Saturday
Oct282017
Happy 50th to Julia Roberts!
Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 8:21PM by Nathaniel R
The biggest female movie star of the 1990s hit the half-century mark today. Happy 50th pretty woman. Herewith my personal votes as to her ten best screen performances. Yours? How will you celebrate this milestone?
- Erin Brockovich (2000)
- My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
- Closer (2004)
- Pretty Woman (1990)
- The Normal Heart (2014)
- August: Osage County (2013)
- Notting Hill (1999)
- Duplicity (2009)
- The Pelican Brief (1993)
- Mystic Pizza (1988)
Reader Comments (46)
Happy Birthday, Queen Julia!
It's amazing, for how much I love Julia, that I never realized until I saw your top 10 here that her CV is kind of shallow. In the 90s, she was just the coolest. I loved her on talk shows and magazine covers. I loved her jilting Kiefer and guest-starring on her boyfriends' shows.
I will always watch Pretty Woman and Erin Brockovich if I see they're on TV. Happy birthday, queen!
Happy birthdate to the Queen!!!
An icon. A legend. And YES a good actress.
I love her so much! Funny enough I think your top 6 are my favorites of hers as well. I think about Closer a lot and I always find it funny that all four actors really brought their A game, but Julia And Jude Law weren't nominated even though their work was on par with both Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.
Really great list, and mine would be similar. I also really liked her in The Mexican and Eat Pray Love, though I know those aren't as widely appreciated. Duplicity is an underrated little gem - glad you mentioned it.
Love the way Julia manages to pull together sassy , emotional and funny never losing an ounce of her large than life movie star persona, her natural charm and self-deprecating manner are endearing ( few can do it so effectively ), even when the movie is bad or the character plain she creates something else. As my 10 Ms. Roberts performances go...
1- Erin Brockovich (2000)
2-Closer (2004)
3- August: Osage County (2013)
4- My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
5- Pretty Woman (1990)
6- Charlie Wilson`s War (2007)
7- Secret in their Eyes (2015)
8- Runaway Bride (1997)
9- Notting Hill (1997)
10-The Normal Heart (2014)
"They're called 'boobs', Ed"
Almost exactly 2 months older than me. Love her, despite her alleged attitude issues with people.
"My Best Friend's Wedding" seems rather forgotten now, but is one of the best Movie Movies of the 90's.
My local library is having some celebration and discussion about Julia since she is born in my hometown. Couldn't go for other reasons.
IMHO
1- August: Osage County
2-Closer
3- Erin Brokovich
4- My Best Friend's Wedding
5- Mystic Pizza
6- Notting Hill
7- Sleeping with the Enemy
8- The Normal Heart
9- The Pelican Brief
10- Steel Magnolias
IMHO
1- August: Osage County
2-Closer
3- Erin Brokovich
4- My Best Friend's Wedding
5- Mystic Pizza
6- Notting Hill
7- Sleeping with the Enemy
8- The Normal Heart
9- The Pelican Brief
10- Steel Magnolias
Yes Julia Roberts kinda sneaked up on me as well. I kinda loved her when I first saw her in Mystic Pizza, Steel Magnolias and Pretty Woman although I wasn't as attracted to her unlike my peers at that time. But I guess I can also say I never disliked her even at the height of her celebrity-hood. I remember her small performances in Hook, Prêt-à-Porter and Full Frontal. She is always watchable even in lovely misfires like Mary Reilly, Michael Collins, I Love Trouble and even her adorable off-key-ness in Everyone Says I Love You. I prefer much of her earlier ones although she never gives less than a committed performance. In my books her top ten best performances were mostly stuck in forgotten or failed flicks. Was not as taken by some of her performances that won critical acclaim and I also realise that I have not seen all her films (especially the more recent ones).
So my top ten JR films remain:
(1) Mystic Pizza
(2) August: Osage County
(3) Closer
(4) Steel Magnolias
(5) Sleeping With the Enemy
(6) My Best Friend's Wedding
(7) Stepmom
(8) Dying Young
(9) The Pelican Brief
(10) Mirror Mirror
1. erin brockovich
2. my best friend's wedding
3. august: osage county
4. closer
5. pretty woman
6. notting hill
7. steel magnolias
8. something to talk about
9. stepmom
10. eat pray love
it's so tricky to make a list of favorites with this one because she has a lot of good performances but the movies tend to be rather shit. like she was terrific in secret in their eyes but man that movie is dull. she's good in dying young but that movie is zzzz.
LOVE her in Erin Brockovich.
She is also very good and very underrated in Closer; upon rewatch, she’s my mvp of that film. Pretty Women would be my #3, a classic and belongs on any bear of “chick flick” lists
fun! nobody is a movie star like julia! remember how much better she was than meryl in august: osage county? (i think meryl knew it, too.) and great that julia won her oscar for her best performance, that rarely happens!
I can't live the fact that two of my favorite actresses delivered their best work ever in the same year! In my heart, that was tie between Julia and Laura Linney.
Her performance in Closer was one of the most underrated performances of the aughts.
Happy birthday to Julia Roberts!
My favourite performances of hers are Erin Brockovich, Pretty Woman, Notting Hill ("Indefinitely!"), Everyone Says I Love You and My Best Friend's Wedding. I'd really like to see Mary Reilly, which David Thomson speaks highly of.
I love that you have duplicity ranked so high, its one of her most underrated performances. She is SO GOOD in that movie.
Your top 7 is perfection. I would change your last three spots with:
Mary Reilly
Steel Magnolias
Mona Lisa Smile.
No one seems to have ever loved Mary Reilly. But I do.
I only thought Julia showed her chops in Closer. The other performances are meh.
Erin Brockovich is genius. The quintessential star performance. It's her using her charm, immense screen presence and likability and melding her role to her persona. It's just so damn fun to watch a star that controls the screen like her do her thing with the perfect role for her. In my mind the best performance to win in that category in the century thus far.
She really did make some mighty fine films. But best of all she is not a trump supporter.
1 of my all time fave Actresses,here's a Top 10
1 - Pretty Woman
2 - Closer
3 - Erin Brockovich
4 - My Best Friend's Wedding
5 - August Osage County
6 - Steel Magnolias
7 - The Secret In Their Eyes
8 - Sleeping With The Enemy
9 - Mary Reilly
10 - Stepmom
Glad to hear someone mention Mary Reilly,she is actually good but the accents off in parts but the vultures were circling her in the mid 90's,looking at the film now it's such a strange beast and Glenn Close is camp perfection in it,I was thinking of dressing as Mrs Dnavers for Halloween but thought no one would know Mary Reilly.
Not to beat a dead horse here, but she is fantastic in “closer”. I think part of the reason she did not get more acclaim for that role was because she was replacing Cate Blanchett who had to drop out for some reason, critics held onto that in their minds and didn’t give Julia a fair shake. While I’m sure Cate would have been great, I actually think Julia Roberts is better suited for that role and was the MVP of that entire film.
Happy birthday to the forever ypung Roberts!
01. Pretty Woman
02. AOC
03. Erin Brockovich
04. Closer
05. My Best Friends Wedding
06. Steel Magnolias
07. The Pelican Brief
08. Notting Hill
09. Sleeping with the Enemy
10. Mary Reilly
She was such a lead in August Osage County, and i would have her nominated instead of Streep, but i can't beat Category Fraud....
Anyway, i've loved her for a very, very long time and My Best Friend's Wedding is one of my favortie comedies ever so HAPPY BIRTHDAY and thank you Julia !
@markgordonuk
You mean Mrs Faraday, right? Mrs Faraday is Glenn Close's character in Mary Reilly who I agree is perfection in that movie.
Mrs Danvers is in Rebecca. TFE should spotlight Judith Anderson someday soon.
1. August: Osage County
2. Erin Brokovich
3. My Best Friend's Wedding
4. Closer
5. Notting Hill
6. Pretty Woman
7. Mystic Pizza
8. Steel Magnolias
9. Duplicity
10. Charlie Wilson's War
1. Closer
2. Erin Brockovich
3. My Best Friend´s Wedding
4. August. Osage County
5. Pretty Woman
6. The Normal Heart
7. Notting Hill
8. Steel Magnolias
9. Duplicityy
10. Charlie Wilson War
I think she is great in Mary Reilly but the accent... Her performances in Something to Talk About and Eat, Pray, Love are pretty good indeed. And one of her craziest performances is in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, she was so good in that movie.
Do I like her? Yes. Am I a huge fan? Not really. She doesn't keep me away from a film but unless its a romantic comedy (which she's one of the best at) she doesn't draw me to a film either.
Her best for me:
My Best Friend's Wedding
Steel Magnolias
Runaway Bride
Erin Brockovich
Ocean's Eleven
I'm glad to see you have My Best Friend's Wedding at #2, I love that movie and performance; it's probably my favorite romantic comedy. I think I actually would have given her the Oscar that year. Diaz is wonderful, too.
Screen. Legend.
1. Duplicity
2. Erin Brockovich
3. Pretty Woman
4. Closer
5. My Best Friend's Wedding
6. Ocean's 11
7. August Osage County
8. Michael Collins
9. Mystic Pizza
10. Notting Hill
She is usually better than the movies she picks. The last example is "The Secret in Their Eyes". She was pretty damn good but the movie fails.
She should be riskier and works with more interesting directors, with the right material, she delivers. I think she's a bit lazy at times. In any case, she is a true legend and I love her.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Erin Brockovich (2000)
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Closer (2004)
Pretty Woman (1990)
August: Osage County (2013)
Notting Hill (1999)
The Normal Heart (2014)
Steel Magnolias (1989)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Stepmom (1998)
Mrs Faraday I did mean her.
Happy Birthday, Julia! She has won her way into our hearts with beautiful performances & characters she truly made her own.
1. Erin Brockovich
2. Pretty Woman
3. Oceans 11 & 12
4. Notting Hill
5. Mystic Pizza
6. Eat, Pray, Love
7. Closer
8. Conspiracy Theory
9. Steel Magnolias
10. The Pelican Brief
I put both Ocean movies as one because its the same character (& I don't know if I could choose, ha).
One I really like that no one has mentioned is Conspiracy Theory. Sure it's a little thick around the middle & is slightly plodding throughout, but I love her notes of desperation in it. She matched Mel Gibsons' crazy perfectly.
She's one of the best of all time.
I like her well enough, but I'm not a huge fan. I'd see her in the right vehicle, but she's not someone who would make me interested in a film just because she is in it. Erin Brockovich is her best, but I would have given the Oscar to Laura Linney that year. Not unhappy with the win, though--she was great. Post Erin Brockovich, she's definitely seemed to struggle since to find substantial vehicles for her talents. There was the sense that EB might have been the beginning of an interesting new era for her--better quality projects, perhaps? But she's seemed a bit adrift. Nothing has really resonated in a big way either critically or commercially for her for quite some time. I did think she was excellent in August: Osage County, though. That was an effective reminder of how strong she can be.
It's funny that she dominated the 90's so thoroughly and now it's almost as if she's ... underrated? She's not a chameleon, but not every actor needs to be. She's a charismatic and capable film actress with good comic timing and undeniable presence. She can be winning in less-than-winning films, too--Eat Pray Love springs to mind.
Not one mention of her performance as "Julia Roberts" in Ocean's Twelve? A great send-up of celebrity and it was great to see she has a sense of humour about herself.
She is in possession of Ellen Burstyn's 2nd Oscar.
Jimmy
Well Ellen is in possession of Gena Rowlands' Oscar, so back off.
I find it surprising that so many speak so highly of her turn in Closer nowadays -- which I loved from the moment I saw it -- because I have a distinct rememberance of an overall shrug from most at that performance when the film was released years ago.
And yes, I also think she's better than Meryl in August: Osage County.
I fell in love with her when I was a teenager after watching 'The Pelican Brief', which I think it is a good example of her career: delivering a performance which is usually better than the film itself and occassionally working with prestigious and/or notable directors (Altman, Allen, Frears, Pakula, Spielberg...) but not precisely in their best films.
In my opinion, she is in a very interesting stage of her career where she does not need to prove anything, although she keeps taking relatively challenging roles from time to time ('Secret in their eyes', 'The normal heart', 'August: Osage County'...). I still hope she gets a well-deserved critical comeback success within the near future, but overall I wish she was working with better directors in better films. I read somewhere an interview with Scorsese where he stated that she is one of her favourite film actresses, and indeed I do not understand why she is not more requested by prestigious directors who might perfectly exploit her already legendary star wattage.
Oh, and I also loved 'Mary Reilly', although much less than 'Closer', 'My best friend's wedding' and 'Erin Brockovich' — three wonderful performances in three wonderful films. It still pisses me off that she was not Oscar nominated for the first two of them.
She was quite great in August Osage County, but didn't reach the heights of Meryl's brilliant work as acerbic Violet Weston.
I enjoyed her work more in romantic comedies than dramas. I feel the same way about Sandra Bullock too.
As much as I liked her AOC, her performance has 3 things working against it in my mind:
1) Once you've seen the absolutely genius Amy Morton perform that role on the stage, no one would be able to measure up
2) Not for a single second do you believe that Julia is Meryl's daughter
3) The absolute absurdity of the category fraud of her Oscar nom. She's so clearly a lead.
I think my top 5 is the same as Nat's but I'd swap places for Notting Hill and The Normal Heart.