Since her Oscar win, Witherspoon's work has not only grown less enthusiastic, but her project choices have become less inspired. She had a small supporting role in last year's "Mud" alongside Matthew McConaughey, but it was McConaughey that won the raves, while Witherspoon was a forgotten element of the film.
Partnered with that embarrassing DUI arrest, it's safe to say that she's in need of a career resurgence/renaissance, which might just be this year.
In addition to being a credited Producer on the film "Gone Girl", Witherspoon has 3 projects slated for a release this year: "Wild" (directed by "Dallas Buyers Club's Jean Marc-Vallée), "The Good Lie" (a "Blind Side" esque story from the producers of the Blind Side) and Paul Thomas Anderson's starry "Inherent Vice", in which she plays a supporting role.
I mentioned Wild in my previous Oscar predictions, and it's hard to ignore it as a potential player at this stage of the game. For one thing, it's based on a best-selling novel, which also happens to be a true story, focusing completely on a female character, so it has the potential to be a box office smash. Secondly, it's directed by up and coming director Jean Marc-Vallée, whose Dallas Buyers Club won 3 Oscars last year, and was nominated for Best Picture against all odds (I think he *just* missed out on a director nomination as well). Between Vallée's heat and the film's potential, and even Witherspoon's own allure, this might just be the film to land her back in audiences' (and Oscars good graces).
The Good Lie, however, is another story. The trailer seems like a copy + paste version of The Blind Side, which means 2 things: Box office success, critical backlash; its white savior undertone is monotonous (aren't we done with these movies yet?), however, that didn't stop The Blind Side from getting nominated for Best Picture and winning Best Actress at the Oscars in 2009. While I don't think this will be the role that Witherspoon gets nominated for (I'm banking on Wild), I do believe the film's potential success could boost Witherspoon's profile which would ultimately help her get nominated at all.
As for Inherent Vice, it's unknown at this point what could happen with that. PT Anderson movies are not blockbusters, however, they do often get Oscar nominations; "The Master" managed to get nominations for all 3 actors despite missing out on other crucial noms, while "Boogie Nights", "Magnolia" and "There Will Be Blood" have all seen Oscar wins/noms. It's possible for her to nab a nomination for Supporting Actress if she's good enough, but between that massive ensemble + the rarity of a dual nomination, it's more likely this will just fuel her exposure and increase her chances at being nominated for Wild.
But all acting nominations aside, there is also another way Witherspoon could become an Oscar nominee this year, with her producing credit on Gone Girl, a film that I predict will be nominated for Best Picture, and be a rousing success at the box office. So between that possibility and the other 3 films she has being released, she has a chance at being nominated 3 times this year (2 of this being extremely likely at this point).
So however you look at it, it seems like 2014 is the return of Reese Witherspoon. Whether she becomes a 2 (or 3) time Oscar nominee this year is still up in the air, but it's just good to see her back in the conversation, and back working again.
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