lasttimeisaw JULIA is a crime drama directed by French writer/director Erick Zonca, his third feature where the story takes place in USA and Mexico, follows the downward spiral of a single middle-aged alcoholic Julia Harris (Swinton), who hatches a plan to double-cross Elena (de Castillo), a young mother whom she encounters in the AA meeting, to kidnap her son Tom (Gould), and blackmail his rich grandfather.Without any accomplices, Julia impetuously implements her criminal activity with the help of a gun and a black mask. Initially, Julia is shown as a complete train wreck, drinking herself into oblivion and sleeping with random guys, utterly self-serving, antipathy is the only thing viewers can project to this character, it reaches the pinnacle when she roughhouses Tom during the kidnap action, as if he is merely a cargo than a human being. Slowly things start to head into the point of no return, the script frustratingly allows the incompetence of police force and a convenient border-crossing plot-device to unconvincingly keep Julia at large, and shifts the locale to Mexico, where the Stockholm syndrome swells up, a mother-son bond becomes apparent, nevertheless, being flirtatious and unsuspecting with a local guy Diego (Bichir), Julia's negligence puts Tom in the possession of a gang of Mexican kidnappers, this karmic double-cross will cost Julia everything she to keep herself and Tom alive.Rambling in almost 2 and a half hours, JULIA is unequivocally too long for its own good, but owing to the fantastic Swinton, who is the error-free backbone of the picture and almost appears in every and each scene, it is gripping enough to keep us hooked to watch her fight her way against all the odds. Ms. Swinton is fearless as ever, creates a magnetic persona out of Julia's own flaws, maternal instinct is a woman's most puissant weapon, even for the childless Julia, she transcendently achieves this enthralling metamorphosis from a disheveled woman has nothing to cling to in life to a fleshed-out protector of an innocent life. Among her eclectic filmography, this is simply a high water mark acting-wise. In the supporting group, Aidan Gould, who is a shameless empathy provoker for being cute and adorable, while Kate de Castillo in her de-glamourized state, embodies excellently as the lunatic mother of Tom, which only makes her sudden disappearance from the movie feel more grating, is she dead or in hiding? A fairly unwise loose end from the screenwriter's slack job. Otherwise, the movie is worth your time.

KissEnglishPasto ............................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA., CALI, COLOMBIA and ORLANDO, FL JULIA = A living-in-denial, acid-tongued, fortyish and usually sporting that "oh so disheveled buy me a few drinks and I'll go home with you but won't remember or care in the morning, total-lush" look; with serious stability/maturity issues. That, ladies and gentlemen, pretty much sums it up! Swinton carries the movie on her "more often than not slipping out of her dress" shoulders! JULIA will continue to ricochet around your brain, tumultuously, long after viewing. KUDOS to Ms. Swinton! After her Oscar winning role as the anal-retentive executive you love to hate in Michael Clayton, she seemed like a truly excellent actor. With this ground-breaking, Oscar-caliber performance, there can be no doubt her acting skills are nothing short of legendary! The only actor who could hold her own on camera w/Swinton was Kate del Castillo(Under the Same Moon), who turns in a brief, but incredibly intense performance as the disturbed biological mother.Remember how the Supreme Court used to define pornography? "Totally and utterly devoid of any redeeming social value"- What's mystical about Ms. Swinton's performance is that despite portraying a detestable and neurotically unpredictable adult, she manages to plant a seed of expectation/compassion in the viewer's mind. Throughout, there is a flicker of hope that, somehow, someway, things will manage to right themselves.**** Possible Very Minor SPOILER Ahead ****JULIA certainly pulls the proverbial rug out from under your feet on more than one occasion. My hands are tied when it comes to discussing the final minutes of the film. But you absolutely mustn't give up on JULIA beforehand. Please, be patient! Everything hinges on that final scene! Soon afterward, upon reflection, the real implications will remind you that things aren't always as they seem! Immediately after JULIA-6* was my rating. After my cerebral dust has settled, JULIA rates a rock-solid 8*.....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA!Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome! [email protected]

doclee32 Just watched this film on TV and love it. Tilda Swinton's acting is extremely good here. Most actresses tend to over-act in such a role but Tilda's acting is just perfect. The story line is good, fast moving and interesting. Good directing also judging from the high acting standard as a whole here. Surprised that this movie did not win any other awards other than the British. The movie happened in United States and Mexico and good choice of filming sites. Only thing I can suggest is to have a more dynamic tittle for the film. I have not watched this film until now because I was not aware it was going to be such a nice thriller type of film.

zetes Awkward kidnapping thriller/actress vehicle for Tilda Swinton. I love Swinton as much as the next movie lover, and for a while I was thinking that, yes, this was her shining moment. But after a while, it all seemed like a little too much. She's done a ton of subtle work over the past two decades, and she's so in your face here it just doesn't feel like the same actress. That could be a compliment, but I found her work here so overwrought. One of the problems is that a lot of the dialogue is improvised (I'm guessing), and I don't think she acquitted herself well. The plot involves a hopeless alcoholic who gets involved in a kidnapping plot. The woman who asks her to help (Kate del Castillo, just awful) is also an alcoholic. Her son was taken from her by her dead husband's father. She claims to have money to pay Swinton in Mexico. Swinton sees it as the perfect opportunity for a double cross. Later, there'll be more double crosses, probably a triple cross, and eventually the kid gets kidnapped FROM Swinton by some Mexican gangsters. It's all very meandering, and the film runs a whopping two and a half hours (at 90 minutes, it could have been very good). It's not that it's a boring film, really, it's just kind of annoying and unfocused.