milagro1975 Good news first. Annette Benning is good here, as well as Irons and the actor playing Roger. Bad news: they didn't have much to play actually as the script had butchered the story and the characters. All the irony, sardonic narratives, Julia's inward comments were left out along with a great deal of the story and some terrific scenes. For instance, hilarious seduction episode between Julia and Charles from the book - why substitute it with that pale explanation? and just for the record, Charles wasn't gay, he was apparently impotent. Well, the script made him impotent as a character since one can hardly recollect his part and what he's for there anyway. Same goes for Evie and Dolly, they just don't mean anything. There's not much of Michael, too, obviously because they left out the complete "before" section of the book. And it mattered. Tom is OK though slightly inconsistent. We don't see his development from an obscure admirer to corrupted social climber. Neither the development of Julia's feelings for him (apart from her constant giggling). All in all, better get yourself the book.

jahan-bahareh I am not a person to watch movie a lot, and you don't have to be a fan of this movie. i just picked this movie from library to do my presentation in class.This a really romantic, comedy and exciting movie that made me to watch it five times. Julia was a real famous, pretty actress woman that showed to her audience who really getting old that age is not a reason to give up. The point of the movie was save your confidence in any age because after she found out "Avice" who took her two love men she started to make herself strong to show her she is not a person to put her down in her life."Being Julia" is a delightful tale about theatrical life, manipulation, love and revenge.

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.

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.