Movie Review: Julie and Julia

I’m not exactly the world’s biggest movie fan. My rating system starts with whether or not I remained awake for the duration of the film. And since my husband and I very rarely want to see the same movie, I’m not exactly a regular at the box office. But sometimes I do see a trailer that I really want to go see and I’ll drag along a girlfriend or my mom. I usually always stay awake at the cinema because there’s popcorn involved.

And so it was with Julie and Julia. How could I not want to see a movie about food? The movie intertwines the story of Julie Powell, a young New Yorker who works in a cubicle day in and day out, with the story of Julia Child and her humble beginnings as an aspiring cook. Julie decides to start a blog in which she will cook her way through Julia’s famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking book in a year.

The film is best when it focuses on Julia Child mainly because of the wonderful performance by Meryl Streep. Streep is a joy and I found myself grinning at lines that weren’t even funny. At one point when the movie switched back to Julie I found that I’d actually forgotten her story was still around. The two ladies had a lot in common: both found their true calling through unexpected routes, both had supportive husbands, both were fierce liberals. The parallels are very interesting.

The movie was enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in cooking or blogging. You get the best of both worlds with these two Jules.