Reviewed by Kate Rodger
Meryl Streep: Legend. 2 Oscars, 13 nominations and worth the ticket price for any movie. Julie and Julia is no exception.
Julie and Julia is based on the true story of two women, one of them America’s most beloved culinary icon, the other, not so much. Julia Child changed the way Americans cooked, when she published Mastering the Art of French Cooking. After her 1960’s television show The French Chef hit the screens she became a household name.
It was Child’s first book which inspired New Yorker Julie Powell. The aspiring wannabe writer decided to cook every one of Child’s recipes from the book over the course of a year. That’s 524 dishes, in 365 days. She wrote a daily blog detailing her mission, a mission which is now a movie.
Cleverly, and the key to the movie’s success, the filmmakers run the parallel story of Julia Child (Meryl Streep in an Oscar-baiting performance) in France, where she discovers a passion for French cooking. Her husband Paul (played so perfectly and endearingly by the talented Stanley Tucci) supports her at every turn, and it’s their love story which for me becomes the unexpected highlight of the film.
Oscar-nominee Amy Adams is Julie Powell, and once again Adams earns her keep with a gentle winning performance of an oftentimes grating personality.
Director Nora Ephron almost makes up for Bewitched here (can we really ever forgive her?). It pays to remember she’s responsible for some popular female-friendly box office hits (When Harry when Sally and Sleepless in Seattle), and with Meryl Streep at the wheel of her latest outing, Ephron is back to form.
I expect some of you may be wondering, like I was, whether a movie about cooking is really for you. I have no passion for cooking, and more importantly, absolutely zero skill in the kitchen. But I left the cinema with a rumbling stomach and feeling just a little inspired, wondering whether I too could move beyond Thai green chicken curry and tomato pasta. More than that though, I left feeling surprisingly buoyant, with a warm heart, and a smile.
Four Stars.
Julie & Julia
:: Director: Nora Ephron
:: Starring: Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Jane Lynch
:: Running Time: 123 mins
:: Rating: PG - Contains Coarse Language
:: Release Date: October 22, 2009
:: Trailer: Click here
source: newshub archive
