Drama Movie Review: Julia & Julia
This is a movie review of Julie & Julia.
Plot Summary (courtesy of IMDB):
In 1949, Julia Child's is in Paris, the wife of a diplomat, wondering how to spend her days. She tries hat making, bridge, and then cooking lessons at Cordon Bleu. It's there she discovers her passion. In 2002, Julie Powell, underemployed and a failed novelist, about to turn 30, decides to cook her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year and to blog about it. These stories intertwine of two women learning to cook and finding success. Sympathetic, loving husbands support them both, and friendships, too, add zest.
Run Time: 123 Minutes
Movie Review:
I had great expectations before watching Julie & Julia. The idea behind it is inspiring, committing oneself to a project for one year in an attempt to turn ones life around. The casting was a good selling point, and the advertising really made it a movie that I wanted to see.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed when I finally saw it. Half of the movie was superb, while the other half was just iffy. The superb part was the semi-biopic part of Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep. This should have been the whole movie. The relationship between Julia and her husband, brilliantly played by Stanley Tucci, was engaging, funny, and absolutely interesting. Streep and Tucci's chemistry in Julie & Julia was spot on and quite believable. This pairing saves Julie & Julia from being an overcooked nightmare and turns it into a servable lunch.
The "modern" half of Julie & Julia, the story of Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams, just had no "meat" to it. The whole section tied itself upon her first recipe made. Adams does a great job at playing a very uninteresting character, but can not save this part of the movie alone. Nor does Chris Messina, who believably plays Julie's husband, help her.
All in all I would have liked to see more from each story line. Julie's story could have been much more interesting given more character development and Julia's story was so engaging I just wanted to see more of it. The great constant which tie these two sides together is of course the food. You will indeed drool over some of the food which is shown in Julie & Julia. Make sure to do your grocery shopping before watching this movie so that when you finish watching it and are starving you have motivation.
Movie Review photo credit: movies.yahoo.com
Overall Movie Review Rating: I rate this movie as a Good See - 3 stars
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