A Film of One's Own
For the most part at the studios, there are now two genres available to women in leading roles: romantic comedies (which made Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon into huge box-office stars) and women-in-peril films (think of Jodie Foster in the mega-hits "Flightplan" and "Panic Room"). Occasionally, women can be cast in starring roles as action heroes, as with Angelina Jolie in "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
The above quote is from the recent The New York Times Magazine article on women in film (login required). The article focuses on the economic reason women are pigeonholed into romantic comedy and lady-in-peril roles (drama just isn't big box office). Though women in action films are mentioned above, very little text is given to the role of women in action movies, which do draw big numbers to theaters. Still, the article is worth a read. It also gets into the interesting question of whether "serious" actresses fleeing away from the studios and towards independent films is a realistic remedy for the situation.
Thanks to Tony for the heads up on this.
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Okay, I know you didn't say this, but the women in peril usually are pretty cool, if they're the main character. If the male is the main character, then she gets saved, blah blah, blah. But if you watched Flightplan, who'd see the fire-extinguisher-to-the-head. Now, there is the racism, being that she thinks the arabs are the bad guys, but Jodi Foster is still great. And try watching Red Eye. It's a thriller, but kind of actiony, too. You should review it.