Bon Appetit!: Julie & Julia

Directed by Nora Ephron
Starring Amy Adams, Chris Messina, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci

I know, I know I couldn't resist! Now for the main course...

SYNOPSIS: You know who Julia Child is right? Well if you don't she's a famous chef who had her own TV show and wrote the definitive cookbook on french cooking. You know who Julie Powell is right? Ok that may be slightly more understandable, but she started a blog where she cooked all 524 of Julia's recipes in 365 days. She later turned this blog into a book and then into a movie. Which is what I'm reviewing. The film is actually about both their lives. Julie Powell's creation and completion of the blog and Julia Child's post-war years in France and her creation of her cookbook.

THE POSITIVE: MERYL STREEP. I don't care who you are, you have to enjoy Meryl Streep's acting and the way she embodies Julia Child is amazing to watch onscreen. I'm also a big fan of Amy Adams and she was very cute, and very nervous, and very flustered as Julie Powell. I also thought the juxtaposition of their lives was good. The film doesn't actually spend that much time on Powell's life, but instead focuses more on Child's which I think is a good decision. We also see less of Powell's attempts at cooking, but more how she relates to Julia and how the blog affects her personal and professional life. Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina were great in the roles of the husbands and I thought they were able to bring a lot to some small roles.

THE NEGATIVE: Again I felt a little let down, there's no real climax to the movie. Julie finishes her blog and Julia finishes her book. There's not really a lot of dramatic tension especially since we don't get to see the real impact time-wise of Julie/Julia finishing their respective projects. For Julie it takes only a year to finish her blog, but it took Julia Child eight years to finish her cookbook! This isn't represented well on film and it just makes everything appear very easy. I don't agree with a lot of critics that Julie Powell's portion shouldn't have been in the film. While Julia Child's life is way more interesting Powell adds a nice counterpart and we get to see how Child's work touched the life of a woman and helped better herself, which was really what Child did for herself. Also she was an OSS spy, not just a file clerk! Look it up!

THE VERDICT: Honestly I would wait for the DVD on this one. It's very cute and if you're in the mood for something light and not very intellectual I would go see it, but I would not shell out $10.50 for it-even though I did. See what I do for you readers! See!

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.*