Unfortunately the Cassevetes-style film needed Cassavetes to make it. Zonca, essaying a pell-mell verismo, produces something resembling Gloria mugged by A Woman Under the Influence.
Julia (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:47
Fresh:34
Rotten:13
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Tilda Swinton delivers a powerful performance in Julia, a tense thriller and a dark character study.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for perverse language, some violent content and brief nudity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 25 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:May 8, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Tilda Swinton stars in this intense drama as Julia, an aging alcoholic who spends her nights drinking in the company of strangers, and her days making excuses for herself. Beginning in a sleek Los... Tilda Swinton stars in this intense drama as Julia, an aging alcoholic who spends her nights drinking in the company of strangers, and her days making excuses for herself. Beginning in a sleek Los Angeles nightclub, the film shows Julia as she would like to be seen, beautiful and intoxicating. But by morning when Julia wakes once again in bed with a man she doesn’t know, the flattering light of evening has worn off, exposing the harsh reality underneath. Julia’s life knows no real friendships and no real meaning. Any shred of normalcy has slowly been eaten away by the constant pull of alcohol, which has replaced all other drives as the guiding force of Julia’s life. When Mitch (Saul Rubinek), her only friend and a recovering alcoholic, pushes her to attend an AA meeting, she meets her neighbor, Elena (Kate del Castillo). From there, Julia finds herself facing unexpected temptation as Elena shares a highly flawed plan to kidnap her own son, Tommy (Aidan Gould), from the wealthy grandfather he is living with. Elena promises money, and Julia can’t resist, embarking on a messy and sadistic journey that goes wrong at every turn and grows more complicated as her relationship with Tommy develops. French Director Eric Zonca provides an ample platform on which his lead can display her many talents. Never shying away from serious, complex roles, Swinton carries the film with her nuanced and heart-wrenching portrayal of an out-of-control drunk. While it can be hard to watch at times, viewers will find themselves sucked in as Julia’s life spins speedily downhill. With her piercing stare and undeniable screen presence, Swinton demands our attention, whether we like it or not. [More]
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Kate Del Castillo, Aidan Gould
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Kate Del Castillo, Aidan Gould, Jude Ciccolella, Bruno Bichir, Horacio Garcia Rojas, Gaston Peterson, Mauricio Moreno, Kevin Kilner, John Bellucci, Ezra Buzzington
Director: Erick Zonca
Director: Erick Zonca
Screenwriter: Aude Py, Erick Zonca
Producer: Francois Marquis, Bertrand Faivre
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
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Reviews for Julia
[Tilda Swinton] is on screen for nearly every second of this two-and-a-quarter-hour-plus film and it's a startling star turn indeed.
I recommend going to see it, but don't blame me when you feel like you've downed a fifth of vodka afterwards.
It is no easier to warm to Zonca's film than to its central character - but it is impossible to take your eyes off either. Amoral, at times brutal, and full of surprises...
Zonca has put together an ambitious and forthright story, but Swinton's contribution looks more like an actressy impersonation than a performance, and indeed Zonca's film itself looks like a European facsimile of Americana.
a tonally-consistent, lively thriller that is very much of the filmmaker's own little corner of the world
The plot is over-the-top, but Swinton makes you stay with the film long after the writer/director loses credibility.
Ms. Swinton doesn't have Ms. Rowlands' tenderness, but, damn, she has just about everything else you need or want.
The film has the focused derangement of a suicide bomber...but I for one am elated to see such brazenness, such mystery, and such crazy, highwire ambition back in the movie theater.
Zonca's Julia is a difficult movie to stomach, but entirely worth the emotional unrest it puts through you.
Will be remembered for the unforgettable performance by Swinton that drives this inventive thriller.
Weighing in at 140 minutes, it's a long, often difficult watch, but made compelling by Swinton's tour-de-force and some solid support, particularly Saul Rubinek as her sympathetic ex-boyfriend.
Watching the actor broadly wallow in human ugliness before turning into a red-maned mama lion single-handedly redeems this exercise in semigratuitous grit.
A nightmare of alcoholic bad behavior grafted to a chilling thriller ... you have no idea, scene to scene, where Zonca's desperately unstable tale will take you.
Jeered upon its premiere at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival and only now receiving a token U.S. release, Julia demands to be reassessed and reckoned with.
After a 10-year absence, French filmmaker Erick Zonca is back with a flawed but gripping English-language thriller powered by a superlative Tilda Swinton.
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