Being Julia (2004) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Julia is a famous actress on the London stage in the late 1930s. She is losing her passion for performing the roles she has made famous, and she is getting too old for those roles, so she is beginning to see her current existence as the end of Act One of her life, and is wondering what will happen in Act Two.

It doesn't take long for her world to change. Act Two of her life is also Act Two of the film. She falls in love with an adoring American half her age, and the rejuvenation of her sex drive stirs her passion for work as well. She abandons her plans for a vacation, and plans to work through the summer. Unfortunately, her American's infatuation turns out to be short-lived, and Julia is doubly humiliated when the young man not only dumps her, but dumps her for the beautiful young actress who seems to be the Julia of the future. She tries to turn to an old platonic friend for passion, but finds out he is gay. She then tries to turn to her aging husband, and finds that he, too, is infatuated with the up-and-coming young actress.

The final act is basically Julia's carefully orchestrated revenge. This act is the film's weakness. The revenge is limp and tepid. The result? No climax. No catharsis. The film ends up a beautiful piece of foreplay, with no actual lovemaking.

Despite the unrealized potential of the main plot, there are lots of delicious little things going on, all performed by great actors and photographed lovingly. The husband and wife (Jeremy Irons and Annette Bening) are a magnificent couple past their prime. The mother and son (Anne Bening and young Tom Sturridge) relationship is the best part of the film: the gentle and soft-spoken son is the only one who always dares to tell his mother the truth - about himself and about herself as well. Julia can also get the truth from her loyal dresser (Juliet Stevenson) if she needs to hear it. The relationship between Julia and the gay aristocrat (Bruce Greenwood) is also quite charming, as is the imaginary relationship between Julia and her dead mentor (Michael Gambon). A lot of the charm in those relationships derives from the fact that the six characters involved are all real people - even the dead guy-  and are all essentially good people. We can recognize them, we like them, and we root for them. The parts of the film that don't work as well revolve around the dramatic conflict, and involve the characters who are not so nice. Of course, the villains are not really that bad, and nothing so bad really happens to them, which is appropriate, but ... well, really boring as hell.

Annette Bening has always been an unusual actress. She's one of those whose appearance doesn't really match her aura. She is obviously beautiful, and elegant, and may have the most perfect smile in history, but we get the feeling that underneath her classic looks she is too smart and calculating for her own good, and that we should not trust her, no matter how much warmth her smile may radiate. She's not sweet enough and she's too aloof to play the "girl we love" Meg Ryan roles, but she's too damned likeable and vulnerable to play the bitchy Joan Collins roles. This leaves her typecast as the woman who seems benign until betrayed, then turns Machiavellian and insidious. As it turns out, that's exactly what she was called upon to do here. Bening is magnificent, because the role not only makes use of her greatest strengths, but does so virtually in the context of her own life story. She, like the character, is a beautiful woman getting too old to play the beautiful seductresses. Some aging actresses can drop the seductress roles, change gears and start playing ugly old crones and drunks, ala Anne Bancroft. Neither Bening nor the fictional Julia is that kind of actress. In another parallel, Bening, like Julia, is married to a man once considered one of the handsomest in the world, but now obviously much older than herself. Given a chance to act out her own life in many ways, Bening delivered a charismatic and showy performance that let her showcase what she does best. Julia's son points out in the script that his mother is always acting, onstage and off, so it's a really juicy role, and it got Bening a deserved Oscar nomination.

One other thing to mention. Completely irrelevant to the plot development, but of great interest to me, was the curious scene where a street busker did an impersonation of Neville Chamberlain, the famous "appeasement" minister. Ya know, you really don't see a lot of Neville Chamberlain impersonations among today's crowd of mimics, and all's the pity for that.

That's about all you have here. Strong date film material that the woman probably will like more than the man. (IMDb scores: 7.2 males, 7.8 females). Great costumes, elegant sets, plenty of interesting things going on, and a brilliant cast in a film which seems like a fast flyweight boxer who dazzles with his footwork but just doesn't know how to deliver the K.O.

Shakespeare in Love without the Shakespeare.

Or the Love.