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Elton T. Elliott |
Date: 2009-08-08

I went to see the movie, Julie and Julia solely on the idea that any project Meryl Streep is involved in would automatically be good. I couldn't imagine before going to see it how they would possibly work the storyline because it was based on two memoirs, one each by the two women involved. Meryl Streep played Julia Child and Amy Adams played Julie Powell. Because of her immense respect for Julia Child and her love of cooking Julie Powell decided to set aside 365 days to cook for her husband and herself and as it turned out several other people 524 of Julia Child's recipes. It started out as a way of breaking the boredom of her day job, an escape from having to live in such a tiny apartment, and a means of teaching her self-discipline by sticking to a planned regimen on a day to day basis. The result, however, turned out to be much more than that.

Julia Child had and Julie Powell has a very important knowledge about what makes good food great. Great food is like great sex; both of them have to be more than just "ok" to bring a smile to your face that lasts for days every time you think about it. And both women shared in common the idea that delicious French food should be available to the average American family even if you don't have servants that cook for you or an income that allows you to eat out at a fabulous French restaurant any time you like. Both of them had wonderful husbands who supported and encouraged their dreams of rising above the drab existence of living vicariously on the accomplishments of their men. The film captures beautifully the difficulty of that task for both Julie and Julia. Both of them had forces fighting against their achieving their goals, but the love that was evident in each of their marriages overcame every one of them.

One of the posters for the film is a one-sided poster with a black background, two eggs (one brown and one white), and the question posed, "Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do you have what it takes?" When the movie is over, that question's answer is for both women a resounding "Yes, but as is always the case, neither of them did it alone". The fact that they didn't do it alone though takes nothing away from the uniqueness of their accomplishments.

Robert Moore |
Date: 2009-10-24

I loved this film, which is surprising given two things. First, I am not a food guy. I don't appreciate gourmet cooking and I can't cook anything that doesn't involve a microwave. I don't really enjoy going to restaurants and I would rather watch bowling or golf (two sports that I loathe) than any cooking show. Food plays less of a role in my life than it does for most people. Oddly enough, however, I have seen an unusually large amount of Julia Child. My ex-wife was a devoted viewer of Julia's show so her voice is emblazoned onto my brain in an indelible way. Second, I'm not a fan of Meryl Streep. I make no defense of this. She simply rubs me the wrong way. The most I can say in making a case against her is that I'm always aware of her "acting." I find her deliberate and self-conscious and always "plying her craft." I was delighted when I heard Katherine Hepburn make the same claim. There is no doubting her talent, but for me I'm always conscious of her as an actress assuming a role, instead of becoming the role. I will not argue against anyone who believes that she is the greatest actress of her age. This is about me and my reaction to her. And it is a positive one. So, the film had these two large marks against it from my perspective, so when I say that I loved the movie, it had a fair amount to overcome.

So why did I enjoy this film so much, despite my built in biases? Because both the stories in the film - that of Julia Childs and Julie Power - were about everyday people deciding to do something that no one expected them to do. Julia Child undertaking French cooking more as a hobby, a pleasant way of passing the time, or Julie Powell writing her own blog detailing her cooking all of the recipes in the book that grew out of Julia's book. There is no difference between Julia learning to cook or Julie writing a blog and any of us - me, you, her, or him - undertaking a self-empowering project. (This resonated very strongly with me because I am seriously contemplating starting my own blog, either on an established website or by starting my own website.) Maybe the projects that we take on won't result in publishing a book or having a movie made, but the important thing is doing something that engages our interests, that excites us, that makes us feel, in the words of the singer Hayden, that every day is too short. This is, in short, an inspirational movie. And frankly, as I've been thinking of starting my own blog (split between writing on culture and writing on contemporary politics), I have realized that I have a built in hesitancy in starting this project that this film made me feel should not be decisive. I felt, watching this, that I should . . . just start the damned blog already! In short, just as Julie was inspired by the story of Julia Child mastering the art of French cooking, so I was inspired by Julie's story. We should all be inspired to do whatever we would like to do, but have been prevented only by fear or failure. Maybe my blog will be junk and maybe no one will read it, but I've wanted to undertake it. Hopefully the story of Julie and Julia will inspire others to take on projects that they've wanted to.

So yeah, this movie hit me where I live. And that is the mark of a really good movie; it sucks you in and makes you a part of it.

Even if one doesn't experience this as a inspirational film, it is a ton of fun on a host of other levels. The cast is extraordinary, with supporting actors of the quality of Stanley Tucci and Jane Lynch in small but important roles. As I said, I'm probably Meryl Streep's smallest fan, but she really nailed Julia Childs's voice. She absolutely and completely nailed the voice, even though she was physically wrong for the role. Meryl Streep is half a foot too small for the role and really has not facial resemblance to her, but make up, pulling out every trick in the book for making her look taller (extremely high heels, surrounding Steep with shorter actors, the use of extremely short actors, and the constant use of forced perspective (the technique whereby someone is moved to the foreground while everyone else is kept in the background to make them look taller - this technique is used constantly in the Harry Potter films to make the 6'1 Robbie Coltrane to look over 8' as Hagrid). Frankly, Streep is not very convincing as Child . . . except for the voice. I hit Youtube after seeing the film and watched some clips of Julia Child and cold detect no difference between Steep's voice and Childs's. I had a much easier time enjoying Amy Adams as Julie Powell. Adams is not the virtuoso that Meryl Streep is, but she always seems so tremendously natural in every role she plays. And as Julie she plays her as Everywoman. She plays just an everyday person. They definitely glam her down for the role, giving her a remarkably nondescript hairdo and minimizing her astonishing good looks (though they can't hide those huge blue eyes). (I have to confess that I also have a soft spot for Amy Adams because she bears a sharp resemblance to an ex-girlfriend.)

The plot is a simple one. Julie Powell, feeling somewhat distraught that a pompous and somewhat absurd friend has started her own blog, decides to start her own blog. But what on? Her husband suggests doing it on something she loves. Well, she loves Julia Childs book on cooking. So she decides to cook every recipe in Childs's book and blog about it. The blog later was published as a book and . . . as the closing credits point out, made into a movie. This is all told in parallel with the story leading up to Julia Childs's growth of an interest in French cooking, her development of her interest, and her eventual publication of MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, the book that popularized gourmet cooking in America. The one really odd twist in their parallel stories is when Julie learns that Julia, who was aware of the blog, was disdainful of it. I would have liked to know more about this, about precisely why she found it disrespectful. One hears few bad things about Julia Childs, but this particular tidbit does not place her in a very nice light. But you have to respect Powell for pushing forward with her own project despite the disapproval of her idol.

One little twist delighted me. You know the game where you get to name the six people you would like to invite to dinner? One of the people I would invite is Bernard DeVoto, a brilliant man of letters from the mid-twentieth century, who wrote a series of brilliant popular histories and was a columnist for Harper's (in his column The Easy Chair DeVoto initiated a public information campaign against the attempt by some in Congress to sell off a huge percentage of public lands in America - he is credited with almost single-handedly stopping making most public lands private, arguably the greatest environmental achievement in American history). DeVoto was a tremendous prose writer, a powerful personality, and a natural teacher (Wallace Stegner was DeVoto's best student). So I was delighted when DeVoto's widow, Avis DeVoto, appeared in the film as the talent scout who let an editor at Alfred Knopf know about Julia's book. I have actually read a book that Avis solicited. She asked Wallace Stegner to write a biography of Bernard. Somewhat against his own inclination, Stegner agreed, producing the exceptionally nice bio THE UNEASY CHAIR.

I strongly recommend this film. And I hope that it inspires others, like it has me, to undertake their own projects. (I've already started researching web hosting services and seeing what site names are available. Julie and Julia pursued their own interests and so should we all.

platform |
Date: 2009-09-15

Julie & Julia [Theatrical Release] My Life in FranceJulie & Julia365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen~ i just viewed this in the theatre today. i remember watching Julia Child on PBS - The French Chef - when i was 11 yrs old. the movie brought back a lot of memories. i wanted to read Powell's book (one of the books that the movie is based on) before watching the movie, but i didn't get to do that. i also did not read "my life in france", but i am now inspired to do so.

i liked how they made both stories of the 2 women parallel eachother. it inspired me how both women were motivated to write their first book/blog based on cooking. i learned a lot about Julia Child that i didn't know about - that she was an American from Pasadena! and that her first job was working as a government employee!

one glaring problem that i hope they correct when releasing the DVD is to edit out several shots of the "overhead" microphone - it appeared at least 5 times. the scenes maybe nearer to the end when Meryl Streep is sitting on a couch and talking to her friend, and another when she's with her husband. it's really obvious because the background wall is green and there's this black microphone bobbing up and down, almost dead-center at the top edge of the screen.

Graves |
Date: 2009-10-30

All too often when a well loved book is turned into a film, fans of the book bemoan how the director or the screen writer got it wrong and all the wonderful things the book had that got lost on the way to the screen. And then you get the rare case when the film is so much better than the book that you wonder if you'll ever bother to look at the book again. "Julie & Julia" with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams is one of those films.

Based on Julie Powell's blog, a New York office drone, dreading the approach of the Big 3-0, breaks out of her life by attempting to go through every recipe in the first volume of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in one year. While the book focuses almost exclusively on Julie Powell in her Queens apartment, the film splits time equally between Amy Adams' Julie on her epic food quest and Meryl Streep as Julia Child in post war France, who takes cooking lessons as a way to break up the boredom of her day waiting for her husband to come home.

Each actress dominates each scene she is in with a sense of life and energy. A lot of fuss is made over Streep's portrayal of Child as she goes from chopping her first onion, literally, to getting her cook book published. But equally important to the film is Adams as Powell, the woman who never finishes anything, determinedly holding on to her self appointed project and this is the driving energy behind the film. As much as Streep pours energy and life into her version of Child, we know she makes it, we know she becomes the Grand Dame of TV chefs. On some level we know Powell success too but for her it is less a quest to be published than to finish the journey of self discovery she has set herself on. Streep shows us how Child started out, we know what she becomes. Adams' Powell brings us along to find out what she will become.

In the book Powell is following Child's direction from the cookbook but is not a particular devote. By comparison in the film Adams' portrayal has her ready to quote Child on any number of topics and this creates the link between the two women the audience needs.

In the book Powell brings a lot of personal baggage that gets old fast, the film ignores this and focuses on what the women have in common. It doesn't talk down to the audience but lets you follow along through cooking, supportive husbands and love. Not just the love of a good meal, but the sort that encourages you to grow and be more than you were. This isn't a film just for foodies, but for people who dare to act on a dream, or think they might. Oh and for record, I haven't deboned a whole duck...yet.

Karen Joan |
Date: 2010-01-30

I have no idea why the critics panned JULIE & JULIA. My husband and I saw it the other evening, and found it to be absolutely delightful. In fact, it was one of the best movies we've seen in a long time. But be forewarned. You will be very hungry by the end of JULIE & JULIA. You will want something to eat, preferably, something with lots of butter.

JULIE & JULIA is actually two stories, expertly blended together, each complimenting the other, and creating dish that is more than the sum of its ingredients

The first story told in JULIE & JULIA is the delicious present day story of Julia Powell, a young woman who feels that her life is going nowhere, especially when she compares herself to her high-powered friends. Julie really wants to make a name for herself as a writer, but instead is a low level administrator who answers the phone all day long, receiving complaints and sob stories. Jealousy and frustration with her life really come to the forefront when she finds out that one of her less talented, but high flying friends is writing an internet blog about her own life that people seem to be reading. So Julie decides to give herself a challenge: She will take one year and cook her way through Julia Child's famous cookbook. As she goes, she will blog about it - 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Kitchen. At first, the only reader seems to be her mother, who is extremely less than supporting. But, along the way, she garners a world of fans and supporters all cheering her on to complete her goal.

JULIE & JULIA's second story is that of Julia Child herself: her life abroad with her beloved and loving husband, her search for herself, her journey through French cooking school, her desire but inability to have a child, her cookbook, and her television show. This is a touching, tender love story - Julia's love for her husband, her love of food and cooking, and her love of life. Never one to let obstacles get in her way, Julia lives her life to the fullest with great gusto, enthusiasm, and love.

These two stories in JULIE & JULIA are artfully blended together, with Julie's present day scenes intermingling with Julia's from the 1940's. Most of the time, the lives of these two women seem to mirror each other, making both stories even more connected and meaningful. The acting by Amy Adams (as Julie) and Stanley Tucci (as Julia's husband Paul) is outstanding and memorable, but it is Meryl Streep as Julia Child who brilliantly steals the show. After we watched JULIE & JULIA, my husband found all of Julia Child's cooking shows available on PBS. We have watched several, and Ms. Streep perfectly portrayed Ms. Child to a tee. Her performance, in a word, is brilliant.

JULIE & JULIA is a charming, relaxing, engaging film, just right for a warm, cuddly evening at home. It will also make you want to eat, and perhaps, it will inspire you to cook. It did me. Bon Apetit!