Gary Arnold

“Unfortunately, even though the film doesn't seriously explore the consequences of hero-worshipping inspiration and emotional dependence on the formation of a writer's personality and outlook, one may consider this the undeclared subject of the movie.

“Jane Fonda's intriguing tensed-up performance as Hellman corroborates the impression. Irritable, intent and agonizingly self-conscious, Fonda suggests the internal conflicts gnawing at a talented woman who craves the self-assurance, resolve and wisdom she sees in figures like Julia and Hammett…. Feeling perpetually inferior to a vision of militant feminine virtue like Julia must provoke a resentful reaction, even if it's directed not at the person but at the wealth and security that make her grand gestures easier to afford. Fonda's tautness, the inability of her Lillian to relax, to achieve the poise whe tries to affact [sic], appears to be a symptom of something. Perhaps it's not unreasonable to read it as repressed anger and resentment at one's own real or imagined limitations. Hellman can't seem to get free of her mentors, who remain moral and artistic authorities. At time she appears to torment herself by aspiring to their perfection, which doesn't necessarily suit her temperament and capabilities. But who could be worthy of a Julia?

“Ironically, Hellman attained something of the status of Julia at the last Oscar ceremony, where she was introduced by Jane Fonda to a standing ovation…. It was a love feast evidently predicated on sweet misapprehensions, inspired in part by Hellman's self-serving account of her rather perplexing response to Cold War politics, the blacklist and a summons from HUAC in … "Scoundrel Time."

“The woman at the Oscars was a righteous conquering heroine accepting tribute from a filmmaking generation probably too young to appreciate her authentic, complicated significance. It played, but it was an act.

“Despite its gentility and evasiveness, "Julia" may have come much closer to the truth about Lillian Hellman on the strength of Jane Fonda's edgy, persuasive performance, which reveals an intelligent woman who couldn't feel more unsure of herself or less like a conquering heroine.”

Gary Arnold
Washington Post, get date