Julie & Julia (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Ahh, food. We all love it. And when you see some of Julia Child's masterpieces on the screen, you'll want to jump through & devour them. 'Julie & Julia', is written & directed by Nora Ephron, and based on 2 bestselling memoirs: one by Julie Powell, & one by Julia Child. The film follows the intertwining lives of Julie & Julia; 2 women who, though separated by over 50 yrs., went through a lot of the same personal issues. Both were new wives to supportive husbands, both were unsettled, both had jobs they didn't love, both were at loose ends, & both had an unwavering love of ... well, butter. With time, they discovered that cooking would be the right conduit to unleash their passion, their talent, their creativity, & their sense of selves. With cooking, anything was possible.
The film opens & closes with Julia Child; with hefty portions of her throughout the proceedings, as well. But while Meryl Streep seems to have more screen time than Amy Adams - overall - the Julie Powell story 'seems' to be the focus. In 2002, Julie Powell (Adams) was suffering through a thankless government job in NY - post 9/11. She comes home to a loving & devoted husband, Eric (Chris Messina, of Vicky Cristina Barcelona), but can't seem to shake the bad days at work. To relax, she cooks. Her personal heroine is Julia Child. And so, needing purpose, she embarks on an experiment. With the help of her hubby, Julie sets up a blog that will chronicle her cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's groundbreaking cookbook over the course of 365 days. In the process, she becomes an internet celebrity; though, this daunting challenge causes a strain both at work, & at home. That's the 'drama' in this storyline.
Woven into this story (quite well, at that) is the small, but powerful biopic about Julia Child (Streep), a tall, jovial American woman who relocates to Paris (in 1949) with her government-working husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci). An ex-secretary, bored, & needing a hobby, Julia takes up hat-making - not for her. She takes up Bridge - not for her. I liked watching her try to overcome her boredom. She then takes cooking classes and sees that, while she has talent, cooking is a predominantly man's world. With time, she finds a few strong female allies. And Julia achieves her dream of bringing the art of French cooking to the English-speaking world; becoming a culinary icon to boot. She has some road bumps along the way, but I'll leave it to the movie to show you what I mean.
Everything that's been said about this movie in other reviews is true. It's a little long. The Julie Powell storyline is fine. But the Julia Child-in-Paris story is great - beautiful, fun & frothy. On the whole, I liked enough intangibles of the film that it made whatever issues I have with it diminish. The editing of the 2 interlocking stories is stellar. The normally sweet Amy Adams has the unenviable task of conveying a fussy, self-centered Julie. And I liked Chris Messina as her incredibly understanding husband. Their story has its share of humors & affections. But I have 2 problems with this film: 1) Julie's story is just not as interesting as Julia's; which kind of neuters the proceedings. And 2) there is a lack of dramatic closure in both stories. Though the ending makes sense, it still kinda bugged me.
Meryl is fantastic here - no surprise. Not only does she completely embody Child with gusto & pizzazz, but she's also funny, eccentric, & endearing. She even strikes a poignant chord in a brief, but soul-bearing scene (when reading a letter about her equally giant sister). Brilliant work. I also loved Stanley Tucci as her low-key husband; you believe their relationship. 'Julie & Julia' is not the movie I hoped it 'could' be, but I am very pleased, nevertheless. It's a delightful (if unremarkable), old-fashioned movie about 2 women from different eras who achieved fame by following their heart, cooking, writing about it, & finding a new stage in their lives. Whether it was their gender, age, height, or disadvantageous status in society ... NOTHING could not stop them. I craved for more time spent with Julia Child. But I highly recommend the film; particularly for food lovers, cooks, idealists, and fans of Meryl Streep & Amy Adams.
The film opens & closes with Julia Child; with hefty portions of her throughout the proceedings, as well. But while Meryl Streep seems to have more screen time than Amy Adams - overall - the Julie Powell story 'seems' to be the focus. In 2002, Julie Powell (Adams) was suffering through a thankless government job in NY - post 9/11. She comes home to a loving & devoted husband, Eric (Chris Messina, of Vicky Cristina Barcelona), but can't seem to shake the bad days at work. To relax, she cooks. Her personal heroine is Julia Child. And so, needing purpose, she embarks on an experiment. With the help of her hubby, Julie sets up a blog that will chronicle her cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's groundbreaking cookbook over the course of 365 days. In the process, she becomes an internet celebrity; though, this daunting challenge causes a strain both at work, & at home. That's the 'drama' in this storyline.
Woven into this story (quite well, at that) is the small, but powerful biopic about Julia Child (Streep), a tall, jovial American woman who relocates to Paris (in 1949) with her government-working husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci). An ex-secretary, bored, & needing a hobby, Julia takes up hat-making - not for her. She takes up Bridge - not for her. I liked watching her try to overcome her boredom. She then takes cooking classes and sees that, while she has talent, cooking is a predominantly man's world. With time, she finds a few strong female allies. And Julia achieves her dream of bringing the art of French cooking to the English-speaking world; becoming a culinary icon to boot. She has some road bumps along the way, but I'll leave it to the movie to show you what I mean.
Everything that's been said about this movie in other reviews is true. It's a little long. The Julie Powell storyline is fine. But the Julia Child-in-Paris story is great - beautiful, fun & frothy. On the whole, I liked enough intangibles of the film that it made whatever issues I have with it diminish. The editing of the 2 interlocking stories is stellar. The normally sweet Amy Adams has the unenviable task of conveying a fussy, self-centered Julie. And I liked Chris Messina as her incredibly understanding husband. Their story has its share of humors & affections. But I have 2 problems with this film: 1) Julie's story is just not as interesting as Julia's; which kind of neuters the proceedings. And 2) there is a lack of dramatic closure in both stories. Though the ending makes sense, it still kinda bugged me.
Meryl is fantastic here - no surprise. Not only does she completely embody Child with gusto & pizzazz, but she's also funny, eccentric, & endearing. She even strikes a poignant chord in a brief, but soul-bearing scene (when reading a letter about her equally giant sister). Brilliant work. I also loved Stanley Tucci as her low-key husband; you believe their relationship. 'Julie & Julia' is not the movie I hoped it 'could' be, but I am very pleased, nevertheless. It's a delightful (if unremarkable), old-fashioned movie about 2 women from different eras who achieved fame by following their heart, cooking, writing about it, & finding a new stage in their lives. Whether it was their gender, age, height, or disadvantageous status in society ... NOTHING could not stop them. I craved for more time spent with Julia Child. But I highly recommend the film; particularly for food lovers, cooks, idealists, and fans of Meryl Streep & Amy Adams.