Being Julia

Busy being Mrs Warren Beatty for the last couple of years, Annette Bening reconfirms what a fine actress she is in Istvan Szabo's overwrought melodrama, Being Julia. Based on W Somerset Maugham's novel Theatre, Being Julia tells of the slowly dawning realisation on theatre darling Julia (Bening) that life is not always going to be encores and standing ovations. Moving into her fifth decade, lines are beginning to deepen on Julia's face and her marriage to theatre director Michael (Irons) has lost its spark. Seeking solace in the arms of others, she eventually falls for a young American, Tom (Evans), who holds her in the highest regard. But is it love, infatuation or simple opportunism that is Tom's motivation?

It's not hard to draw comparisons between Julia's position and that which many Hollywood actresses find themselves in once their looks begin to fade. In Being Julia, Bening delivers a performance that the film doesn't quite deserve. Careering between aloofness and a sort of forced intimacy, the tone never finds consistency, meaning that for all Bening's solid work in the title role, Being Julia feels a little too self-important and detached for its own good.