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62 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Your only reality is the theatre.", February 13, 2005
"Being Julia" is a homage to the legendary hammy and self-absorbed actors of yesteryear. Set in 1930's London, the movie stars Annette Bening as Julia Lambert, a forty-five year old actress who suddenly realizes that her best years may be behind her. She is exhausted, depressed, and bored with her life. Her marriage to her business manager, played with his usual aplomb by Jeremy Irons, is for the most part, platonic. What better way to perk things up then to embark on a foolhardy affair with a man half her age? Julia takes as her lover a fawning American, played stiffly by the plastic and conventionally handsome Shaun Evans. Julia throws caution to the winds. She falls hard for the impoverished boy and plies him with expensive trinkets and cash gifts. Meanwhile, a young blonde actress, Avice Crichton, comes along to challenge Julia and the ambitious upstart threatens to upstage the older woman both on and off the stage.
"Being Julia" has a nice look, with its vintage cars, period furniture, and authentic costumes. The musical background, which includes such ditties as "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," sets the appropriate mood. However, the plot of this film is as trifling and paper thin as its shallow characters. The main reason to see "Being Julia" is to enjoy Annette Bening's amusing and effervescent performance as the ultimate diva. Julia is a talented and vivacious prima donna who appears to be vain and supremely self-confident. Bening shows the fear and the loneliness beneath Julia's haughty demeanor. Julia senses that sooner or later, her star will lose its luster. She knows in her heart that her ultimate enemy is old age; it is the one foe that she can never vanquish.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm utterly exhausted and I need holiday.", June 18, 2005
Annette Bening has one of her best roles as the aging stage star, Julia Lambert. Set in 1938 London, the film follows Julia's exploits as she attempts to find some meaning in her drama-filled life. Her relationship with her husband (Jeremy Irons) has always been "open," so she decides to have a fling with a young American (Shaun Evans, who is actually English). Unfortunately, what was meant to be a fun lark turns into something more serious, threatening to upset Julia's life completely, especially when the lovely young Avice Crichton (Judy Punch) enters the picture. However, Julia is far too strong to become a second-string player in her own life, leading to some delicious retribution.
"Being Julia" is a very enjoyable movie with some spark and playfulness not always seen in period films. Bening of course is quite stunning, and she brilliantly portrays her character's late-in-life personal growth. She deservedly won a slew of acting awards for the role, including a Golden Globe (Best Actress - Musical or Comedy), and was nominated for an Oscar. However, the entire cast is quite good, especially Miriam Margolyes and Juliet Stevenson. The screenplay by celebrated writer Ronald Harwood (Oscar winner for "The Pianist") is solid, managing to balance some very nice comic moments with straight drama. The script, incidentally, is based on W. Somerset Maugham's "Theatre" - I haven't read the book, but the movie was good enough that I want to read it soon.
I often enjoy movies that take a peak behind the scenes of the theater world, and "Being Julia" is a solid addition to the genre. Hungarian director Istvan Szabo has been in this territory before with the Glenn Close vehicle "Meeting Venus." His work here is more accomplished than in that movie, but his direction still tends to be a bit clunky at times. In particular, he sometimes directs scenes such that a laugh line is cut off somehow; the editing might be at fault in some cases though. Overall though, "Being Julia" is a very good film that is likely to appeal to theater fans as well as viewers who enjoy period pieces. Highly recommended.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"When am I acting and when am I myself?", December 6, 2004
Being Julia is not only remarkable for Annette Bening's sensationally nuanced performance as aging stage diva, Julia Lambert, but also for its gorgeous recreation of the pre-war London theatre world. With an astute eye for period detail, and some lush production values, Being Julia brings to life a world of glamorous drawing rooms, enchanting theatres, plumy British accents, and some of the most beautiful period-appropriate costumes that one will ever see in a movie. Of course, the multi-faceted talent of Bening is the glue that binds all this together with a performance that is easily one of the year's best. Bening plays Julia with such a quick, high-spirited, and irascible charm, that even in her darkest moments, the viewer cannot help but root for her.
The story begins with Julia at the height of her fame. She has plenty of money, lots of adoring fans, a teenage son, and she's married to Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons), her director and manager. While sturdy professionally and good companions, Michael and Julia's marital relations are unfortunately far from intimate. With a penchant for the "terribly modern," they both seek physical solace outside the marriage. Julia lets Lord Charles (a delightful Bruce Greenwood), wine and dine her, and while she's terribly keen on him, he seems reluctant to become involved romantically. Julia also has the spirit of her cantankerous old acting coach (Michael Gambon) to keep her company, and he follows her around, whispering sound advice in her ear, while watching her outsmart her adversaries. Juliet Stevenson - marvelous in a low-key supporting role - plays her maid, and also offers Julia companionship and consolation in times of need.
Feeling unsatisfied and worrying about becoming older, Julia eventually falls for Tom Fennel (a wonderful Shaun Evans), a stage-struck young American and self confessed snob. Tom's motivations are far from romantically genuine, and perhaps he's just a callous, careless, and coldhearted gigolo. Julia doesn't care, because at least for a while, their affair gives Julia a second taste of youth. Forever the actress, Julia throws herself at him with a mixture of reckless abandon and cynical calculation, and it is to the credit of Bening that the viewer never really knows when Julia is acting or not. Things get complicated when people start to talk, and her husband begins to think that she's having an affair. It doesn't help that Tom is also stricken with Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), an up-an-coming but hysterically awful young actress who wants a supporting role in Julia's new play.
Being Julia is all about the sorrows and joys of being devoted to one's art. The film inevitably raises the question of where does one draw the line between art and life. Julia has become dissatisfied with acting, she's bored and frustrated, but she soon realizes that acting is ultimately her life. As she plots her revenge against those who are trying to usurp her, she realizes that she must use the one thing that she knows best - her acting talent. Ms. Bening owns this film, and as she gracefully gravitates from relaxed humour to steely composure, then onto histrionic distress, one gets the feeling that she'll probably be accepting the gold statuette come Oscar night. When the wonderful climactic final scene turns the action on its head, the viewer will finally see that Julia (and Bening), while remarkably triumphant, are also absolutely sensational. Mike Leonard December 04.
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~ Mychael Danna
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by W. Somerset Maugham
