C+

Not really my thing. Good performance by Annette Bening, though it was the right choice not to award her, but the story just didn't do it for me. I saw this on a plane so I wasn't overly disappointed, I can imagine renting it and being bored out of my skull though.

B


It was a more fun movie that I expected. I thought it'd just be a token plain drama, but it was a rather refreshing film. Annette Bening is simply outstanding. As much as I liked Hilary Swank's turn in Million Dollar Baby, I gotta say that Bening was robbed that Oscar night. Her performance works on many levels here. She's lively, refreshing, yet deep down sad. Being Julia is the case of a movie in which the film rises and falls with its lead and Bening delivers managing to carry the entire film on her shoulders. Simply outstanding performance.

The movie itself moves at a weird pace and I have to say that I simply couldn't get the moivations of several characters here. They were all somehow weird. Almost all the main characters were either gay/lesbian or they were cheating on each other all the time. I mean it's a bit like Closer, just...not so good? Heh. Don't know how to express it, it's just that it was very weird to me how the characters interacted here, especially the relationship between Julia and her husband (played by Jeremy Irons). I also wished the movie had more allusions and references to the time it is set in because except for the brief mentioning of Hitler and Mussolini, it's pretty much nada.

Nonetheless, after 70 minutes of a mediocre plot and an excellent lead performance, we are being given a very, very delightful finale. The final play with Julia and Avice which leads to Julia's "revenge" is just a pleasure to watch. Very well-done. Overall, a decent, if unremarkable flick with a good climax and a great performance.