Food porn. I love it. And Julie & Julia has it in SPADES!!! Ooh la la! Even if you don't like watching cooking (hell, what kind of freak are you?!) at least watch it for Meryl Streep's performance as Julia Child.
Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is frustrated writer now public servant whose job involves dealing with post-911 issues. It's a crap job and she cooks to escape it. After going to lunch with some more successful 'friends', she decides to cook her way through all the recipe's in Julia Child's seminal cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a calendar year and following her husband's advice, keep a record of her progress. Interspersed within are episodes retelling of Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) arrival in France with her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) and introduction to French food, her time at Le Cordon Bleu school, and attempt to get her book published.
Oh. I loved this movie :D I totally understood Julie's cooking as way of soothing the savage beast within (nom nom nom), and I loved experiencing the joy of French food and learning the language through Julia's eyes. *sigh* I want to go back :D The Julia part of the story dominates J&J largely due to Streep's performance. Always an excellent actress (duh), Streep takes what could be some pretty annoying personality traits (the singsong voice, the way she carries on etc) and makes them endearing and amusing! Also noticeable is the chemistry between Streep and Tucci (reunited from The Devil Wears Prada). Not the most attractive couple, what is apparent through their story is how attracted and in love they are. Although I kept remembering that Tucci is about 10 years younger than Streep and was a little surprised when I found out that Paul Child was about 10 years older than Julia. *shrug*.
Amy Adam's (another great actress) is also great at showing how frustration is the catalyst for the endeavour, how it sucks her in and frustrates but ultimately how it fulfills Julie. More snappy and curt than Julia, it is harder to warm up to her character. Sometimes I couldn't help thinking that she should get over it - living in Queens and having a meal fail is not the end of the world. By the end however, you're really cheering her on to get to the end and bone that whole duck to serve up to dinner! There's also great chemistry between Adams and Chris Messina as Julie's husband Eric.
As you can see, I've reviewed the two parts separately. It reflects my main criticism in that J&J seemed at times more like two separate movies mashed together. I don't know if it was just me, but it seemed like the colours and quality of film were better in the Paris sections than the NYC ones? Or you know, maybe Paris really is just a prettier and more magical place :P. The Julie section is a little bit weaker than the Julia bits, but that's probably due to Meryl's portrayal having such force of personality that she overshines the grittier, less sympathetic Julie. Also, at 123 minutes...it's probably a bit long and drags a little in the middle. Otherwise, I loved this movie!
Yumm-o!
7.5/10
2 comments:
Nice review Mallymoodle- also really enjoyed the movie. Nothing like some yummy food porn to entertain! I was a bit frustrated with Julie's character- thought she needed to chill given her girly fits!
Didn't notice so much but perhaps New York looks dour in comparison to Paris because it was post 9/11 and set in Queens? (though who am I to say I haven't been to either place to hold an opinion!)
I'm pretty sure I'd still prefer Ratatouille! :P
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