Julie & Julia (2009)

Julie & Julia is full of food, frustration, and more food. It slides back and forth between two stories. One is that of Julia Child (Meryl Streep) entertaining herself with cooking and eventually taking over the assembly of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the 1950s. The other is Julie Powell (Amy Adams) blogging and cooking her way through every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 2002.

The cookbook is the thin string tying the two plots together. One would think that maybe there should have been two movies instead of one, but the Julie Powell story doesn't seem to have enough meat to stand on its own. Plus, despite Amy Adams' best intentions and efforts, the character of Julie remains difficult to find sympathetic overall. The movie is actually based on a combination of Julie's book/blog and a book on Julia.

Meanwhile the Julia Child story felt like it could have been expanded into a rather interesting biopic. Streep's accent is just how I remember Child's from her cooking shows. And her story isn't one that's been told over and over. Not to mention it has more developed characters and a more solid conflict than the Julie story does.

Overall it's an entertaining enough film to give watching it a shot. At the very least you can admire all the techniques they employ to make Streep look as tall as the real 6" 2' Julia. We also have to give them props for at least mentioning eating recipes out of that cookbook on a daily basis can be hazardous to your digestive system.

Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Julia Child enthusiasts, people who wonder what could happen to them if they became devoted to making all the Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes, and/or those who miss Meg Ryan talking to her computer in You've Got Mail