone that she can sing, as she did in Grease 2 (1982) and The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989).

With Stardust, Pfeiffer revisits the fantasy genre. She set my heart racing with just a glance of her face under a hood years ago in the fantasy/adventure LadyHawke, (1985). Matthew Broderick asks out loud if he is dreaming, and the angelic Pfeiffer assures him he is, “You are dreaming.” In Stardust she looks just as enchanting.

Opening in November is Pfeiffer’s return to romantic comedies in I Could Never Be Your Woman. It is her first real attempt at a romantic comedy since One Fine Day in 1996. In it she plays a single mother who falls in love with a younger man, Paul Rudd. I just hope she has better chemistry with him than she did with George Clooney.

Pfeiffer is one of the most beautiful actresses of the past 30 years but she is also one of the most versatile. She has appeared in some very good films opposite some of the best male leads of her time. She did Scarface in 1983 with Al Pacino. She co-starred in The Witches of Eastwick (1987) with Jack Nicholson, Tequila Sunrise (1988) with Mel Gibson, The Russia House with Sean Connery (1990), The Age of Innocence (1993) with Daniel Day-Lewis, Up Close & Personal (1996) with Robert Redford and What Lies Beneath (2000) with Harrison Ford. In all of these films she plays substantial characters. Pfeiffer is not window dressing. She often is the most memorable thing about her films. She has been nominated for three Oscars for a reason.

Welcome back Michelle Pfieffer!