Julia - A Review by P M Josse

Julia is a 2008 thriller film directed by Erik Zonca, starring Tilda Swinton in the title role. the film was loosely inspired by the John Cassavetes film Gloria, and is a thriller based in california and mexico, Swinton stars as the eponymous Julia, an alcoholic who goes to desperate measures to find money.

Swinton plays Julia, an alcoholic, whose partying lifestyle has cost her job and means she is rapidly running out of money. She agrees to go to AA meetings where she meets a mexican immigrant named Elena, who wants Gloria to kidnap her son from her ex-husband. Julia after much coercion agrees to partake in the plan, she kidnaps the son, and decides to force Elena's ex-husband in order to extort him for money, while she is with the son, she experiences a spiritual rebirth, finally ending up in mexico, where she will have a final showdown.

The film is much buoyed by Swinton's performance, in her role as Julia, Swinton is brash, visceral and real. The role is much removed from Swinton's other roles, especially at the beginning, we are presented to Julia as a woman who is not unattractive, and who certainly lives a superficially glamorous life. Her appearance is utterly transgressive and differs wildly from her other roles, her hair is red and buoyant and her clothing is showy and glamorous.

Her acting in this film is tense and often terrifying, she shows a level of commitment to her character which is admirable, and which is of benefit to this movie. The film however is troubling towards the end, firstly the film is overly long, clocking in at well over two hours, for a character driven drama, this is a little long to spend with one person. The film also has an unsurprising twist at the end, that is utterly too convenient, the character features a turnaround that it too handy, and which belies the action that came before.

Despite its flaws and it's bloated running time, Julia nonetheless features a superb performance by Tilda Swinton, in one of her best roles to date (which is saying something) in this superb character study. Rating: B-

Julia: Well, I'm not really down with the good neighbor shit.