Being Julia (2004)

Synopsis: A middle-aged actress falls in love with a younger man. Based on the novella "Theatre" by W. Somerset Maugham (1st ed. 1947).

Appraisal: This is another of my embarrassing past mistakes, now hopefully corrected. At the time of my first viewing I panned it so completely as to state that it was one of the worst films I had seen in a good while. Well, aside from my stupidity, I owe that misjudgement probably to the constant giggling of the main character (what's with all that, I still ask), and to what I found then to be a silly ending (but in fact isn't all that silly, just a little implausible); add to that the fact that there isn't a single lovable major character in the entire movie and my confusion is partially explained. It's a perfectly enjoyable film actually, and the key to appreciating it is perhaps in the title itself, as the film is centered on the psychology of the central character; a secondary key to it is of course the opening lesson from her late teacher, which is rebuked at the film's closing -- actors don't dissociate themselves from the surrounding world, but rather incorporate it in various ways.

Rating: 57 (up from 18)