Julia Lambert (Annette Bening) is a 1930s London stage diva past her prime who thinks the world revolves around her. She struts across a room like it's a stage and manipulates people in her life like props.
Annette Bening deserves to have the world revolve around her after her tour-de-force turn in 'Being Julia,' which is the best performance by an actress this year. She takes a character that could have been showy and overblown and fills her with depth and complexity; it is nothing less than astonishing.
The movie itself is a blast, as well. When the film opens, we see Julia years before fame, being coached by her mentor, Jimmy Langdon (Michael Gambon). Years later, not only is Julia approaching washed-up status on stage, but she detects something missing in her own life when an American admirer (half her age) named Tom comes to town.
Some elements of the film are far from original. Julia is surrounded by the obligatory ambivalent husband, the ex-lover/confidant and the blonde who may eclipse her stardom. Even her May-December romance has been done before.
It doesn't matter. Ronald Harwood's screenplay, with its subtle plot twists and unexpected turns, and the exuberant supporting performances by Jeremy Irons, Juliet Stevenson and Shaun Evans make it all seem new.
This is Bening's film, from start to finish, and it's never more clear than in the climax, the single most delicious act of backstage-comedy revenge since Margot Channing's gas tank was siphoned in 'All About Eve.'
Of course, I don't want to ruin it for you. This is a movie with pleasures at every turn: Bening's riotous performance, tender moments that reveal the need beneath her artifice, and the joy of seeing an actress past 40 sink her teeth into a role that someone half her age would kill for. In a word, Being Julia is wonderful.
Being Julia plays at 4 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Athena Art Series. Few films this quarter will top it.
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Matt Burns
