It is 1938 and the clouds are building up across the channel from Germany and Czechoslavakia. But we are aware of this, and yet are not concentrating on it. For Somerset Maugham is concentrating on his favorite world - where he made his first real mark. In his day Maugham was probably one of the top three or four British dramatists (with Shaw, Coward, and Pinero) on the West End. Today everyone who thinks of Maugham the dramatist does not think of "The Circle", or other plays of his, but of "Rain" (i.e. "Sadie Thompson"). But "Rain" the play was based on his short story not on any play he wrote. So what is recalled as "his" most famous play was rally not "his".

But his short stories and novels remain powerful fodder for movies to this day, if his plays seem to be a trifle too elegant for modern tastes. I did see "The Circle" in 1990 on Broadway and it was entertaining, but I thought it required an audience willing to give it some slack considering the dialog (it seemed at time too talky). Still if we think Maugham dated, just recall three years ago they did a second movie of "The Painted Veil".

"Being Julia" is based on a short novel he wrote about one of the great ladies of the West End: another Mrs. Patrick Campbell or Gladys Cooper. Julia (Annette Benning) has had years of success and glamor, and she even has had a son by her producer/director husband Michael (Jeremy Irons). But she is bored, and has reached that middle aged crisis point. Her friends rally to keep up her spirits, such as the theater owner (Miriam Margulies), her son Rupert (Michael Culkin), her assistant Evie (Juliet Stephenson), and her close friend and fellow actor Archie Stephenson (Leigh Lawson). She is also getting splendid advice from the dead - her mentor and the man who discovered her Jimmie Langton (Michael Gambon), whose ghost constantly reminds her of what she has to concentrate on to retain her star status.

Rupert, when he is visiting, happens to bring a young American named Tom Fennell (Shaun Evan). Julia has a loosely arranged marriage with her husband, so he does not bat an eyelash as Julia and the young man (old enough to be her son) spend all their time together. The payoff comes when Tom takes Julia to see an "experimental" play that has a friend of his in it. The friend Avrich (Lucy Punch) is a young blond woman, and Julia sees that the young woman has talent. So she (with all the best intentions) tells the young woman she can get her a special try-out with her husband at the theater. The young woman is really excited at this good news.

But shortly afterward, Julia discovers that Tom is not really interested in her as much as in Avrich. Julia pulls herself together to break her affair, and does not go back on her promise. She begins to overact (Michael notices her overwrought recitation of lines in the play she is in). She is ordered to return home for a vacation. In the meantime Michael meets Avrich at the try-out, and sees she can act, so he hires her for the next play.

Julia is slowly aware that her friends are not really happy about what happened to her regarding Tom and Avrich. She seems to have been used here. She gets her final slap from Rupert, who confides in her that he never liked Tom (Julia thought they were chums).

She is a trooper, and she joins the cast for the new play that is going into rehearsals. Avrich is there and they are to share a scene for ten minutes, dominated by the young lady. Julia goes along with this, and slowly builds up the situation making additions and suggestions that will enhance the younger actress's performance. This surprises everyone, but since she is willing to do it they go along with it. But what is she really up to?

With Somerset Maughamm you can just imagine - his characters do not fade or go gently into that good night. Let us just say it turns out to be brilliant theater.

Benning has probably never given a more elegant and wonderful performance - far from her Presidential girlfriend in "The American President" who is briefly a doormat for policy. For all her glamor she enjoys a glass of beer with her dinner - a nice touch that. Irons is fine - his role in support this time, though he does bring authority to his directing scenes. Lawson gives all his support to Julia, only to find she is unaware of his own desires, and the scene of this mutual discovery is actually somewhat sweet. Gambon appears every so often, shaking his head regarding he temporary lack of commitment to drama. His gray bald pate and his opera cape make him look wiser still. Michael Culkin shows he is growing up in his lunch scene with his mother, wherein he shows he is wiser than his years.

Although there is a similarity to "All About Eve" (that has been referred to by several people on this board) that film created a total schemer in Eve Harrington. Julia, unlike Margo Channing, is generous to a fault regarding offering help to her young rival (at the point it is offered she has seen the young rival acting, and realizes she is good - she also thinks of her as a protégé). It is only later that she thinks she was set up by Tom and the girl, and that is what hurts. And that is what she settles so effectively in the end.