Movie Review - 'Julie & Julia'

Julie & Julia Starring Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci Directed by Nora Ephron Rated PG-13

Julie Powell began chronicling her journey through Julia Child's famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 2002. Frustrated by a professional life that seemed to be going nowhere, Powell found a sense of empowerment writing a blog about her experiences. The goal was for Powell to cook each one of Child's 524 recipes in 365 days. What Powell discovered - and what Julie & Julia writer-director Nora Ephron paints so well - is how interwoven the lives of these two women are. Or could be. Or should be. Ephron works from two sources here, Powell's book of the same name, kind of an unabridged version of her blog, and Child's own memoirs of her time in France. The decision to incorporate both books gives Ephron a chance to explore more deeply both Powell and Child, both of whom took to the kitchen as a sort of rebellion. As portrayed by Amy Adams, Powell has a spunkiness somewhere, and it was probably more apparent when the character was younger. Now, though, as she approaches 30, Powell wears comfortable clothes and a convenient hairstyle, and doesn't put up much of a fight for her independence when being socially suffocated by her upwardly mobile friends nor does she protest too much answering calls at her day job, which is sort of a 9/11 complaint/comfort help line. But when she decides to dive into the world of blogging and high stakes cooking, Powell discovers or rediscovers a part of herself that she needs to truly be whole. Amy Adams has twice twitterpated Oscar voters; she received nominations last year for Doubt and for the much more surprising breakout role in Junebug several years ago. There is an inherent likability in Adams that most actresses, if they have it, tend to turn off so they can be sexy, aloof, glamorous, or dangerous. But I've seen Amy Adams about a dozen times, and have cheered for her in alomst every movie. She just has a way of winning you over. To embody Julia Child, Ephron went to the only actress she could, Meryl Streep. Child is a well-known figure to generations, thanks to her unique personality that despite being anything but telegenic kept her on the air for nearly 50 years. You can't just hire an actress that may look like Child and expect her to reveal not only the version of her that we know publicly but one we can believe privately. Here, Child shows the same frustrations as Powell but never doubts herself. "Boo hoo," she says at one point, ready to cast off eight years of work on her book. And with that, she's done fretting. In the same sense that Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time, Meryl Streep is the greatest actress who has ever lived. Yes, others have more hardware - although it's hard to imagine how - but Streep's versatility from Sophie's Choice to Mamma Mia! and from Doubt to Devil Wears Prada is simply astounding. She seems so effortless in everything, and always has. I don't suspect this performance will earn her a 15th or 16th Oscar nomination or whatever the total is up to now (it's more than anyone else, so what does it matter?), but it's certainly a great performance. With someone else in the apron, it might look like a bigger feat, but for Streep, this is just what she does. I was charmed by Julie & Julie, which counts for a lot when that's exactly what the movie is supposed to do. There's nothing great about it, but the two lead actresses fuel it as far as it goes. I particularly liked how well Ephron fed three growing relationships at once, involving Child and her husband (Stanley Tucci), Powell and her husband (Chris Messina), and of course, Powell and Child, separated by 50 years but joined at the heart by a shared passion and resilience.

Comments

[Heidi from Savory Tv]

A great review, thank you! I'm so glad you were charmed by it, I am even more excited to see it Monday!

[Hugging the Coast]

Now I'm really looking forward to seeing this movie.

This was an especially well written review, by the way.

[SEAN]

Yeah i must echo the two people above me.,..

Marvelous review Colin, one of the best or if not better one's I have read from you...
-very insightful and articulated greatly

I saw the movie and it was great, I was charmed myself too, great word to describe it "charmed" is exactly how I felt, it was an easy watch and greatly directed...

Meryl and Amy did wonderful, and Im a big fan of Stan Tucci and he was just the backbone that kept Julia Child going....awesome work Mr.Tucci, Ms.Streep, and Ms.Adams

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