America's Sweethearts - review coming soon
Conspiracy Theory - Julia
Roberts, Mel Gibson, Patrick Stewart - A crackpot Big Apple cabbie (Gibson)
finds himself in a heap of trouble after his self-published conspiracy
'zine elicits the interest of some shady government heavies (Stewart plays
the head bad guy) --and leads to the unexplained murders of all five subscribers.
As the J. Edgars close in, he takes to the lam with the one person who
may be able to help him--a Justice Department attorney (Roberts) with a
mysterious murder of her own to solve.
(Rating = ***)
Dying Young - Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott - Hilary (Roberts) takes a job caring for a terminally ill patient (Scott) who is suffering from leukemia. As the story progresses, Hilary begins to fall in love with her boss and they move from his house in San Franscico to a cabin in a rural area of the state. He convinces her that he has undergone his last treatment and that his cancer is in remission. But is it? This is not your typical romantic comedy, but has some funny moments. (Rating = **1/2)
Erin Brochovich - Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Marg Helgenberger - Roberts plays a research assistant who in 1992 began helping attorney Ed Masry (Finney) win a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Masry and Ms. Brockovich represented 650 people who blamed PG&E for a contaminated water supply that they say caused cancer and other illnesses in their small desert community of Hinkley, California. Roberts won an Oscar for this role. (Rating = ****)
I Love Trouble - Julia Roberts, Nick Nolte - Cub reporter (Roberts) reluctantly teams with veteran news hound (Nolte) to investigate train wreck and the sparks fly. Some fairly funny scenes and a decent story make this worth a rental fee. Roberts even does some of her own stunts and admits to being pretty scared at times while filming. (Rating = **1/2)
Mary Reilly - Julia Roberts, John Malkovich - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story told from a maid's perspective, with Roberts playing the maid. Malkovich plays the infamous Jekyll/Hyde. This one is pretty intense and dark, but still quite good. (Rating = ***)
The Mexican - Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini - Strange mix of comedy, romance, mob activity, and action-adventure with a liitle slapstick thrown in for good measure. Roberts and Pitt are superb, as is Gandolfini. Just when you think you have this one figured out it takes some very strange turns, but that's what makes it fun. Cameo near the end by Gene Hackman is a pleasant surprise. This film took a beating from the critics, but it provides some pretty good entertainment, which is all I ask of a film. (Rating = ***)
My Best Friend's Wedding - Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Durmot Mulroney - Roberts plays the role of Julianne (Jules) a woman who makes a pact with her best friend Michael (Mulroney), a sports writer, that if neither finds a mate by the age of 28 (ten years later), the two will wed. A decade later, on the eve of the deadline, the best friend calls with the news that he is getting married to another woman (Diaz). Julia schemes during most of the movie to break up the couple, including trying to make Michael (Dermot) jealous by making him believe that she is in love with her friend George. You find yourself not liking Roberts' character at all - she is pretty devious! (Rating = ***)
Mystic Pizza - review coming soon
Notting Hill - Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant - Surprisingly funny story of glamorous movie star (Roberts) has chance meeting with commoner book store owner (Grant) and their attempt at a relationship. Plays a bit slow, but if you pay close attention to the dialogue, it gets funnier as it goes. Grant doesn't quite have the onscreen chemistry with Roberts as say, Richard Gere, but it still works. (Rating = ***)
Pelican Brief - Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington - Roberts plays a law student who writes a brief on who she suspects was behind a Supreme Court Justice's assasination and ruffles some feathers. Washington is a newspaper reporter who helps her stay alive and tracks down the facts. Pretty intense, well directed, and well acted suspense. (Rating = ***)
Pretty Woman - Julia Roberts, Richard Gere - This one is listed as too obvious for review on my main movie page, but I'll cover it briefly here. This is the movie that started Roberts' career in high gear. Roberts plays a streetwalker who wants a better life, meets up with Gere, a wealthy businessman, and the sparks start to fly. Classic Cinderella theme with plenty of laughs and great chemistry between Roberts and Gere. (Julia ranks this as her favorite work.) (Rating = ****)
Runaway Bride - Richard Gere, Julia Roberts - A horror story with a comic twist. Wait a minute - Seems to be a repeat of another review. Lets see, a comedy about love and marriage, with the old scenario of girl hates guy, guy has nothing but contempt for girl, but they fall in love anyway. Yep, it's a horror story with a comic twist. Same production team and director as "Pretty Woman", with many of the same cast members. Besides Gere, Roberts, and Hector Elizondo, who are obvious players from Pretty Woman, I counted three more in lesser roles. Plenty of one-liners and laughs - a solid "date" movie. (Rating = ***1/2)
Sleeping With the Enemy - Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergen - Soon after marrying, a woman (Roberts) discovers her husband (Bergen) is compulsive, controlling and violent. Faking her own death, she escapes him and begins a new life with a new look in a new town where she'll never have to see him again. Or so she thinks... (Rating = **1/2)
Something to Talk About - review coming soon
Steel Magnolias - Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, and Tom Skerritt, as well as a host of other big names - (1989) - The ultimate tear jerker, "date" movie with enough laughs for the comedy lover and great banter between Skerritt and MacLaine. I've seen this at least a half dozen times and it still puts a lump in my throat at the end. (Rating=****)
Stepmom - Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, Ed Harris - Although this was a good story and good cast, I felt this moved slowly and was choppy. It has some fairly moving moments as well as some hilarious scenes. Produced by Roberts and Sarandon, who apparently had been searching for quite some time for a project to work on together. They might want to keep looking for another project. (Rating = **1/2)
Other movies with Julia - May
review eventually
Satisfaction, Everybody Says I
love You, Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter), Michael Collins, Blood Red,
The Player