Directed by Istvan Szabo

?Being Julia? was definitely a pleasant surprise that I wasn?t expecting. I thought I would see a boring ?arty film? that would send me into the land of slumber before it reached its conclusion but what I witnessed was an enjoyable film that had me enthralled as the story of London diva Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) unfolded. The film is based on the book ?Theatre? by W. Somerset Maugham and takes us back to a time when theatrical actresses were more highly regarded than their movie making counterparts. As Julia puts it early on in the film ?Real actresses don?t make movies!?

Julia Lambert is the toast of 1930?s London, just before the onset of WW2, and the star of all the successful theatrical performances but she is getting tired of her life and tells her theatrical producer husband Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons) that she wants to take a holiday. It is not long after that that she is introduced to a smitten fan, young American Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), who tells her he has seen her current play ?Farewell My Love? many times and admires her as an actress. Her only friend Lord Charles (Charles Greenwood) tells her that he can?t see her anymore because people are starting to talk. Julia agrees to go on a date with young Tom and it is not long after this that they begin having an affair.

All of a sudden Julia?s whole attitude changes, her acting lifts up a notch and she tells Michael she doesn?t want a break any more. She begins exercising and enjoying life again and eventually meets with Charles and discusses a role she may take on as an older woman having an affair with a younger man to gauge his opinion on the whole thing. His reply ?Oh, what a farce!? surely wasn?t the answer she was looking for.

Dolly, Michael?s business partner, tells him about the gossip circulating about Julia and Tom and calls Tom a ?gold digger?. Michael reacts by taking Julia and their son Roger (Tom Sturridge) away for two weeks in the English countryside and invites Tom to come along too. Tom soon meets and falls for pretty Avice Crichton (Lucy Punch), a fellow gold digger keen on making it big in the theatre and poor Julia soon begins to realise what a fool she has been.

Tom convinces Julia to see a play Avice is starring in and eventually gets her an audition with Michael, and then a role in Julia?s new play ?Nowadays?. After holidaying in Jersey to visit her mother and learning a little secret about Lord Charles, which didn?t come as a shock to me I must admit, Julia returns to rehearsals for the play a changed woman yet again keen on putting the spotlight firmly on the rising star Avice. That is, until she learns a little secret from Roger about Avice, and the way she turns the tables on her in the final scenes are just brilliant and well worth the wait.

The film also stars Juliet Stevenson as Evie, Julia?s personal attendant. She is excellent in her minor role and so too is Michael Gambon as Jimmie Langton, Julia?s acting mentor who has been dead for 15 years but who Julia always reserves a place for at the dinner table just ?in case he drops by?. He keeps popping up throughout the movie as she remembers advice he has given her in the past.

The star of this film, and rightly so, is Annette Bening. Her English accent is just spot on and her performance was worthy of the Golden Globe she received at the beginning of the year. It is just a pity she didn?t add an Oscar to her trophy cabinet. She looked beautiful in most scenes even with her wrinkles and allowed herself to look a little worn out and haggard in others. Thank goodness that she actually allows herself to look her age and hasn?t fallen into the botox trap.

The only annoying component of the film was Tom Sturridge?s portrayal of her twenty- something son Roger. I just found the constant reference to his parents as ?mummy and daddy? a little annoying even if that was true to the era they were depicting. I don?t know I wasn?t around then.

Overall, I though the film was wonderful and one I would recommend to others, even if, like me, they aren?t a fan of the non Hollywood blockbuster films.

THE EXTRAS

There are a few extras on offer here. They are:
? Audio Commentary from the director Istvan Szabo as well as Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons.
? ?Behind the Scenes? featurette (9 minutes) The main actors talk about the film?s story and their characters. The main behind the scene players (director etc) also have a bit of a chat. It was interesting to see that Annette Bening was an American playing a Brit and Shaun Evans was a Brit playing an American. They must have some excellent dialogue coaches on set.
? Making of ?Being Julia? (5 minutes) Only a short featurette with no commentary, only some captions to let us know what is happening. The internal shots for this film were actually shot in Budapest. I learnt this from this featurette. The outside scenes were shot in London though.
? Deleted Scenes (5 minutes) About four scenes that have no explanation or titles. They are all reasonable scenes and were probably deleted to keep the film at a watchable length.
? Trailers There are trailers for the following films: Blind Spot - Hitler?s Secretary, The Fog of War, Riding Giants and Warriors of Heaven and Earth. I haven?t heard of any of these and am not interested in seeing any of them either.

CONCLUSION

Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is the toast of 1930?s London and the star of all the successful theatrical performances but she is getting tired of her life and tells her theatrical producer husband Michael Gosselyn (Jeremy Irons) that she wants to take a holiday. All that changes when she is introduced to Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), a young American. It is not long after this that Julia finds herself in his bed. Is this love or is Tom just a ?gold digger?? Will Julia be made to look a fool by this brash young American? This is not the sort of film I usually choose to watch but I must admit that I rather enjoyed the Julia Lambert journey that unfolded before my eyes and I highly recommend it to others too.