Julia

I have been an admirer of Tilda Swinton,since I first saw her in some of Derek Jarman's films,and moving on to acting in some mighty toothsome film fare after Jarman's untimely death due to complications from AIDS. Not only can she take on some roles in what could be considered "difficult" films,but she can fake an American accent quite well. Erick Zonka ('The Dreamlife Of Angels',The Little Thief') directs & co writes the screenplay (with Aude Py)about a self destructive 40 something,full blown alcoholic party girl,named Julia who's party girl days should have been behind her years ago. When she is ordered to attend an AA meeting by one of her best friends (played by veteran Canadian actor,Saul Rubinek), she meets up with a psychologically disturbed woman named Elena (played to the max by Kate Del Castillo),who wants Julia to kidnap her eight year old son from her Grandfather. Julia,with nothing to lose (and equally nothing to gain)is at first reluctant to go along with this scheme,but eventually goes along for the ride. What transpires is a botched kidnapping that goes from bad to worse to truly unbearable. Toss in an unintended trip to Mexico,and watch the fire get turned up to full 10. Comparisons to John Cassavete's film, 'Gloria' will be noted. Rated 'R'by the MPAA,this film contains pervasive raunchy language (both in English & Spanish),adult content & nudity & graphic,bloody violence. Leave the kiddies home

Who gives us a truly remarkable, all-out, Oscar-worthy, showcase performance as a living-in-denial, abrasive-mouthed, fortyish and usually sporting that oh-so-disheveled-buy- me-a-few-drinks-and -I'll-go-home-with-you -but-won't-remember- or-care-in-the-morning- out-and-out-lush-look...with serious stability/maturity issues...And that, ladies and gentlemen, pretty much sums it up!

Swinton practically carries the whole movie on her more-often-than-not -slipping-out-of-her-dress shoulders! JULIA, both the movie and most of all, the character, will continue to ricochet around your brain, tumultuously, long after you've reached the credits. KUDOS to Ms. Swinton! Even before her Oscar winning role as the anal-retentive executive you love to hate in "Michael Clayton", she seemed like a very competent actor...and, of course, afterwards, a truly excellent one. With her ground-breaking, perhaps best of the year, performance in JULIA, there can be absolutely no doubt her acting skills are nothing short of legendary! The only other actor who could hold her own on camera with Swinton was Kate del Castillo (Under the Same Moon), who turns in a brief but incredibly intense performance as the disturbed mother.

JULIA, the character, reminds me of how the Supreme Court used to define pornography, "Totally and utterly devoid of any redeeming social value". What is truly mystical about Ms. Swinton's performance is that despite portraying a detestable and neurotically unpredictable human being, she manages to plant a seed of expectation and compassion in the viewer's mind. Throughout the film, there is a flicker of hope that, somehow, someway, things will manage to right themselves. JULIA certainly manages to pull the proverbial rug out from under your feet on more than one occasion. My hands are tied when it comes to discussing the final 3 or 4 minutes of the film.(NO SP___LERS HERE, NO SIREE!) but you absolutely mustn't give up on JULIA beforehand. Please, be patient! Everything hinges on that final scene! Soon afterwards, upon reflection, the real implications will remind you that things aren't always what they seem! Immediately after viewing JULIA, 6****** was my initial reaction. After all my cerebral dust has settled, JULIA rates a rock-solid 8********! DEC.29-21.

Julia (2008)

A hard edged tale of a woman pushed by her own desperation into crimes over her head. Tilda Swinton lets it rip here, in a vivid, color, cinema-verite style that depends as much on making you uneasy as anything. The characters are so believable, and the sequence of events stumbles along with such perfect inelegance (to say the least), you hate to see it all because what happens is pretty awful.

The ground covered is a believable version of what an ordinary person with seemingly good moral structure is driven to by circumstance. In this case, it's about being pushed by her own sorry life to do something that breaks out of it. But it also begins as a curious compassion, a genuine skepticism overwhelmed by the possibilities. By thinking, why not? And of course, why not then becomes all too clear. It's this sense that it could by a stretch happen to you or me (hopefully not, but in theory) that gives the movie its chilling penetration.

And the ending, as sensational as it gets, is a logical outcome of where we began, and there is a kind of victory, but it's no Hollywood ending, and that's a huge relief. Rather, it's as if you went along with a woman for the adventure of her life and it's the real thing, nothing held back, including disbelief, fear, violence, and sometimes, thankfully, a glimmer of hope. Very very well made--acting, writing, filming--but not everyone's cup of tea because it is so unsettling.

Lately, I have become a big fan of Tilda Swinton. It started off with her villain stand-out role in The Chronicles of Narnia, then I saw her alongside George Clooney in Michael Clayton, where she stole her scenes. Recently, I saw her in her best work yet, We Need To Talk About Kevin, so it was just a matter of time before I saw Julia, and it's plot interested me.

Julia is a pretty straight-forward crime thriller. It has a lot of twists and turns, and it always remains entertaining and intriguing. You want to know what's going to happen to Swinton's character and the boy she is taking for ransom. Julia becomes more and more likable as the film progresses and we stop seeing her as a villain. Swinton does a magnificent job too. I have never seen her play a role like this before, and it's without a doubt her showiest performance, since Julia is the showiest role. Credit has to be given to the way she so casually makes Julia someone we actually root for as the film goes on. Not many actors would have been able to do this, but she does it gracefully, and she gets better as the film goes along because instead of just a cartoon that we first saw in the beginning, we see a woman with fears and real feelings as well.

Now, the film isn't perfect... far from it. It feels sort of disjointed. Like I said, Swinton easily slips into another persona, but without any help from the script. Many films make it really believable the way a character slips into different attitudes, but this film doesn't really. Swinton does sort of transition it, but behind her incredible performance, you can easily see that the script expects us to believe the way this character starts acting differently. Too fast, without any real depth and not subtle, or even fitting to the film. Still, t's plausible barely just because of Swinton.

The problems still keep arising though, especially when we enter Mexico. I never really have a problem with the way Mexicans are portrayed, since I don't take offense easily, but this rubbed me the wrong way. Their manner of speaking, their actual language. I'm not saying it's completely off the mark, but something about that storyline upset me. Maybe it has to do with the thin characterization, or the execution, or the direction. All I know is that what only kept me watching was finding out all of Julia's story. I am also not one to dismiss endings because they aren't "complete", but here it didn't work well. I wanted it to finish, for it to reveal the fate of this character. This sort of abrupt ending only works specifically for certain powerful films, and since this isn't, it just left me unsatisfied.

Overall, worth a watch for Swinton's magnificent performance, and I was actually more entertained than my rating will suggest, but the film is full of flaws within its story. A Breaking Bad story not nearly as engaging or as complicated as it wishes, but still not bad at all and remains a solid film. This feels like the performance Swinton won the Oscar for, just because of how extreme it is.

I could not like this film more. Yes, it's messy. Yes, it's extreme... but it is precisely for these reasons that I adore it. In this age of one slick, bland, impeccably crafted and neutered blockbuster suppository after the other and at a time when so-called independent films are so often just show reels for wanna-be future suppository crafters, this is a breath of pure, animalistic, delightfully anarchic, fresh air. It is truly cinematic, ambitious, original and brilliant. The dialogue is a bit weak in places and it feels like it was edited in a rush, but those are my only complaints. Swintons performance is full of fantasy and compassion and anyone who has ever spent time around hard-core drinkers will know that it is 100% realistic. The entire experience of watching this film is like a binge weekend for the viewer: All threads unravel, reason becomes skewed and when sobriety finally kicks in, you are left with nothing. I was swept along in a complete state of reverie and found myself breathless and wishing it could go on longer when it ended. The colourful mix of characters and landscapes are beautifully framed and lit. The whole thing is like a bizarre European fairytale of what America is like. Oscars for best Actress and cinematography please!