Does Anyone Like Julia Roberts?

I can't reference 'Notting Hill', but yeah, I've always liked Julia Roberts. Frankly, anyone who can see past Lyle Lovett's freaky-at-best looks to what a cool and talented guy he is, will always be ok in my book.

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Crap! I like her too. Am I not supposed to? Is the public again telling me I'm not supposed to like someone just because the majority of the public at one time liked them and then BECAUSE everybody liked them it's now cool to NOT like them. You know, kinda like Ben Affleck. Well screw it, I'll like whom ever I want to like and I like Julie Roberts. She's attractive, funny and I think a fine actress. And like you said, her chick flicks are quite watchable. And I'm a guy. Menh. Forgot everybody else, Julie is great.

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Closer is one of my favorite films, and Julia is amazing in it...

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She's always funny and down to earth on Letterman.

I like her, although she should stick to romantic comedies.

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I don't like her. Her voice grates, her comic timing is nil, and she's put into movies where every man is supposed to think she's the hottest thing on up to five legs ... remember that scene in _Ocean's Eleven_? They're in Vegas, they're surrounded by showgirls, and the best part of that character's day is when a completely-average woman walks down stairs? If you want people to *believe* a character is hot, how about casting someone who actually is? Her career consists almost entirely of Mary Sue fanfiction, and I'd really prefer she actually try to *act*, rather than playing the Amazingly Hot Lead. In the few cases where she *does* play a character, she's fine. But her Star Character was solidified with _Pretty Woman_, and heaven forfend she do something else.

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Don't like her and have no shame about admitting it. Julia Roberts started her career as a "hair" actress. It's all about the hair. (Without it, the experience isn't the same. "Mary Rielly" comes to mind.) And most of it wasn't hers. She's a one note performer and the note is getting old. Add in her personal experiences of husband poaching and general meaness to fans, and she just doesn't come off as likeable.

Give me her brother anyday. Real hair. Better actor.

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I've never been a fan of hers. I REALLY did not like her in Hook (which came out when I was around 5 or 6?), and that pretty much colored it for me. She's good in Richard Curtis movies, but MOST people are good in Richard Curtis movies.

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Two things I like about Julia Roberts:

Watching her character lose it like they do in Erin Brockovich and Closer.

Watching her mess with an interviewer the way she does with Letterman and recently Josh Horowitz of MTV news.

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Roberts falls into the "don't care" category of actors for me. I notice her, but her presence in a film doesn't make any difference one way or another.

I think the problem is that she's long been lauded in the press, became the highest-paid actress in history, won an Oscar for what was only a decent performance (but above average for her), and was generally shoved down everyone's throat without actually showing why she deserved it.

With a few exceptions, she seems to really only play one character - Julia Roberts. There's been moments of definite range shown (Closer comes to mind), but in general, it's flat. The problem arises when she's played up as more than that.

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I think I might be a bit of an odd duck when it comes to Julia Roberts. Of course I loved Pretty Woman and Steel Magnolias, they were great films, timeless. And then she went through her greatest actress in the universe phase. Making what I considered really horrible movies barely worth watching, Sleeping with the Enemy a good example. I avoided her completely for awhile. And then Michael collins came out. She had a small role surrounded by very talented actors. "She's learning to act?" Now, I'm not saying she's become Katherine Hepburn, far from it, but Erin Brokivich was brilliant(thanks largely to Susannah Grant) and I enjoy a lot of her romantic comedies. Still there's always a part of me that goes into a Julia Roberts movie holding my breath.

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Oddly enough, I like her and my wife hates her.

I just find her easy to root for. Can't explain it.

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Seems like a nice enough person, but her acting ability is second-rate (the comic timing note is dead on) and she seems to be obsessed with goody-goody roles. I've liked her in darker roles, like "My Best Friend's Wedding" or "Confessions of a Tell-Tale Mind."

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i can only remember watching the first 20 minutes of pretty women. Even though i havent seen her in any other movie iv watched, i like her.

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I can take her or leave her. I liked some of her films. "Of course I loved Pretty Woman"? I hated that film's concept, so ... But, no, I'm not lining up to dis her.

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LOVED Notting Hill! Her problem is she is/was always a movie star, not an actress, was overpaid for years for not bringing in high box office (thanks to a great agent), and she can't carry films that aren't a certain formula: the silly romantic comedies, the vulnerable nice girl. Now that she is older, she doesn't have that coltish appeal, which doesn't leave her much in her arsenal. She isn't a character actress. Her messy personal life from sleeping with others' husbands to being very catty and b!tchy to others in the industry finally saw its way to the public. I fell in love with Julia in the late 80s and out slowly...starting with some very catty remarks she made about Sandra Bullock in the early 90s. She hasn’t had a hit since Erin Brockovich in 2000 (Ocean’s Eleven movies she was just eye candy).

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My beau weighed in on why he won’t see her movies:

"She has had some weird plastic surgery since having kids, which makes it hard to look at her. Her eyes look over-stretched, her nose too chiseled and her mouth looks twice as large as it did in Pretty Woman. Her looks are distracting in anything that calls for a more subdued look or classic pretty.

Many actresses get better as they age and do some very challenging and excellent work (Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett). Even Jennifer Aniston for being a comedy actress is showing more range as she ages. Julia was better in her early 20s.

Her egomania in her Oscar acceptance speech (think it was the longest in history) and her dissing of the woman whose husband she stole (stupid A Low Vera shirt) showed how immature and self centered she is, even in her 30s. Now in her early 40s, when you see her in interviews she doesn’t seem to have matured at all but constantly manipulates the press and is very fake in every interaction.

I think people crave authenticity. They used to think she had it, but over the years see she does not."

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Put another notch in the "don't hate her, don't love her" tally. I've never found her distractingly bad but at the same time never walked away being blown away by her performance. She's the same as Cage when it comes to seeing a movie she's in. If it looks good I'll see it, if it looks stupid I won't, and her involvement in it amounts to a Notting Hill of beans when i'm making up my mind (thats the best I could come up with, does it count?).

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I like her, always have. I think you hit it, Elisabeth. As far as actresses go, she is pretty incredibly inoffensive. She's not the most beautiful, or the best actress, but I've liked most of her flicks, and though I'm sure she's a very nice person...that wouldn't make me feel differently one way or the other. Anyhow, if you want someone to pick on for romantic rom-coms, I'd say someone along the lines of Sandra Bullock would be much more warranted.

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Love her! I think she's a phenomenal actress. She's the most charming movie star I can think of, with her big laugh and infectious smile. I also think shes gorgeous, despite all the criticism of her looks. Personally, it seems like people try to hit her down simply because she was so adored and became so huge.
I think the average person still loves Julia and carries goodwill for her; it's just that they are not as loud as her haters.

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