MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 515 this week

Julia (2008)

6.9
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.9/10 from 3,698 users   Metascore: 62/100
Reviews: 30 user | 76 critic | 14 from Metacritic.com

A woman tries to extort money, using a young boy as bait.

Director:

Writers:

(adaptation), (adaptation), 2 more credits »
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 2005 titles created 3 weeks ago
 
a list of 137 titles created 21 Mar 2011
 
a list of 150 titles created 12 Feb 2012
 
a list of 50 titles created 6 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Julia (2008)

Julia (2008) on IMDb 6.9/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Julia.
3 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

When two brothers organize the robbery of their parents' jewelry store the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that sends them, their father and one brother's wife hurtling towards a shattering climax.

Director: Sidney Lumet
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney
In Bruges (2008)
Comedy | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

Guilt-stricken after a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.

Director: Martin McDonagh
Stars: Elizabeth Berrington, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson
The Town (2010)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.

Director: Ben Affleck
Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm
Inside Man (2006)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A cop has to talk down a bank robber after the criminal's perfect heist spirals into a hostage situation.

Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster
Collateral (2004)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in LA. He must find a way to save both himself and one last victim.

Director: Michael Mann
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

In late 1950s New York, Tom Ripley, a young underachiever, is sent to Italy to retrieve a rich and spoiled millionaire playboy, named Dickie Greenleaf. But when the errand fails, Ripley takes extreme measures.

Director: Anthony Minghella
Stars: Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law
Harry Brown (2009)
Action | Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice.

Director: Daniel Barber
Stars: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

On a warm September evening, college professor Ethan Learner, his wife Grace, and their daughter Emma are attending a recital. Their 10-year-old son Josh is playing cello - beautifully, as ... See full summary »

Director: Terry George
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Elle Fanning, Jennifer Connelly
Crime | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family.

Director: Joshua Marston
Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Virgina Ariza, Guilied Lopez
21 Grams (2003)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A freak accident brings together a critically ill mathematician, a grieving mother, and a born-again ex-con.

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Stars: Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston
Lord of War (2005)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpol agent.

Director: Andrew Niccol
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Bridget Moynahan, Jared Leto
The Escapist (2008)
Crime | Drama | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

Frank Perry is an institutionalized convict fourteen years into a life sentence without parole. When his estranged daughter falls ill, he is determined to make peace with her before it's ... See full summary »

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Stars: Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
Mitch
...
Elena
...
Tom
...
Nick
...
Diego
...
Santos
Mauricio Moreno ...
José
Gaston Peterson ...
Miguel (as Gastón Peterson)
...
Johnny
John Bellucci ...
Phillip
...
George
Roger Cudney ...
Frank
...
Leon
...
Marcus
Edit

Storyline

Julia is a drunk. She loses her job in real estate and at an A.A. meeting meets a neighbor, Elena, an addled Mexican woman who talks about having lots of money and a plan to kidnap her own son from the boy's grandfather, a wealthy businessman. Elena wants Julia's help. Julia says yes with her own plan to do this alone. Following Elena's plan, Julia manages to grab the boy, Tom, who's about 10. Now what? She asks for a ransom. Tom's grandfather and his money are connected directly to Mexican drug trafficking, so Julia is up against long odds. Will anyone make it out alive? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

boy | money | neighbor | meeting | aa meeting | See more »

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, some violent content and brief nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

| | |

Language:

|

Release Date:

12 March 2008 (France)  »

Also Known As:

Apagogi horis antikrysma  »

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$12,524 (USA) (8 May 2009)

Gross:

$64,482 (USA) (31 July 2009)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the cover of the DVD, Tilda Swinton is incorrectly referred to as Tilda Swanton. See more »

Goofs

When Julia finds Tom unconscious in the desert, she gets out of the car and shouts Tom's name several times as she runs towards him. Listen carefully, and you'll hear Tilda Swinton calling out 'Tom' with her real life English accent instead of her character's American accent. See more »

Quotes

Elena: You know, the people here, they're really nice to each other. You can feel safe here. And we can help you. I know you. You live right across from me, we're neighbors.
Julia: Well, I'm not really down with the good neighbor shit.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Teen Wolf: The Tell (2011) See more »

Soundtracks

"When something is wrong with my baby"
(I. Hayes / D. Porter)
Performed by Sam Moore
Courtesy of Miramax Films
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Reviews

 
Entertaining, with Swinton at its core
17 December 2011 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

Lately, I have become a big fan of Tilda Swinton. It started off with her villain stand-out role in The Chronicles of Narnia, then I saw her alongside George Clooney in Michael Clayton, where she stole her scenes. Recently, I saw her in her best work yet, We Need To Talk About Kevin, so it was just a matter of time before I saw Julia, and it's plot interested me.

Julia is a pretty straight-forward crime thriller. It has a lot of twists and turns, and it always remains entertaining and intriguing. You want to know what's going to happen to Swinton's character and the boy she is taking for ransom. Julia becomes more and more likable as the film progresses and we stop seeing her as a villain. Swinton does a magnificent job too. I have never seen her play a role like this before, and it's without a doubt her showiest performance, since Julia is the showiest role. Credit has to be given to the way she so casually makes Julia someone we actually root for as the film goes on. Not many actors would have been able to do this, but she does it gracefully, and she gets better as the film goes along because instead of just a cartoon that we first saw in the beginning, we see a woman with fears and real feelings as well.

Now, the film isn't perfect... far from it. It feels sort of disjointed. Like I said, Swinton easily slips into another persona, but without any help from the script. Many films make it really believable the way a character slips into different attitudes, but this film doesn't really. Swinton does sort of transition it, but behind her incredible performance, you can easily see that the script expects us to believe the way this character starts acting differently. Too fast, without any real depth and not subtle, or even fitting to the film. Still, t's plausible barely just because of Swinton.

The problems still keep arising though, especially when we enter Mexico. I never really have a problem with the way Mexicans are portrayed, since I don't take offense easily, but this rubbed me the wrong way. Their manner of speaking, their actual language. I'm not saying it's completely off the mark, but something about that storyline upset me. Maybe it has to do with the thin characterization, or the execution, or the direction. All I know is that what only kept me watching was finding out all of Julia's story. I am also not one to dismiss endings because they aren't "complete", but here it didn't work well. I wanted it to finish, for it to reveal the fate of this character. This sort of abrupt ending only works specifically for certain powerful films, and since this isn't, it just left me unsatisfied.

Overall, worth a watch for Swinton's magnificent performance, and I was actually more entertained than my rating will suggest, but the film is full of flaws within its story. A Breaking Bad story not nearly as engaging or as complicated as it wishes, but still not bad at all and remains a solid film. This feels like the performance Swinton won the Oscar for, just because of how extreme it is.


1 of 1 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Almost a black comedy Ohyoubigsilly
This film is NOT a remake of Cassavetes' 'Gloria' Lemmywinks616
Angel of Bleeding Hearts Julia_Vakulenko
Julia and the Wrestler, raging life daredazed
So bothered by this movie...Grrr....i like it!! ezednem
What has hollywood come to? robert_sorensen
Discuss Julia (2008) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?