JULIE & JULIA Movie Review

Over the weekend I went to see Julie & Julia with one of my girlfriends. I wasn't expecting much more than a fun and entertaining movie with a good cast, but we got so much more.

Julie & Julia follows the story of two women, Julia Child and Julie Powell, living in two different times, and the effect that cooking has on their lives.

I thought it would be easier to break this review down and look at each story separately.

Julia Child

Julia Child learned how to cook when she was 37, because she wanted to learn how to cook for her husband Paul, but also because she lived in France, loved to eat and wanted to find something to do to fill her days.

I didn't expect the movie to be as funny as it was, but I spend most of it laughing at scenes featuring the adorable Julia Child portrayed by the wonderful Meryl Streep. Speaking of Meryl Streep, it's no secret that she is one of the best actors of our time, but what I didn't expect after years of watching all her great performances was for her to surprise me by how amazing she was once more. I know that this shouldn't be news to me, but I couldn't help but being amazed at how she is able to create and become a character. She was so good that she pretty much stole the movie from all the other actors, who are all also very good in their own right, which is saying something.

A close second to her is Stanley Tucci who definitely holds his own playing Julia Child's husband, Paul. These two had some of my favorite scenes together, including the one where Paul comes home to find Julia chopping onions, while we also discover a enormous pile of already chopped onions next to her. This is just one of the many scenes that really make you feel like you are part of these characters' life. Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep made such a great team, that I find myself hoping for them to team up again soon.

The Julia Child story pretty much follows her story from her first learning to cook to her finally getting her famous book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, published.

Julie Powell

Julie Powell is a young woman living in New York working at a dead-end job, who decides to spend a year cooking all of 524 recipes from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogging about it.

Portrayed by Amy Adams, we follow the life of Julie from the moment she moves in to her new apartment in New York with her husband, to her getting offers for a book deal.

I think my favorite part of the Julie Powell story was watching her cook all those recipes (it was yummy!), but I also really loved her husband Eric, portrayed wonderfully by Chris Messina.

I didn't love the Julie Powell storyline as much as the Julia Child one, but I did enjoy it.

Overall, I had a really great time discovering the story of these two women and I might even be tempted to watch it again when it airs on TV.

You can also read a review of the book, Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, over at Daemon's Books.
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Title: Julie & Julia
Director: Nora Ephron
Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jane Lynch, Frances Sternhagen
Synopsis: Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer-director Nora Ephron's adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell's Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme.
Based on two true stories, Julie & Julia intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends...until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.
Release Date: August 7, 2009
Watch the trailer here