Being Julia (2004)

Stage Advice

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Being Julia on DVD.

Annette Bening returns fully charged and ready to take on the world as Julia Lambert, a famous and beloved 1930s-era London stage actress. She giggles giddily and snips with an upper crust British accent. She cries restrained stage tears, followed by gut-roiling real ones. She speaks snappy lines as if they were written specifically for the shape of her mouth. This is the kind of role that Bette Davis (All About Eve) or Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) savored in their day, and the kind that wins Oscars. But it's a performance in search of a film. As directed by Istvan Szabo (Sunshine), the film sluggishly and shapelessly meanders through its separate scenes, apparently unsure of when to cut and when to dissolve. Szabo and screenwriter Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) also introduce a silly and awkward element: the ghost of an acting teacher (Michael Gambon) who follows Julia around and criticizes her "performances." The plot centers around Julia starting an affair with a much younger man, a selfish social climber (played by the bland Shaun Evans), who breaks her heart. Julia then plots revenge on him through her rival, a younger, blonde actress (Lucy Punch). Jeremy Irons provides a sort of droll anchor as Julia's producer/director husband, and the treasured Juliet Stevenson plays the Thelma Ritter role as the star's cranky dresser who won't take any attitude. These two, along with Bening, give the movie a much-needed boost into enjoyable lightness.

Starring: Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Miriam Margolyes, Juliet Stevenson, Maury Chaykin, Rosemary Harris, Michael Gambon
Written by: Ronald Harwood, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham
Directed by: István Szabó
MPAA Rating: R for some sexuality
Language: English
Running Time: 105 minutes
Date: October 15, 2004