Top Five Movies of Julia Ormond

First of all, when I pitched an essay on Julia Ormond and her movies, I had a feeling that there would be more to choose from. Where is ?Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves?? Where is ?Braveheart?? Darn it, I realized, I?m confusing Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Sophie Marceau with the lovely Julia again. Trust me, in the early 90s, it was much easier to do.

The lovely Julia Ormond

Then I looked closer to Julia?s movies and had a revelation. She stars in quite a few movies that have not lived up to the hopes I had for them. A combination of actors, directors, setting and story make me think, oh boy, this is going to be great. Then I leave the theater and feel like Flounder after he got his seltzer bottle shot by Niedermayer.

I hear the same type of feelings said aloud for ?My Week with Marilyn? which I have yet to see. Still, Michelle Williams as Marilyn and Julia as Vivien Leigh give me hope. Nostalgia! Pin-up girls of the past! I look down and can already see the broken glass at my feet. Then there?s the limited release on January 13th of ?Albatross? starring Julia, Felicity Jones and Jessica Brown Findlay, a lovely brunette trio. Hopes?please?stay?low.

So, to remind me not to get my hopes up to high, here are the top five near misses of Julia. Yes, it is different from the other lists, but that?s because of Julia?s different career path.

5. Smilla?s Sense of Snow

This movie makes the list because of its connection to me trying to pick up a girl while riding the bus. I tend to read a lot of news on movies and one day I read that the book of the same name got optioned to make this film. That evening, I saw a girl on my bus reading this book. I went up and mentioned the movie fact to her. She got off at the next stop. That conversation didn?t live up to my hopes for it, that?s for sure.

4. Inland Empire

As a nod to my editor, this movie makes the list because whenever I hear him talk about it, he says he loves it and would not recommend anyone seeing it. Since David Lynch has done so many great movies, I feel that lands this one fully in the camp of not living up to its potential. Eventually, I will see it and then maybe it will move up or down. Until then, if you?re a fan of David Lynch, look on the bright side: there are still three Julia movies that were even worse at living up to their potential.

3. Legends of the Fall

This one fully lands in my own ?beautiful but empty? category. (Think ?Dances with Wolves,? ?Topsy-Turvy? or probably ?Smilla?s Sense of Snow.?) I don?t think it was ?Thelma and Louise? that started women?s love affair with Brad Pitt, but this movie where he has wild, unkempt locks and lives in the wilds of the west. Just that clause and I can hear the girls getting wet from here. I didn?t even mention the rest of the star power in the movie in the form of Anthony Hopkins. Oops, just heard all the girls drying right back up.

2. Sabrina

Take a great movie from the 50s directed by Billy Wilder and adapt it to today, using the lovely Julia, icon Harrison Ford and up and coming host of ?Talk Soup? Greg Kinnear and what happened? Oh yeah, it didn?t come close to equaling the Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden version. I think I can trace my reluctance to see any remake back to this movie. Still, my goodness, Julia looked great.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

So, in this list of misses, Julia, Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt directed by David Fincher takes the cake. It looked pretty. It had a cool idea. But, I still can see CGI old Pitt looking like a cross between Dick Clark and Gollum. That?s not a recipe for cinematic gold.

Agree? Disagree? Which movies would make your Julia Ormond top five however you?d like to define it?