Some of my fondest memories growing up as a kid were of lazy Sunday morning which stretched into lazy Sunday afternoons at my grandparents' house, watching cooking shows like the Frugal Gourmet, Yan Can Cook, and ofcourse any number of Julia Child's various programs. It wasn't until I got older that I realized what a true force she was not just as a chef and tv personality, but as a trailblazer for women all around the world. To me then she was just that gargantuan lady with the mop of a hairdo and a voice that reminded me of Beaker from the Muppet Show. Julie & Julia is based on two novels: Julia Child's My Life in France and Julie Powell's Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen .
Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a downtrodden Manhattan woman who works as an operator taking phone calls from people complaining about the construction taking place post 9/11. She's one of those women who thought she had everything in life figured out, but something derailed her and now she's lost in a dead end job in a town she wants no part of. In a desperate bid to find her own niche, she decided to create a blog detailing her attempts to cook every recipe in Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
If only they could've left that entire part of the story out. The far more interesting half of the film, because essentially this is two movies, belongs to Julia Child. Child, a whirlwind of a woman with an energy that lights up every room, moved to Paris with her diplomat husband, Paul, in the 1940s. Their relationship is the most interesting part of the film. On first glance, they appear to be such an odd pairing. Paul's a little stiff at first, but as played by the marvelous Stanley Tucci a rapier wit lies just underneath. The two are actually two peas in a pod, both avid foodies and lovers of Parisian culture. Child, a towering woman at 6'2", didn't start out as a master chef, and we follow her from the very beginning. Realizing the one thing she truly loves to do is eat, she enrolls in an advanced cooking course as the only female, quickly outpacing her more experienced male competition. We also get a look at what it must've been like for a woman like her, trying to make it in a very male dominated field. And while these scenes are often hilarious, there's a deeper angle that involves her and Paul's globe-trotting lifestyle and how it crashes headfirst into the McCarthy investigations. If only more time could've been spent on this.
Writer Nora Ephron struggles to find some sort of common ground between Child and Powell other than the culinary one. The problem lies somewhere in the Powell half of the story, which strangely enough feels a bit forced. I love Amy Adams as much as anyone, and I think she brings her usual manic energy to this role that she always does. But I think that's the problem. Powell isn't interesting enough on her own to warrant so much attention. We know precious little about her other than that she envies her rich, snobby friends. Oh, and she has a loyal but boring husband.That's all. Her lack of real depth is only accented when she runs into her first real difficulty, and she lapses into a whining ranting fit that would put Lucille Ball to shame.
Is there anything left to say about Meryl Streep that hasn't already been said? If I told you she was "simply amazing" and that she "literally becomes Julia Child" would you be at all surprised? Playing a character as distinctive as Child would cause any lesser actress to fall into caricature, but with Streep it's hardly a hurdle. She and Stanley Tucci, who plays her husband Paul, blend perfectly together like Child's famous fish bouillabaisse. If only we had a complete meal to go with it.
6/10, worth a look just for the outstanding Julia Child half of the film
