Julie & Julia, the movie, reviewed

To make a long story short, the movie Julie & Julia is a cute foodie movie that is well-worth watching. It’s put together as a romantic comedy and tells two parallel stories: the tale of how Julia Child wrote her epic Mastering the Art of French Cooking and the story of how Julie Powell cooked her way through it. Julie’s story was chronicled first in a blog, then in the book Julie & Julia. The book is partially based on Powell’s book, as well as on Child’s My Life in France.

I was fortunate enough to attend a sneak preview of the film a few weeks ago, but held off on reviewing it until now. The best part of the movie, for me, was Meryl Streep.  She did a fantastic job filling Julia’s shoes (although I heard that she had to wear lifts to achieve the same height as the original Julia), getting everything from the voice, the energy, the passion for food and the can’t-take-your-eye-off-her appeal that Julia Child had down pat. I loved watching her cook and even forgot that I wasn’t watching the “real” Julia more than once! I also really enjoyed the portrayal of the relationship between Julia Child and her husband (played by the fantastic Stanley Tucci). The chemistry between Streep and Tucci was very convincing and very, very sweet. The plotline that followed Julie Powell was enjoyable, but didn’t compare to the Julia Child aspect of the story.

All the food that they cooked and ate in the movie was real, and it shows. The characters seem to genuinely love cooking and eating, which is a nice touch from a foodie perspective and makes the movie seem that much more realistic. Now, I’m not a movie critic by any means, but as I said at the top of this post, this is a very cute movie that is well worth watching for cooks and food enthusiasts, as well as for anyone who simply liked to watch Julia Child do her thing on TV.