91. Jane Fonda (Julia)

91. Unlike the Academy, I don't have much of a fondness for actors who take on famous people. I'm more of a fan of a new creation, or at least one interpreted from literature.

However, I do on occasion fall in love with the biopic, and there are few film tales as compelling as Julia. The film doesn't quite follow the biopic (after all, the title character isn't the lead-it is in fact Lillian Hellman, recollecting her past with the beautiful and lovely Julia). The film has grand performances crawling out of the woodwork (ranging from the intricate Maximillian Schell to Vanessa Redgrave as the title character to Meryl Streep in her haunting screen debut). However, it is Fonda, as the chain-smoking playwright, who steals the show.

This is Fonda's best performance, hands down. Yes, she won Oscars for Klute and Coming Home, but it is this where she most perfectly combines her cold, hard edge with a woman who deserves that edge (and the film is of unbelievable quality). Her Hellman is a woman on the move, trying to recapture youth, her story, and her future all in one fateful trip. The scene in the coffeehouse with Redgrave is the best, but even small motions, like the way Fonda handles the hat, are brilliant. It's a study of minutia, and Fonda, with a precision she patented, is grand.

Hmm...a Fonda marathon? Avoid Monster-in-Law, that's for sure. Maybe take on the early work of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and perhaps the later works of On Golden Pond (where she's a supporting hottie), with Julia as a beautiful tiramisu dessert.