"JULIE & JULIA" ... In 2002 New Yorker
Julie Powell decided to rise to the challenge of preparing all 524 recipes in Julia Child's seminal 1961 work, "Mastering
the Art of French Cooking," during a single calendar year. Powell also decided to write about the experience on her personal
blog. Eventually interest in Powell's blog took off and it became a local literary sensation. In the first movie ever inspired
by a blog, screenwriter and director Nora Ephron melded Powell's blog and the early historical record of Julia Child into
a movie script.
"Foodie" films like this inevitably rise or fall not
only on the appealing visuals of the preparations, but more importantly on the strength of the characters who are doing the
cooking. There has to be an interesting story here, and, fortunately, this film does very well in that regard with its two
thematically connected stories, the first about Powell as a chef at home and the other about Julia Child, the woman who brought
the art of French cuisine to American.
Julia Child's career as a student of French cuisine
started far more slowly than that of Powell and her blogging efforts. As the wife of a career civil servant stationed in Paris,
she had to cope with the difficulty of entering a male only profession. Her efforts were greatly enhanced by her enthusiasm,
the unstinting support of her devoted husband, and not a little by the fact that the six foot two inch Child towered over
most of her male contemporaries. After years spent training in the field, she spent more time writing about French cuisine
with the help of two fellow compatriots. The resultant tome was so hefty that it was rejected by numerous publishers as being
unmarketable. Finally, the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house picked up the book for publication, and the rest, including Child's
many years spent as a celebrated cook with her own show on PBS, is, as they say, history.
This movie spends its time segueing between those early
years before Julia Child became famous and 2002, the year in which Julie Powell wrote her blog about her efforts to cook all
of the 524 recipes. Amy Adams plays the role of Julie Powell with her usual infectious charm tamped down by her work pressures
and the other demands on her life. Some have found her role to be somewhat irritating, but I did not find this to be the case.
More a study in realism with women today having to cope with many daily pressures. She managed to pull it off with,
once again, the steadfast devotion of her husband, Eric (Chris Messina), even though his support sometimes flagged.
Stanley Tucci stars as Julia Child's loving husband,
and he plays his role to sublime perfection. Meryl Streep nails her performance with her usual perfection, and both of these
roles are Oscar worthy. In addition, the entire movie is immeasurably helped by Ephron's crisp dialogue. That and the wonderfully
portrayed relationships are what sells this movie far more than the cooking. (Recommended, A-)
