Being Julia - 4

The last twenty minutes seem somewhat valuable, while the stuff before it seems to not really amount to much. A lot of people will probably see this film because Annette Bening was nominated for an Oscar in her role. While she does a good job, I think actors like seeing themselves portrayed in films especially as heroes and heroines, or at least in a very positive light (Much the same way that journalists are good at creating a buzz about writing and journalism). Near the end, Julia's son makes the most interesting point of discussion in the movie, which is the masks and roles that we have in our life and how we are actors in our own lives. This statement is not taken very seriously by the film, but the audience can easily start to see the doubt in the question: who is our "real" self? Or do we memorize the scripts and merely use others so that we can be the star of the show (For a better film that address these issues see About a Boy - 7). Although it engages these good questions it does so on a somewhat shallow level, which is disappointing.