ThrillMessage
There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.
Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Kaelan Mccaffrey
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
evanston_dad
"Being Julia" is an old-fashioned love song to the theat-ah and the divas who are to be found there. But even more, it's a love letter to Annette Bening, who plays the title diva in an Oscar-nominated performance that makes you wish the film would go on forever.This is pretty lightweight stuff, but Bening is sensational. You can tell she's having a blast, and her enthusiasm for the project and her character is contagious. Nothing else in the film matters except for her, which is as it should be. Certainly her Julia would have it no other way.Grade: A-
Danusha_Goska Save Send Delete
This was one of those movies -- once you've seen the coming attraction, or even just the movie poster, you know the entire plot.Annette Benning will swan and project and play the diva; Jeremy Irons will speak in plummy tones and wear ascots; there will be an affair, heartbreak, bon mots, and a happy ending of some sort.There will be pearls and furs and character actresses, like Miriam Margolyes, to huff and puff and blow the plot along. There will be vintage automobiles and cucumber sandwiches.What there won't be is any surprise.So, I was mostly, politely, bored.But then I saw something that broke my heart and threw the whole thing into mighty ironic contrast: Juliet Stevenson, there, in the shadowed background, in the drudge housedress, carrying a tray of snacks, playing a maid.Juliet Stevenson!!! Juliet Stevenson stole my heart forever in 1990's "Truly, Madly, Deeply." I hadn't seen an actress that captivating since watching Golden Age movies on TV as a kid. She had all the heart of an Ingrid Bergman, all the intelligence and fire of a Bette Davis.I left the theater pulsing with anticipation to see more, and more, movies with Juliet Stevenson in the lead, playing fascinating, funny, full of heart female roles.And ... those movies never came. Stevenson is not a blow-up doll. Her nose is a micrometer longer than female stars' noses are allowed to be; her jaw is strong. And, so, she has been denied her well-earned chance at stardom, and those of us who love her, and who love seeing intelligent, talented women on screen, have been cheated.What do we get to look at? We get to look at women who look like animated blow-up dolls, and we get to look at butt-ugly male stars with no discernible talent other than being butt ugly. You know exactly what male stars I'm talking about; I don't have to name them here. But one of them has starred in romantic scenes opposite incredibly beautiful women like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet. Yeah, him.Men are comforted: you can be ugly and get the girl. Women are punished: you can be as talented as Juliet Stevenson, yet you have to play the maid in the background with the drudge dress and the snack tray if you look like anything other than a blow-up doll.So, that's what "Being Julia" became about for me. Some have compared it to "All About Eve." Look, in 1950, the terrific role of Margo Channing when to Bette Davis, who was not a great beauty, but who was a great actress.We need more casting like that today.
Henry Fields
A mature theatre actress gets through a midlife crisis, she feels old and tries to find the fountain of the eternal youth in the arms of a young admirer.The setting of "Being Julia" is just wonderful and the movie has touches of drama and comedy. Anyway, it wouldn't anything to write home about if it wasn't for Anette Benning... To think that Reese Witherspoon won the Oscar instead of Anette makes me sick. The character that Benning plays has only a fault: who wouldn't fall in love with her? No matter if you're 23 or 56. There's nothing rare about that, is there? Meet Julia, you'll fall in love with her.*My rate: 7/10
lattetzar
The only reason I picked this film at the local library is because I had seen all of the other films they had to offer. From the very beginning I thought I was in for something rather lame, (The opening title sequence leaves something to be desired in the form of design.) As the film progressed I found myself pleasantly surprised. Being Juila turned out to be a wonderful film. I enjoyed the pace, the costumes, the humor, the writing, and the sets. I definitely will recommend this one to my friends. My roommate and I thought it was a bit ironic that Annette Bening plays a British actress, while Shaun Evans of Liverpool, England plays an American fanatic of Julia Lambert. Additionally, the film has made me think about the roles that we play in life. It makes me wonder which characters I play are actually me.
