Julie & Julia
Yeah, I saw it. I paid money to go and see it in a movie theater on a Saturday night. I wanted to.
The movie chronologically follows one modern woman's quest for self-worth and another woman's rise to international prominence as a cookbook author. Julie Powell (Amy Adams) plays the modern woman, determined to cook all recipes in Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The movie does a good job bouncing back and forth between Child's struggles to begin learning how to cook in the first place, to finding purpose in her work, to getting her cookbook published. Powell is frustrated that her life ambitions to become a writer haven't reached fruition, and works a cubicle job she despises. It's only after she sets a goal to cook everything in Child's cookbook, and blog about it, that she gains self-worth and is recognized for not only her attempt, but presumably her writing ability as well.
The two characters never meet; the only interaction suggested was through a third-party, which suggested that Child disapproved of Powell's ambitions, but little is made of this in the movie, and I doubt Child knew the whole story. It's a cute movie. Definitely very funny, moreso than I would have thought going in. Not in a Super-Troopers kind of way, more like a Cosby Show kind of way. Good humor that gets the audience laughing. The cinematography and ease of jumping back and forth between the characters was done well.
While Streep turned in another rock-solid performance (dare I say Oscar), Amy Adams has yet to prove she can play any other type of role. She's meek, easily pushed around, and pretty much the same character-type she was in Doubt (also with Streep). Stanley Tucci does a very good job playing Child's husband. Chris Messina does not do a very good job playing Powell's husband, and, in my opinion, turns in the weakest acting performance of the movie. There weren't many great shots of either city, but the movie focused more on the food that was being prepared (We had eggs Benedict the following morning using the recommendation for preparing poached eggs in the movie).
Overall, I did like this movie, and would give it a
Reply With Quote
Oh, the tolerance and change in times. I would have been backhanded right then and there if I said that to my Pops.
Bookmarks