Page "Rachel McAdams" Paragraph 9

McAdams returned to work in 2008, appearing in two limited release films.

In the film noir Married Life, she played Kay, a young 1940s widow who wins the affections of two older men, played by Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper.

In preparation for the role, McAdams studied old films, particularly those of Kim Novak.

She has said the film shoot reenergized and re-inspired her and made her eager to work more often.

Entertainment Weekly found McAdams " a particularly delightful vision after her two-year intermission ".

Variety also bemoaned her break from the big screen but felt that, despite a performance of " tender feeling ", " her natural vivaciousness and spontaneity are straightjacketed " by the film noir format.

The film was a box-office failure.

It grossed just over $ 2 million worldwide, failing to recoup its production budget of $ 12 million.

The Lucky Ones, a story about three Iraq War soldiers on a brief road trip back in the U. S., was McAdams's second film of 2008, and she co-starred alongside Tim Robbins and Michael Pena.

She trained at a real boot camp, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, prior to filming.

McAdams, speaking in 2011, said that the character of Colee was " probably one of my favorite characters I've ever played.

" The New York Times found her " luminous as always " while Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times hailed the performance as " her coming of age as an actress ".

" Previously she has been seen mostly as a hot chick or an idealized sweetheart ", he wrote.

" Here she is feisty, vulnerable, plucky, warm, funny ... Watch the poignance of the scene when she meets her boyfriend's family.

" Entertainment Weekly found her " feisty, gorgeous, and as mercurial as a mood ring ".

The Lucky Ones is the least commercially successful film of McAdams's career as of 2012, having grossed just $ 266, 967 worldwide.