Julie and Julia: My Review

The much buzzed about Julie and Julia came out today and I went to go see it with some friends on opening night. Because movie theatre tickets have become so expensive (another blog for another day I suppose) we decided to go to the "cheap theatre" where many older people go. We were the youngest group in the theatre by at least 40 years.

Anyway, I very much enjoyed the movie. As a huge New York Times junkie, especially when it comes to movies, I read several articles about the production of this movie before it came out. How all the food was made, how the film came to be, and the review itself. It is hard to believe that just because of one blog one person started, this whole project got started. However, I think that kind of thing is unrealistic and unlikely, especially now. The original blog was written in 2002, when blogging was a newer phenomenon.

Meryl Streep, who I am convinced can do no wrong in any movie she is in, was fabulous, as usual. She is such a versatile actress. She can do everything: comedy, romance, intense drama. The food all looked amazing. Those actors must have been well fed. I did not really like Amy Adams in the role though, although I have been a huge fan of hers before many people knew her name. I loved her ever since Junebug (a great indie movie if you haven't seen it). There was just something about her in this film that didn't seem to fit.

The movie went back and forth between Julie and Julia's lives, even though they are never seen on screen together, except when Julie is watching Julia on television. Although both their lives intersect and they may have similar reactions to things, it really is two very different stories, and those relations may have been stretched for the plot.

Amy Adams' haircut also struck me as wildly unflattering and quite frankly ugly, which I know is mean, but it bothered me all through the movie. I did enjoy the movie very much. I enjoyed getting to know the icon that is Julia Child and how her life came to be, much through coincidences. For all I know, in a year (when I graduate most likely jobless) I could be Julie Powell, wanting very much to find myself, and if cooking was the way she wanted to do it then so be it. It opened so many doors for her: a book deal and now a movie. Who knows if this will be a one-hit-wonder in her life, but I'm sure she's living it up now.

Nora Ephron is another of my favorites: she has had such an amazing, thrilling career. I can only hope to have half a career she does. She started out as a journalist and made the transition to screen writing over time. In honor of seeing this movie tonight, I rented Heartburn, another Nora Ephron/Meryl Streep movie, and watched it before the show. It is wildly funny and sad. The reason I rented it though was because Ephron based it on her own marriage to the infamous (at least in my mind as a journalism student) Carl Bernstein, of Watergate fame. That has to be the best revenge on a cheating husband: make a film about his infidelity and get Meryl Streep to play yourself and Jack Nicholson to be the guy. Awesome. Another good movie I would recommend renting.

I would recommend Julie and Julia. It has great spirit and energy and was very enjoyable on a Friday night after a long work week with some good friends. Bon appetite!