Julie and Julia (PG-13)
Mike:
Mike: Tonight I am reviewing Julie and Julia
, based on the book of the same name about a would be writer determined to make every recipe in a Julia Child cookbook and then blog about it.
Scott was unable to make it to this movie.
What did I think about this movie? I loved it. It definitely ranks as one of the best movies so far this year. The names Meryl Streep and Amy Adams might perk up your ears, but is it just another chick flick? On the surface it doesn’t sound like a movie that most males would be interested in. After all it’s about cooking and gasp…Julia Child. On the other hand, the story is also about Julie Powell, an early blogger and her determination to start a project, but then actually finish it. So the great thing is that this feels like two good movies wrapped in to one.
The first movie is about Julie Powell, the author of the novel that this movie is based on. So not only is this based on a true story, it is based on two true stories! What’s interesting about Julie’s story is watching a regular person at a regular job come up with an offbeat idea that is just catchy enough to get her noticed. If you think about it you will see that her cooking experiment led to a blog that led to a book that lead to the movie we are watching here. It makes your head hurt a little bit. The thing is that even though Julie and Julia are worlds apart in time, status and even environment, there is a connection between the two and cooking is at the heart of it.
As I was watching the movie, I realized that I didn’t really know anything about Julia Child. I remember seeing her on TV a long time ago and I remember the Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Ackroyd. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can find it on YouTube. As a matter of fact it’s in the movie. Needless to say it is hilarious, but I digress. Not knowing anything about the real Julia Child made finding out about her as interesting as any fictional biography. The bonus is that she is played by the amazing Meryl Streep. She plays Julia as someone with a lust for life and a charm that embraces everyone she meets. You even come to find out that Julia was not born to be a famous chef as I had always assumed. She pretty much fell into it after experimenting with a variety of activities to keep her busy while in France with her husband. If the movie is accurate, she was the first woman at the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school.
I know that many people will say that obviously the more interesting of the two stories has to be that of Julia Child. Meryl Streep must win over Amy Adams. Not so fast. As she has shown before Adams has the talent and charm to hold her own against the formidable Streep. The great thing is that this is not a competition, so both performances complement each other. For me it is hard to tell which I like better, Adams or Streep. Streep is great as always, but her performance seems a bit over the top at points. She plays Child as though she is always happy and that no every setback is just an obstacle to overcome. Julia is larger than life. On the other hand Amy Adams’ Julie grounds the movie. She seems to be more of a real person that people can relate to. She has meltdowns. Things do get to be too much for her at times. Some of this is due to the writing of course, but I give plenty of credit to Ms Adams. Frankly after her performance in Enchanted I was determined to see just about anything she is in. This re-teaming of Streep and Adams helps make up for the disappointment that was Doubt.
With Nora Ephron on board as a writer and director you might assume this proves that this must really be a chick flick in disguise. Even though she is responsible for romantic comedy staples like Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, this movie cannot be lumped in with them.
I rate this movie a 4 out of 5 overall and a 4 for Comedy/Drama/Biography mishmash. I may not have mentioned before, but on top of everything else, this movie will make you laugh.
One more word of advice: Don’t come to the theater hungry or you may be sorry.
