Editing Catherine Zeta-Jones (section)

=== 2012–2016: Return to film ===
After a three-year sabbatical from acting, she made her screen comeback in ''[[Lay the Favorite]]'' (2012), a comedy co-starring [[Bruce Willis]] and [[Rebecca Hall]], in which she played the jealous wife of a gambler (Willis).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Graser |first1=Marc |title=Heavy Hitters |work=Variety |date=24 February 2012 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/movies/lay-the-favorite-directed-by-stephen-frears.html |title=She Came to Sin City for a Wholesome Life |work=The New York Times |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=31 May 2016 |last=Scott |first=A. O. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151226113632/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/movies/lay-the-favorite-directed-by-stephen-frears.html |archive-date=26 December 2015}}</ref> Reviews of the film were negative, and Betsy Sharkey of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' found Zeta-Jones to be "far too shrill to amuse".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lay_the_favorite/ |title=Lay the Favourite (2012) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412140652/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lay_the_favorite/ |archive-date=12 April 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2012-dec-06-la-et-mn-lay-the-favorite-review-20121207-story.html |title='Lay the Favorite' a contrived mess: movie review |work=Los Angeles Times |date=6 December 2012 |access-date=14 August 2015 |first=Betsy |last=Sharkey |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723083316/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/06/entertainment/la-et-mn-lay-the-favorite-review-20121207 |archive-date=23 July 2015}}</ref> In the ensemble musical comedy ''[[Rock of Ages (2012 film)|Rock of Ages]]'', co-starring [[Tom Cruise]] and [[Bryan Cranston]], Zeta-Jones played the part of a religiously conservative wife of a mayor. She was attracted to the idea of playing a "nightmare of a woman" and based the role on the politician [[Michele Bachmann]];<ref name="czjinterview"/> the film received mixed reviews and failed commercially.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rock_of_ages_2012/ |title=Rock of Ages (2012) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822053125/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rock_of_ages_2012/ |archive-date=22 August 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rockofages.htm |title=Rock of Ages (2012) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=16 August 2012 |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805222517/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rockofages.htm |archive-date=5 August 2015 }}</ref> Her final release of 2012 was ''[[Playing for Keeps (2012 film)|Playing for Keeps]]'', a romantic comedy with [[Gerard Butler]], which proved to be her third box office failure of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playing_for_keeps_2012/ |title=Playing for Keeps (2012) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821022616/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/playing_for_keeps_2012/ |archive-date=21 August 2015 }}</ref>

In 2013, Zeta-Jones took on a leading role in the crime thriller ''[[Broken City (film)|Broken City]]'', co-starring [[Mark Wahlberg]] and [[Russell Crowe]]. The film tells the story of a private detective (Wahlberg) who is hired by the mayor of New York City (Crowe) to spy on his wife (Zeta-Jones). The critic [[Todd McCarthy]] thought that Zeta-Jones "looks like class itself and nicely underplays", and Liam Lacey of ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' observed that the actress "does a fair, if incongruous, impersonation of a forties vamp".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/broken-city/review/413055 |title=Broken City Review |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=16 January 2013 |access-date=14 August 2015 |first=Todd |last=McCarthy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727061019/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/broken-city/review/413055 |archive-date=27 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Lacey, Liam |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-reviews/broken-city-flick-starring-wahlberg-crowe-and-zeta-jones-starts-off-strong/article7549703/ |title=Broken City: Flick starring Wahlberg, Crowe and Zeta-Jones starts off strong&nbsp;... |work=The Globe and Mail |date=18 January 2013 |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724013154/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-reviews/broken-city-flick-starring-wahlberg-crowe-and-zeta-jones-starts-off-strong/article7549703/ |archive-date=24 July 2015}}</ref> As with her previous few projects, it was not widely seen and received poor reviews.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/how-broken-is-mark-wahlbergs-box-office-bomb-broken-city/267382/ |title=How Broken is Mark Wahlberg's Box-Office Bomb 'Broken City'? |work=The Atlantic |date=22 January 2013 |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150723155852/http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/01/how-broken-is-mark-wahlbergs-box-office-bomb-broken-city/267382/ |archive-date=23 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/broken_city/ |title=Broken City (2013) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822050432/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/broken_city/ |archive-date=22 August 2015 }}</ref> This changed when Zeta-Jones collaborated with Soderbergh for the third time to film the critically acclaimed thriller ''[[Side Effects (2013 film)|Side Effects]]'' (2013).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_effects_2013/ |title=Side Effects (2013) |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822050438/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/side_effects_2013/ |archive-date=22 August 2015 }}</ref> Co-starring [[Channing Tatum]], [[Jude Law]] and [[Rooney Mara]], the film saw her play a mysterious psychiatrist who recommends an [[antidepressant]] drug with serious side effects. [[Peter Travers]], writing for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', called the film a "hell of a thriller, twisty, terrific and packed with surprises" and found Zeta-Jones to be "dynamite" in it.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/side-effects-20130206 |title=Side Effects |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=6 February 2013 |access-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128043703/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/side-effects-20130206 |archive-date=28 January 2016}}</ref>

In the action comedy ''[[Red 2 (film)|Red 2]]'' (2013), which served as a sequel to the 2010 film ''[[Red (2010 film)|Red]]'', Zeta-Jones played a seductive Russian double agent, alongside Bruce Willis, [[Helen Mirren]], and [[Mary-Louise Parker]]. She was drawn to the project, which follows the comic adventures of retired spies, for "the action, the humour, [and] the tongue-in-cheek quality of it".<ref name="torture">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10180595/Catherine-Zeta-Jones-I-torture-my-husband.html |title=Catherine Zeta Jones: 'I torture my husband' |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 July 2013 |access-date=14 August 2015 |first=Hannah |last=Marriott |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823174423/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10180595/Catherine-Zeta-Jones-I-torture-my-husband.html |archive-date=23 August 2015}}</ref> Writing for ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'', Justin Lowe stated that Zeta-Jones "nicely pulls off Russian spy Katja's mix of allure and menace", and with a worldwide gross of $148&nbsp;million, ''Red 2'' emerged as her most widely seen film since ''No Reservations''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lowe |first=Justin |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/red-2-film-review-584944 |title=Red 2: Film Review |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=15 July 2013 |access-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417113120/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/red-2-film-review-584944 |archive-date=17 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=red2.htm |title=Red 2 (2013) |publisher=Box Office Mojo |date=17 October 2013 |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722145637/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=red2.htm |archive-date=22 July 2015 }}</ref>

Following ''Red 2'', Zeta-Jones took another sabbatical from acting, saying: "If I'm going to leave my family for any length of time it had better be for a role that I haven't played before, [otherwise] I would prefer to stay at home".<ref name="torture"/> She found such a part opposite [[Bill Nighy]] and [[Toby Jones]] in the British war comedy film ''[[Dad's Army (2016 film)|Dad's Army]]'' (2016), based on the [[Dad's Army|television sitcom of the same name]]. She was cast as a glamorous journalist reporting on a British Home Guard platoon based in [[Walmington-on-Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Child, Ben |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/08/catherine-zeta-jones-joins-cast-of-dads-army-film |title=She's in the army now: Catherine Zeta-Jones joins cast of Dad's Army film |work=The Guardian |date=8 October 2014 |access-date=14 August 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816013103/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/oct/08/catherine-zeta-jones-joins-cast-of-dads-army-film |archive-date=16 August 2015}}</ref> Catherine Bray of ''Variety'' considered the film to be an "amiable but creaky resurrection" of the sitcom, and added that while Zeta-Jones "hits the required single note with some spirit" she was "generally underused" in it.<ref>{{cite news|author=Bray, Catherine |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/dads-army-review-1201690052/ |title=Film Review: 'Dad's Army' |work=Variety |date=27 January 2016 |access-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329134546/http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/dads-army-review-1201690052/ |archive-date=29 March 2016}}</ref>