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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Julie & Julia

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 Child’s My Life In France.

A movie about cooking. Well, probably not for my taste (bad bad). On the other hand, anything with the greatest actress of our generation in it, Meryl Streep, can’t be a total waste. So we went. In any case, we were meeting our good friends from the Twin Cities for the movie and dinner. Now, dinner is something that can get my attention anytime.
I did know who Julia Child was, having seen her on TV. Years ago, I used to watch her before "reality and garbage" took over the boob tube. Julie the blogger, I didn’t know at all, being somewhat of a late-comer to that genre myself.

Some of the critics were saying that Julie's story could have been left out. She, the blogger, apparently has some personal characteristics the reviewers didn't like. Streep, of course, wasn’t just doing a great job acting, the Julia part.... she WAS Julia Child. I agreed with that.
The story is simple enough. Two women of different generations turn to cooking and writing as a life fulfillment.
They, according to the film, were both happily married to supportive husbands. Julie idolizes Julia. Although for each, the focus is on a different era, their parallel lives overlap in the sense of the path they have chosen.
There is a scene at the end of the film that is somewhat shocking but I'm not going to reveal it here, so as not to spoil it for those who haven't seen it yet.

This movie is a pure joy. I’m still smiling as I write this. There were many laughs and a few tears along the way. Streep as Julia was amazing. Take the time to see this movie. You won’t be disappointed.

10 comments:

Bill S. said...

I saw it last week and loved it. I agree, most TV is now poop and Meryl Streep is as good as they come.

Dog_geek said...

I definitely want to see this one - Meryl Streep is the best!

Bekkieann said...

I'm looking forward to seeing this and i'm glad you didn't give all the surprises away. I learned recently that actress Amy Adams is the daughter of an old high school friend of mine -- gives me a little personal interest in that character. I have always loved watching Julis Child cooking shows and I still find reruns here and there. They age well.

Rae said...

This one is on my list to see. I agree with you Meryl Streep is an excellent actress. I have heard it is a great movie. Now that I have the official review from troutbirder I will for sure go see it.

Shady Gardener said...

I saw the movie last weekend and couldn't agree more that it IS one that people should see. Laughed and shed a few tears. It's very touching. And worthwhile.

Jayne said...

I'm glad to hear the good review, and plan on catching this one for sure!

Shelley said...

great review and definitely a movie I want to see since I love to cook and I love Meryl Streep!

Sarah Laurence said...

I'm glad you got to see the movie too - very wise to line up a good dinner afterwards.

NCmountainwoman said...

I can't wait to see this movie. I have loved Julia Child for many years. She let us know that it's quite all right to make mistakes and have fun while we cook. And the trailers show that Meryl Streep captures her very well.

Clementine Moonflower said...

I saw it with my teenage daughter the weekend it came out. We both enjoyed it, but did find the Julie parts a little less interesting--although still fun. The most important aspect of cooking that I learned from the movie was how to debone a duck, something I never even knew I needed to know before then.