The Big Picture · Review · Hall of Fame
October 21, 2022/ 101 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Clooney and Roberts reunite for a Bali rom-com, then Dobbins builds the ten-film Julia Roberts Hall of Fame and Fennessey fights for a 90-second cameo to count.
11 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Ticket to Paradisegrade: B
Divorced parents David and Georgia (Clooney and Roberts) fly to Bali to sabotage their daughter's whirlwind wedding. Directed by Ol Parker. Dobbins: a delightful, disposable night out that 'sticks out like a sore thumb' because nobody makes this kind of star vehicle anymore. Both hosts flag the third act getting speech-heavy and a script that can't decide if the daughter went to college or law school.
The Julia Roberts Hall of Fameten essential roles, chosen by Dobbins
Her first real notice, in an ensemble dramedy about a Connecticut pizza joint. Dobbins didn't love the rewatch but watched the whole thing anyway: if you're building the myth, this one matters.
She was famously the last choice cast, and this is the movie where you watch her become a star in real time. Big mistake. Huge.
A 90-second cameo, playing herself, in Robert Altman's comeback. Fennessey campaigned hard for a cameo to count toward the Hall of Fame.
A Grisham conspiracy thriller with Denzel Washington, directed by Alan J. Pakula. Runs long untangling its plot, but 'so who cares': the most underrated of her legal thrillers.
She plays the wedding-ruiner, finally using the caustic, mean-mode register she'd kept in her back pocket. Dobbins' pick for her favorite Roberts performance.
Fennessey's favorite: a movie star basically playing herself falls for a London bookshop owner. The film turns her own fame into the actual subject.
Won her the Oscar, directed by Soderbergh. A rare case of the trophy actually lining up with the performance: real character work that's still fully Julia.
In, with reservations: Fennessey admits the part barely tests her and floats revisiting the call once Twelve comes up.
The bit where her character impersonates Julia Roberts. A favorite the hosts have referenced on the show before.
A mother trying to keep her son alive through one night after he comes home from rehab. Both hosts single it out as a late-career high point.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Considered for the Hall of Fame, not inducted SatisfactionBlood RedSteel MagnoliasFlatlinersSleeping with the EnemyDying YoungHookI Love TroublePrêt-à-PorterSomething to Talk AboutMary ReillyMichael CollinsEveryone Says I Love YouConspiracy TheoryStepmomRunaway BrideThe MexicanAmerica's SweetheartsFull FrontalConfessions of a Dangerous MindMona Lisa SmileCloserCharlie Wilson's WarFireflies in the GardenDuplicityValentine's DayEat Pray LoveLarry CrowneMirror MirrorAugust: Osage CountyThe Normal HeartSecret in Their EyesMother's DayMoney MonsterWonder
In passing The Lost CityMamma Mia! Here We Go AgainOne Fine DayKluteAll the President's MenThelma & LouiseHail, Caesar!His Girl FridayBoogie NightsBrosBlack AdamThe Hand that Rocks the CradleUnlawful EntryPacific HeightsMank
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