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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

BEING JULIA (2004)

Istvan Szabo has made something of a specialty in backstage stories, so he must have seemed a natural for this adaptation of Somerset Maugham’s THEATRE. Alas, he’s an overrated art house hack whose best films play like one missed opportunity after another. This one is tired from conception. Annette Bening works too hard trying to channel a sex/arrogance/glamor combo; where’s Diana Rigg when we need her? And with all the men coming off as gay, the plot doesn’t make much sense. There’s nothing wrong with hand-me-down Molnar, check out Maggie Smith & Michael Caine in Neil Simon’s CA SUITE. But this film, awarded & critically applauded, deservedly tanked commercially. It gives good taste a bad name.

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