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Julie & Julia is a film that should be relished with gusto--accompanied by the freshest and best ingredients, pounds of butter, and bottles of the very best wine. It lovingly celebrates the life of one of American food's most influential and beloved figureheads: Julia Child--played here with zest, humor, and a sweet, subtle respect by Meryl Streep, whose performance is spectacular.
Julie & Julia is based on the book by Julie Powell, a frustrated New York bureaucrat who wants to be a writer. "But you're not a writer until someone publishes you," she moans. So she gives herself a challenge: to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year, and to blog about it. As Powell (played with chirpy determination by Amy Adams), begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own--and in the end it does provide the struggling young woman with her life's purpose, to her very pleasant surprise. But mostly, Julie & Julia is a valentine to Child, to Child's amazing love affair with her dashing husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci, as divine as any soufflé in the film), and to her outlook on embracing life, and ordering seconds. Streep throws herself into the Child role with real affection for her character, and while certain of Child's idiosyncrasies--including her warbly voice and unflappable haphazardness in the kitchen--are retained, it's Child's character and vision which form Streep's portrayal, and which make the film so involving and rewarding.
Nora Ephron directs with deftness and a light touch, though she seems at times to be encouraging some of Meg Ryan's onscreen tics in Adams (the self-conscious head tilt, for one). But mostly she simply allows Streep to channel Child and her love of food, her husband, and 1950s Paris. And that is a recipe for something truly sublime. --A.T. Hurley
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not great - the movie is much better (CONTAINS SPOILERS),
By
This review is from: Julie & Julia Bilingual (DVD)
*** SPOILERS ALERT!! ***I like to cook. Most of the time, I'm good with thinking up dinner recipes ' or finding ones in cookbooks, baking cakes, cookies, and whatnot, and just creating things in the kitchen. Sometimes I need motivation. When I started reading Julie Powell's book Julie and Julia I felt very motivated. After reading the first chapter, I dug out my cookbooks and planned meals for the next couple days. And I really enjoyed cooking them. Halfway through the book I realized that it was all pretty much the same thing happening. Julie cooks Julia's recipes ' they either turn out well or they're garbage. She works her way through the entire Mastering the Art of French Cooking book, eating things like liver, duck, marrow, etc. She swears, she cries, her husband helps her at times, she feeds friends and family, she writes on her blog (which was a pretty new concept when she had started blogging). At this halfway point, I realized that while Julie is 'finding herself' while cooking, it's also the same thing over and over again. She cooks, they eat, she goes to her day job, people notice her blog and she experiences a bit of fame. After this point, I put the book down. I was bored. She cooked. She wasn't a cleaner (maybe I'm a clean freak, but the thought of those little black flies in my kitchen, and the part with the maggots just didn't sit well with me ' who lets their kitchen get that way?). She was gaining weight because of the sheer amount of fat used in the cooking. She didn't like her office job because it wasn't helping her discover herself. Blah, blah, blah. I started reading Julie and Julia at the beginning of November. Now, at the beginning of December, after reading 4 other books, I've finished reading it. I didn't feel enlightened after finishing the book. In fact, I didn't even feel the urge to cook anymore. Julie Powell is a decent writer, though she does stray from topic to topic throughout the book. One thing would remind her of another and she'd go off talking about something else. As a reader, I didn't feel intrigued to get to the end of the book ' I assumed she'd work her way to the end of MtAoFC and discover herself. It wasn't like reading a regular fiction book ' there was no suspense, no intrigue, no mystery. In fact, by the end of the book there were a few endings (where Julie felt the need to write 'The End'. Twice.) where I just thought to myself, 'Finish it already!' By the end of the book, Julie cooks her final dish well, but still doesn't really know how to cook. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I do find myself to be slightly more capable in the kitchen which might be why I couldn't relate to Julie. When something goes wrong, I'm not swearing. I don't let the dishes pile up for days. Cooking is more therapeutic for me rather than a chore (which is what the Julie/Julia Project seemed to be like for Julie). I'm not the best cook in the world ' in fact, far from it ' but I manage. After following a 'how to' cookbook for a year I would think I'd be better in the kitchen, just as I thought Julie would have turned into a better chef than she was at the start of the book. I'm very interested to watch the movie with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams ' perhaps it'll keep my interest more than the book did. On another note, at the end of the book there is an excerpt from Julie Powell's next book Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession. After reading bits of that excerpt, I noticed it was the same kind of writing as in Julie and Julia and I really don't see myself purchasing it. I'm not sure why, after writing a memoir about food, Julie would write yet another memoir about food. Instead of working her way through a cookbook, she's discovering herself as a butcher. Wow. Maybe she's just trying to stretch out those 15 minutes of fame. I think I would give the book 2 stars out of 5. Now, we'll see how the movie fares.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Julia Child is alive!,
By Christina Agathi "The Quebec sleuth" (Saint-Hyacinthe, Qc Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Julie & Julia Bilingual (DVD)
Meryl Streep a redonné vie à Julia Child. Et ce n'est pas une imitation grotesque, c'est vraiment Julia Child des années 60-70 qui nous apparait. L'histoire est plausible, ayant lu la biographie de Madame Child, même si c'est parfois arrangé avec le "gars des vues".On reste un peu sur notre faim (et ce n'est pas un jeu de mots) avec la fin. Mais que voulez-vous, le film étant basé sur une histoire réelle, il en est ainsi de la fin Any Adams est aussi excellente. Je la trouve bien chanceuse de "garder sa ligne" cependant en se tapant à tous les jours ses excellents repas....
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing Meryl Streep!,
By alex (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Julie & Julia Bilingual (DVD)
I am absolutely blown away by the extraordinary talent of Meryl Streep. In that movie she BECOMES Julia Child. She talks like her, moves like her, it's amazing. I loved that movie and I will certainely try her famous "Boeuf Bourguigon" recipe. This is a very refreshing movie to watch. Highly recommended!
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