Mendes's performance in Training Day marked a turning point in her career and led to parts in the commercially successful films 2 Fast 2 Furious and Hitch Mendes started her acting career after a talent manager saw her photograph in a friend's portfolio. Mendes was disappointed in her performance and soon hired an acting coach. Her role in Training Day led to larger film parts and Mendes soon established herself as a Hollywood actress.
While her sole film release in was the crime comedy All About the Benjamins , in which she played the girlfriend of a con artist, Mendes had roles in four studio feature films released throughout Mendes reunited with Denzel Washington for the thriller Out of Time , in which she played the soon-to-be ex-wife of a well-respected chief of police.
The film was a moderate commercial success, [ 20 ] and Roger Ebert , in his review for the film, described Mendes' role as a "curiously forgiving character, who feels little rancor for the straying [husband] and apparently still likes him; maybe there would have been more suspense if she were furious with him". She starred as the love interest of a professional dating consultant Will Smith , in her next film, Hitch , USA Today described it as "her best screen role to date", [ 22 ] and Detroit Free Press remarked: "Smith and Mendes are terrific together.
He brings her game up so high you'd think she has had as many good parts as Smith. Club described as a "vapid sexpot". Critic Peter Travers found the film to be "defiantly, refreshingly unhip" and noted that "sizzle comes naturally" from Mendes. She also played the femme fatale Sand Saref in 's The Spirit , based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name by Will Eisner.
It received lackluster reviews from critics, who deemed it melodramatic, unoriginal, and sexist. While the film found a limited audience in theaters, it garnered acclaim, appearing on many top ten lists of the year. Thank God I did. In , Mendes appeared in an uncredited cameo in Fast Five , reprising her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious.
