I note with some
concern the message underlying both previous
writeups:
The female love (or lust) interest in a movie should be significantly younger than the male.
Unfortunately, this notion is more than a little ridiculous. While it's certainly fascinating to watch Catherine Zeta-Jones (30) and Sean Connery (69) tussle romantically, one does begin to wonder if perhaps the discrepancy is more about our rather skewed perceptions of beauty and less about genuine age requirements of the role. A more extreme example is seen in Léon. Jean Reno (46) and Natalie Portman (13) skirt the issue of pedophilia and sexual awakening with aplomb; nevertheless, the love interest for Léon is 33 years his junior...a lesser degree of variance as between Zeta-Jones and Connery.
And yet we accept both (to varying degrees) and proceed with our disbelief duly suspended. The fact that Léon and Mathilda do not consummate their relationship is, no doubt, the key difference in the audience's acceptance of their generation gap; Léon's reluctance also adds a significant element of pseudo-innocence to the mix.
Until the social stigma of an older woman with a much younger man is erased, it is ludicrous to apply a different standard to older men with younger women. Rene Russo is most definitely "young enough" to play the Babe in any movie she pleases.
To phrase it in simplest terms:
As long as Pierce Brosnan can play the hunky male role, so too can Rene Russo play the hot babe.