Discuss this masterpiece "BEING JULIA" (with Annette Benning)

I liked it when I saw it years ago, "ya dir-ee slat!"

Julia

I have seen it.

I don't remember anything about it.

Though I do remember not liking it.

Okay, so what to think of the character of Julia? More sinned against or sinning? (If this isn't too trite a question.) It was good seeing Rita Tushingham even in a small part. I wonder how the son will turn out.

Bening was great in this but it never rose above "vanity project" status.

I loved the film and I thought Annette Benning was great. That was another year she was the Oscar front-runner for Best Actress and lost again to Hilary Swank (for her performance in Million Dollar Baby). Being Julia had an 'All About Eve' vibe to it which really appealed to me. Julia got the type of revenge on the upstart trying to screw her over that you wish Margo Channing had got on Eve Harrington, even though I'll always believe that by the end of that film, Margo was about to live her best life as Bill's wife and Eve was about to get majorly screwed over by Phoebe and possibly Addison DeWitt.

I seem to remember it starts with her driving in London in the 1930s bumping over speed humps - they didn't have speed humps in the 1930s. It was so dumb.

Istvan Szabo is one of my favorite directors! He has directed some of really good films:

Age of Illusions

Father

Bors

Confidence

Mephisto

Colonel Redl

Hanussen

Meeting Venus

Sweet Emma, Dear Böbe

Sunshine

Taking Sides

Being Julia

The Door

Final Report

Bening (w/ one "n") was great. But the film had no reason to exist except as a container for her show-off performance. They were never going to give that film an Oscar.

It is a very minor work.

Why another project about Julia Child? Benning looks nothing like her.