Julie and Julia (Nora Ephron, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Kathleen Amboy.  Viewed at the Fairview Twin.

Julie and Julia

What happens when you saute and slow cook cubed beef with bouillon?  It eventually becomes beef stew.  When you add 3 cups of red wine and follow Julia Child’s recipe, it deliciously becomes Boeuf Bourguignon!

In 2002 Julie Powell committed 1 year of her life to try all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook (published in 1961).  Julie was a frustrated writer but a huge fan of Julia Child when she began her endeavor; she used the power of the internet and a personal blog as a means for artistic release, and also to document her culinary journey.  In 2005 Julie’s memoirs of this event was then published under the title Julie and Julia:  365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.

Nora Ephron took Julie Powell’s memoirs and merged them with Julia Child’s autobiography My Life in France, and thus created the plot for Julie & Julia.  Julie & Julia begins with a flashback of  Julia Child (Meryl Streep) in France with her husband Paul Child (Stanley Tucci).  She has a lot of free time and very little to do.  Julia first sets about attending cooking classes geared for G.I.’s,  she then becomes acquainted with 2 French women working on a cookbook, and eventually all 3 become cohorts in creating a French cookbook designed with simplicity in mind for American wives.

Simultaneously Julie Powell (Amy Adams), in the present, is attempting the recipes and reporting the outcome on her blog.  As the blog gains in popularity Julie Powell’s story becomes newsworthy, and her ego expands as her marriage is jeopardized.

Ephron, best known for Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You’ve Got Mail (1998), took great liberties in writing, as the dialogue coupled with Streep’s over-the-top voice and character interpretation made Julia appear as though she were an airhead at times.  The Julia Child that I grew up watching and ended up serving many years later at a local country club always appeared intelligent and unpretentious.

That being said, Julie & Julia is a really good romantic comedy, and a lot of fun to watch.  Meryl Streep really has improved with age – she has lost the self-consciousness in her acting, which never attracted me before.  I believe she will be nominated for her role as Julia Child, and deservedly so.

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Published:
10.02.09 / 4pm
Category:
Films