Stephen Farber

“…. Vincent Canby called it "a film that is both well meaning [sic] and on the side of the angels but, with the exception of a half-dozen scenes, lifeless." Yet the truth is that Jane Fonda's characterization of Lillian Hellman adds considerable life to the anti-Fascist polemic. Hellman is depicted as an often weak and frightened woman, irresistibly attracted to money and glamour. There are sharp, biting moments in the portrait, for instance when Hellman exhibits a social climber's hunger to rub elbows with Hemingway.

“What makes the film dramatic, and not simply "well meaning," is the contrast between Hellman--an enlightened but essentially cautious woman--and her friend Julia, who fearlessly sacrifices herself for what she believes. Fonda supplies the human quirks that make the character something more than a liberal role model….”

Stephen Farber
"Why Do Critics Love Trashy Movies?", American Film, April 1981

“In the years from 1977 to 1979, Jane reached her peak as an actress. In Julia, Coming Home, Comes a Horseman, California Suite, and The China Syndrome, she created a gallery of sharply etched characters. She seemed to undergo a remarkable physical transformation from one role to the next… In all these movies, Jane worked with a miniaturist's attention to nuance and detail , and an uncanny responsiveness to women who were often quite different from herself… Piercing to the core of every character she played, Jane seemed incapable of a false or predictable gesture, and her performances won the respect of critics and audiences alike.”

Stephen Farber and Marc Green
Hollywood Dynasties (1984), p 160