Julia by the Dozen
I failed my daughter. I never introduced her to Robert Redford’s movies. We realized this about 5 years ago and I soon corrected it by having her watch The Sting.
If I did do one thing right – at least as movie introductions go – it was making sure we watched a lot of Julia Roberts movies. We had a conversation about Julia recently and got to feeling nostalgic.
Below are my 12 favorite Julia movies – and three honorable mentions.
#12 – I Love Trouble – an improbable romance but a fun, light caper.
#11 – Pretty Woman, 1990 – I bet you thought this might be #1. It’s the film that really introduced us to Julia - and a much more commercial success than Mystic Pizza. I still love the “big mistake- huge” scene. I want the dress and hat from the polo match. And I believe that the princess does ultimately save the handsome prince. It’s one of those movies you have to watch if you catch it on cable.
#10 – Step-Mom, 1998 – Here she plays a trophy wife with Susan Sarandon as the first wife. They negotiate all kinds of difficulties related to custody and philosophies of child rearing. Although it has lighter moments, it’s not a comedy. It’s a 2-tissue movie for me.
#9– Mona Lisa Smile – 2003 – Movies like this help us visualize a different time. It could have been called “Double Standard.” It’s the 50’s. It’s a women’s college. It’s time to leave class, go home, don the apron and get dinner on the table. It’s amazing that marriage caused the end of a woman’s education. It’s eye opening.Julia guides a bevy of students as their art professor.
#8 – America’s Sweethearts, 2001 – Although she plays second fiddle to her big sister and film star in the plot, she steals the show in this send up to Hollywood. Billy Crystal schmoozes, John Cusack does neurotic, and Catherine Zeta-Jones screams narcissist and Julia manages them all.
#7 – Runaway Bride, 1999 – Back with Richard Gere a decade later, the two still have chemistry. However, this movie highlights remaining true to yourself and not getting absorbed in a relationship. Berlin, Maryland is the backdrop for the movie – and is on my bucket list of weekend trips. It was called Hale, in the movie.
#6– Erin Brockovich, 2000 – Julia makes a great champion for a town in need of a change. She’s feisty, gutsy and colors outside the lines. No love story here although Aaron Eckhart is her live in, hardly recognizable as a biker dude.
#5 – My Best Friend’s Wedding, 1997 – Full of wonderful banter, this one catches me in a certain moment with a dream not realized and makes me tear up. Best line? “Maybe there won’t be marriage, maybe there won’t be sex, but by God, there’ll be dancing.”
Honorable Mentions – these films don’t feature Julia as prominently as others stars, but they are worth watching:
-Something to Talk About, 1995 matches Julia with Dennis Quaid as her husband and Robert Duvall as her larger-than-life Dad in a horse country setting.
-Steel Magnolias,1989 features a dynamic powerhouse cast with Julia in a minor, but plot driving role. It’s a 3-tissue movie. You’ve been warned.
-Conspiracy Theory, 1997 finds Julia being stalked by Mel Gibson as a man with an unidentified mental illness. Turns out he’s still protecting her from a long ago promise, made before he experienced a traumatic event that unhinged him.
#4 – Pelican Brief, 1993 – the pages of John Grisham’s novel come to life in this film with a classic David vs. Goliath plot. Julia is helped along the way by a cunning DC reporter, played by Denzel Washington. Much of it is set in our nation’s capital, so it feels familiar, both in landscape and in its political turns, twists and back room deals.
#3 Larry Crowne, 2011, is such a feel-good movie. Tom Hanks plays the main character, a man who seems to battle endlessly with fate being unkind. Julia plays college professor again and life has given her quite a few lemons too – which she squeezes and adds vodka… lots of vodka. Don’tcha just love watching characters come into awareness and change their lives?
#2 Notting Hill,1999, has to have one of the best lines ever uttered on film. It’s in the bookshop owned by affable Hugh Grant. Watch for it. The cast is brilliant. The soundtrack introduced me to Elvis Costello’s version of “She” – one of the most poignant love songs ever. The language of this movie has become part of our “girl’s” lexicon. It takes place in London – and I went to Notting Hill on my last visit to soak up the atmosphere of this charming neighborhood.
#1 Eat, Pray Love, 2010 is the inspiration for me wanting to go to Italy. I want to walk through the little squares and neighborhoods. I want to visit the towns and eat the pizza and pastas. It would be a luxury to take off a year and spend time discovering the world and myself. And if men with the emotional IQ of Ketut and Javier Bardem were there to change my life in a tropical paradise…I couldn’t ask for more.
Enjoy!