Her romantic scenes with Gibson were both humorous (they compare battle scars) and sensual. She followed with a turn as a competent Secret Service agent and romantic interest for Clint Eastwood in Wolfgang Petersen's In the Line of Fire (1993).

In 1995, Russo starred opposite Dustin Hoffman as his ex-wife and fellow scientist in the thriller Outbreak and shone as a B-movie queen in Barry Sonnenfeld's "Get Shorty". In the latter, she displayed impeccable comic timing while wearing tight miniskirts and a blonde wig. Russo again played the girlfriend, this time torn between Kevin Costner and Don Johnson, in Ron Shelton's golfing drama "Tin Cup" (1996).

In Ron Howard's "Ransom" (also 1996), she was re-teamed with Gibson, this time as wealthy parents whose son is kidnapped.

Russo finally headlined a film, the biopic "Buddy" (1997), in which she essayed the real-life eccentric millionaire Gertrude Lintz who raised a menagerie on her estate. While she delivered a fine performance, the old adage about working with children and animals proved truthful: most of the actors were upstaged by the chimpanzees dressed like humans and the titular gorilla, Gertrude's favorite of her "collection.” Critics panned the film and audiences stayed away—her attempt to carry a film and prove her bankability failed.

Still sexy and vital in her mid-40s, Russo confounded Hollywood stereotypes by delivering her most accomplished performance as an insurance investigator who romances the prime suspect in an art theft in the remake of "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999). At first concerned over the required nudity and the frank sexuality of the character, the devoutly Christian actress reportedly prayed before accepting the role ("I don't know where in the Bible it says 'Don't be nude in motion pictures.'"). At the director's insistence, Russo also adopted a more sophisticated look, cropping her hair and dyeing it red as well as wearing a sleek wardrobe. 

Her onscreen chemistry with co-star Pierce Brosnan (abetted by several steamy love scenes) helped to impress reviewers and audiences, winning her new fans. Russo followed with another sultry female, Natasha Fatale, in the mixed live action-animated feature "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000).

After “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” Russo took another misstep with the limp action comedy “Showtime” (2002), playing the producer of a reality show that pairs a showboating actor (Eddie Murphy) and an old-school cop (Robert De Niro). She then played an unhappy housewife with an unhappy daughter (Zooey Deschanel) in “Big Trouble” (2002), a ensemble comedy about a group of people brought together by a suitcase nuke at a Miami airport. The feature languished for six months because of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and was finally released with little fanfare or audience attendance—something about bombs and hijacked airplanes kept people away. 

Russo spent a few years away from film, but returned in 2005 to star alongside Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey in “Two For the Money,” a gambling drama about a college basketball player (McConaughey) turned to sports wagering after being groomed by a consultant (Pacino) who notices his knack for predicting the right outcome for games.

She then starred opposite Dennis Quaid in the romantic comedy, “Yours, Mine and Ours” (2005), a remake of the 1968 Lucille Ball-Henry Fonda comedy about two high school sweethearts who reunite after the deaths of their spouses and rush to get married only to discover their children hate the new arrangement.

 

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