Review: Julie and Julia

When I first heard about the movie Julie and Julia, my first thought was "finally a movie about women that's not about chasing men!"  I wouldn't call myself a feminist per say, but I do find this concept extremely refreshing.  Julie and Julia tells the stories of Julia Child, famous cookbook author turned television personality, and Julie Powell, the woman made famous by cooking her way through Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and blogging about it.  (I checked out the real blog and it's pretty interesting, actually.)  

Julie and Julia was written and directed by Norah Ephron, the same woman behind Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and other classic chick flicks watched repeatedly throughout my adolescence.  Here she brings a similar charm, creating likable characters who will no doubt resonate with most viewers.  Meryl Streep is fabulous as always as Julie Child, although I think I would have understood the role a whole lot more if I had actually heard Julia herself talk before seeing the movie.  For my fellow ignorants, here's what she actually sounded like.  For the record, she sounds exactly like Meryl in the movie.  While watching the film I thought Meryl might have been gently mocking Child.  The portrayal would certainly have worked either way, but I'm still eager to see the film again now that I'm in the know.  

Amy Adams is also very good as Julie Powell, although I definitely preferred the Julia Child parts of the movie.  This could be due to the fact that Chris Messina is not at all believable as Julie's husband, Eric.  I wanted to like his character sooo badly, but for some reason he seems to be purposefully loud and pig-ish when he eats and is thus extremely off-putting.  He also has the misfortune of being inevitably compared to Stanley Tucci, who is fantastic as Paul Child.

Julie and Julia is an aesthetically pleasing movie due to the passion the title characters exhibit for food.  This is the sort of passion I strive for, but can never quite achieve.  I'm forever saying I want to learn how to cook fancy French food, but find raw meat (especially anything that resembles the animal it once was) very difficult to work with.  Also, how on earth does anyone manage to enjoy eating dinner when there's a huge mess in the kitchen waiting to be cleaned up as soon as the meal's finished?  The movie inspired me to try and let go of these reservations, but I haven't actually ran out to buy Mastering the Art of French Cooking yet.  Maybe next week...