
With everything going on [gestures vaguely], I have been retreating more and more into shows that are uncomplicated, devoid as much as possible of anything remotely stressful, because my delicate mental state cannot handle it. So, while I was doing the Woman Crush Wednesday on Juliet Stevenson, it reminded me that we’ve never covered Being Julia (2004), starring Annette Bening and based on the novel by W. Somerset Maughm. It’s been two decades since I’ve seen this film, but I remembered it was light, pretty, and fun, so I decided to give it another watch.
Set in early 1930s London, Annette Bening plays Julia Lambert, a 40-something star of the stage who has reached the apex of her career. She easily scores the best roles, which land her rave reviews. She’s married to her manager, played by Jeremy Irons, and the two have an “understanding” about their marriage which allows both of them to see other people. Julia has a number of lovers and admirers, from the highest levels of society, but she becomes smitten with a young American man, Tom (played by Shaun Evans), who flatters her into bed almost right off the bat.
Julia is bored, you see. Her life is fabulous, yes, but it’s chugging along without anything going off script. Against her own better judgement, she decides to embrace the high of this May-December relationship, despite cautioning from pretty much everyone she knows that’s going to end badly. What I really loved about this film is that it actually doesn’t end badly for Julia. Sure, she gets her heart broken when she realizes that it was just a farce from the get-go, but she turns it around on Tom and ends up triumphant at the end. I need more of this positive middle-aged woman energy in my life, you know?
What makes things even better are the costumes, designed by John Bloomfield, are simply stunning. He captures the elegance of the early ’30s effortlessly.






Have you watched Being Julia (2004)? WELL WHY NOT?? Go watch it and tell us about it in the comments!
Find this frock flick at:
OMG, Bening in “The Grifters,” which is so noir it could almost be a costume flick. I also think of her as the female Rickman (or he’s the male Bening): brilliant performers who’ve never won an Oscar.
I’ll be watching it now! Thanks!
Same!
FYI, Benning is a grad of SF State, my alma matter!
I was a theater major at the same time as Annette. She was amazing even at that young age.
… having mostly seen Mr Shaun Evans in ENDEAVOUR, I can only say “He plays an American?!?” (This is what happens when a hard-working actor plays a spectacularly English icon of British Detective Fiction for multiple seasons, you know: one forgets he not only has played other characters, one almost forgets that it’s actually his job to do so).
Also, it’s always hard to tell whether an Annette Bening character is glam because she’s a glamorous character or if it’s because she’s being played by the lovely Annette!
I saw it in the cinema when it came out and loved it. I’ve watched Endeavour from early on but didn’t realise it was Shaun Evans in Being Julia until recently! I definitely have to rewatch it.
FYI – that’s Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard, not Sunset Strip. Though I’d kinda like to see her as a mysterious woman who comes to 77 Sunset Strip to hire Stu, Jeff, and Kookie! In an Jackie Kennedy suit with a hat tipped over one eye….
There’s very little I love more than a happy mistake – a small error that suggests, for example, a truly hilarious crossover (‘Norma Desmond walks into 77 Sunset Strip’ is an excellent example).
I love the scene at end where she happily chugs a beer at a swanky high end restaurant after she has her multiple triumphs.