Annette Bening, Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Gambon. A delightful comedy/drama set in 1930s London, where a beloved actress falls for a handsome American and begins a passionate summer fling. But she soon learns that he is just a social climber with his sights set on the next up-and-coming starlet. 2004/color/105 min/R.Annette Bening's outstanding performance is the best reason to see
Being Julia, a highly melodramatic adaptation of the 1937 novel
Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham. With a prestigious pedigree (director Istvan Szabo and screenwriter Ronald Harwood share impressive theatrical backgrounds) and a stellar cast including Jeremy Irons, Bruce Greenwood, and Juliet Stevenson, the film's backstage and onstage theatrics take place in pre-World War II London, when the venerable actress Julia (Bening) fends off middle-age by romancing a stage-struck young Ameri! can (Shaun Evans) in a calculated attempt to retain some youthful vitality while airing her own dirty laundry onstage in a glorious act of divine diva behavior. Treating life and theater as one big play in which she's the perpetual star, Julia's nothing if not a master thespian, and Bening's got all the chops to keep her in the spotlight. If the film isn't quite worthy of Bening's excellence, at least it gives her performance the showcase it deserves.
-- Jeff Shannon
3:14 PM
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