Review: Julie & Julia (2009)

[Steve Rhodes]

JULIE & JULIA
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  ***

JULIE & JULIA is a delicious concoction of two delectable stories, but the 
surprise is that Amy Adams sweetly understated performance goes down much 
easier than Meryl Streep's showy shtick, which too often becomes almost 
indigestibly larger than life.

Set in both early 1950s France and in 2002 Queens, the movie cuts between 
the two environments, one of large, beautiful buildings and one of a 
cramped, noisy apartment.  Based on two true stories and adapted from two 
different books, the innovative script and the careful editing strikes just 
the right balance as it slowly shifts between time periods and locales.

When we meet the gregarious Julia Child (Streep), she is married to Paul 
Child, a diplomat played by Stanley Tucci.  Described as a woman who was a 
40-year-old virgin who couldn't boil an egg, Julia is searching for 
something to apply her boundless energy to.  Since she has only one real 
passion, "eating," she eventually decides that a career as a chef or a 
cooking teacher might be something she would enjoy.  In no time, she rises 
from the nearly ignored only woman in her cooking class to a woman who is a 
speed demon at everything she does.  A typically funny sequence has her 
producing a mountain of chopped onions large enough to bury a couple of 
basketballs.

Meanwhile in the parallel story set in 2002, Julie Powell (Adams) has a 
thankless job as a much abused telephone counselor to the families of 9/11 
victims who want to know what the holdup is on their restitution.  Seeking 
an outlet for her energies, she tells her husband Eric (Chris Messina), who 
works for a magazine, that she plans on working her way through Julia 
Child's famous tome, "The Art of French Cooking."

More specifically, Julie plans on spending the next 365 nights cooking, in 
order, every one of the 541 recipes in Julia's cookbook.  Julie, who 
worships Julia as something of a god, plans on blogging to the world about 
her experiences, making her endeavor something like a reality television 
series, sans television.

Director Nora Ephron manages to make Julie's writing to her blog 
interesting, which is tricky in a visual medium like the movies.  Too often 
lots of typing become tedious to watch, but not in JULIE & JULIA.  I think 
the secret is Amy Adams's compelling voice-over, which goes down as smooth 
as honey.

Although it's extremely funny in sections, what won me over in JULIE & JULIA 
was Adams's endlessly charming performance.

JULIE & JULIA runs 2:03.  It is rated PG-13 for "brief strong language and 
some sensuality" and would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.

The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 7, 2009. 
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Cinemark 
theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

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Email: Steve.Rhodes at InternetReviews.com

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