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Kevin Smith says no.

Kim Hollis: Is it time to acknowledge that Reese Witherspoon is a box office draw?

Brandon Scott: I thought that that time had come long ago. Once she became the highest paid working actress (I believe) after her Legally Blonde era pics catapulted her to stardom, I think she reached this plateau. It hasn't always played out that way, (Rendition anyone? - Ah, no, thank you.) but anyone outside of Will Smith has their share of misses. That's just the way it is.

Scott Lumley: I really don't feel that she is that much of a box office draw. I'm pretty sure if you pulled her out of this film and put Megan Fox in her place you would have gotten essentially the same box office result, plus there's a good change that Megan might have told us a story about a crush she had on a lesbian stripper in high school again.

Reagen Sulewski: She's a draw in a relatively narrow range of roles, or at least in roles in films that you could conceivably bring a date to. So, no to Rendition and Vanity Fair, but yes to this and Sweet Home Alabama.





David Mumpower: I agree with Reagen. Brandon is right that she wouldn't have become the highest paid female actor in the industry without her fair share of success. A look at her track record reveals that when she does the indie films through which she originally built her reputation, they don't earn much money and do not justify her salary. Penelope, Rendition and Vanity Fair barely made $35 million combined. Meanwhile, a relatively garbage film, Just Like Heaven, earned an almost inexplicable $48.3 million for being the most generic romantic comedy of the 2000s. Legally Blonde almost earned $100 million and if we average its total along with Walk the Line and Sweet Home Alabama, the result is about $114 million per movie. With Four Christmases headed toward a similar result, I think it's safe to say what Reagen did. She has a type of role wherein movie audiences will flock to see her. A romantic comedy co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal would be an Us Magazine dream come true.

Daron Aldridge: I think that she has definite drawing power in this type of film. Even Just Like Heaven still pulled in over $16 million in its opening. Everything beyond that genre falls flat at the box office, except Walk the Line but I would argue that Johnny Cash and Joaquin Phoenix's performance were the draws for it. Surprisingly, she only has Four Christmases, Legally Blonde 1 and 2, Sweet Home Alabama and Just Like Heaven as her comedy/romantic comedy films. She is one of those actors who is not as prolific as people think.

Jason Lee: But while not prolific, she has an undeniable screen charisma about her that I think audiences are drawn to. When her characters and her film vehicles provide a chance to flash that Crest Whitestrips smile, moviegoers turn out. That's just my two cents.

Sean Collier: Charisma, maybe. The bottom line is she's just so damn acceptable. Audiences are never going to react badly to her. She isn't necessarily going to pack them in to smaller flicks that have a hard time finding an audience, but she'll never hurt a release.

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