Julia (2009)

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Julia (Tilda Swinton) is a drunk...a falling down drunk in fact. She is a total mess. She's in such a mess that she loses her job, drinks constantly and wakes up with god knows who next to her. At an AA meeting, her very odd neighbor, Elena, meets up with her and offers her a proposition....kidnap her son from the grandfather and she'll pay Julia $50,000 for the child! Julia has her own plans but almost from the very beginning, Julia screws up....and this happens so often that it's shocking to see she's not caught immediately!For Tilda Swinton, "Julia" was a great film. It allowed her a great chance to act, as she was THE center of attention the entire movie and it also gave her the opportunity to play a really unusual character. So, as far as she goes, she did a good job and should be proud of her achievement. Unfortunately, while it is an interesting portrait of a screwy character, the film is also overly long and could have used some editing. This is especially apparent after the kidnapping, where the film just seems to meander. I found myself just wanting it to end after a while...even in spite of Swinton's great job in the lead.

One thing I learned from this film: stay away from AA meetings or alcholics. Sorry, but this is an incredibility stupid and unbelievable film. Everyone associated with AA in the film is really twisted and sick,even the lone person that trys to disuade Julia from kidnapping isn't very forcefull. The crime is taken with as much seriousness as perhaps someone stealing a petty cash account from their job. The film may have worked if it took itself seriously as a character study of how dangerous an unrecovered alcoholic can be, but it elvolves into somekind of chase film that resembles the 1980 "Gloria", with "Gloria" being a far more pausable film. Also, in Gloria, the main character did not set out to commit any crime, the boy was thrust into her life. Oh, did I forget to mention how nicely Mexican people are portrayed in this film, they are either psychoic or ruthless criminals. Hard to believe in 2009, by a politically correct French filmmaker no less, could an entire counrty and people be treated so shabby. The writers and director should be ashamed of themselves.

"Julia" starring Tilda Swinton has an excellent first 1/4 going for it. It was on par with Leaving Las Vegas which surely it draws some parallels to until (big spoiler) the whole kidnapping fiasco. For me at this point the film dives into main-stream shtick ceasing to carry the careful nuances of a character development into unfortunately a gimmicky, sometimes, violent, but clichéd chase film. At this point the movie pretty much lost me full force. There may be an original story director Erick Zonca is following, but as the director, was hoping he elected to keep the title character more static in an introspective investigation rather than a moving and jarring rush and hullabaloo. By the end of the movie, the thing has become a mess a distant whimper of how interesting it started out as.

An outstanding film, Julia is full of improbable plot twists, failures, missteps, and desperation.Tilda Swinton stars as a woman at the end of her rope and probably, at the end of her life. Her despair and desperation in the throes of alcoholism are so real and so painful to watch. Julia is in pain from which she'll never recover, pain she's stopped trying to recover from because it's just too hard. Then Julia gets an offer she can't refuse. A sane, rational person would recognize the insanity and illogic from the beginning, but Julia is not sane or rational. And so the journey begins.Fantastic acting by the entire cast, and Tilda Swinton shines above them all. Gritty and realistic sets that reflect the characters in them to perfection. Relentless plot twists and turns that leave you wondering when Julia will take that final step of desperation. A slow blossoming of tenderness in a swamp of despair, an unexpected scene of real love where you thought love could never be, and then, you're thrown off the train at last.Highly recommended.