The movie opens in 1949 France when Julia Child (Meryl
Streep) and her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci), move into their new home – an apartment
in Paris, where Paul has been assigned to the American Embassy. The story
immediately shifts to 2002 New York, where Julie Powell (Amy Adams) and her
husband, Eric (Chris Messina), move into their
new home – an apartment in Queens, above a pizzeria.Julie has a job she hates – interacting with, and taking complaints from families of 9/11 survivors. Julia is bored and wants to do something while in France. She doesn't want to go back to government work (she had been a secretary in the Office of Strategic Services).
So, born out of boredom and an urge to do something with
their lives, they take on new projects. Julie adores Julia Child and her
culinary skills, so she decides that, over the course of a year, she will cook
every recipe in Julia’s 1961 book, Mastering
the Art of French Cooking. The project will involve 524 recipes in 365
days.
For her own edification and as a way of keeping her focused
and on track, Julie starts a blog chronicling her progress. She calls it “The
Julie/Julia Project.”
Julia decides to take up French cooking. She wants to buy an
English-language French cookbook, but can't find any. So, as she wants
something to do, she writes one, collaborating with her friends, Simone
"Simca" Beck (Linda Emond) and Louisette Bertholle (Helen Carey). The
project takes a long, long while, but eventually results in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Julie & Julia
jumps back and forth between stories, alternating between Julia in France and
Julie in New York. It’s 1940s Paris vis-à-vis
early 21st Century New York. Their experiences are so alike in so
many ways, two parallel lives in two different time zones, in two different
eras. However, their similar experiences sometimes lead to contrasting results.
Julie poaches and eats the first egg of her life, and she
loves it. The irascible Julia can't stand the beginner's cooking class so she
enrolls in the professional class at Le Cordon Bleu. After a slow start, she
rises to the top like an elegant cream.
Julia dives right into chopping up a live lobster. Julie is
terrified of killing and dismembering her first live lobster, apologizing to it
as she dumped it into boiling water. Julie's blog becomes the third-most
popular on Salon.com. Julia’s book is a long-time developing as she has to
endure rejection and attempts to change what she and her co-authors believe in.
Cue the disasters. Julie has a couple of meltdowns over
aspic and a stuffed chicken, and is disheartened when a famous food author has to cancel out on her boeuf bourguignon dinner. Julia fails the Cordon Bleu graduation test.
The New York Times
runs an interview with Julie, and she becomes famous, plied with publishing offers. But
surviving marital difficulties caused by her project, she also experiences a
bit of heartbreak when Julia Child disses the blog.
Julie & Julia is a very touching movie. Amy Adams was
endearing, and Meryl Streep was her usual wonderful self with another marvelous
performance. However, throughout the movie, although I enjoyed watching Meryl
Streep, I couldn’t help thinking that Paul Child was a saint. I mean, I couldn’t
stand living with someone who sounded and acted like Julia Child … day after
day after day.
Jane Lynch (Glee!)
has a brief but humorous appearance as Dorothy McWilliams Cousins, Julia's
sister; Mary Lynn Radjskub (24 Hours),
appears as Julie's best friend, Sara. Mary Kay Place voices Julie's mother, and
Frances Sternhagen appears as Irma Rombauer, who wrote The Joy of Cooking.
Playing a chef is dangerous for an actress' figure; Meryl
Streep gained 15 pounds. She was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. Produced
on a budget of $40 million, Julie & Julia grossed nearly $130 million
during its domestic and international run.
Grade: B+
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