Written by: Nora Ephron
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond
Rating: [4/5]
Building something through passion and pure creativity takes guts and motivation, especially when it proves no promises of financial success. Endeavors that allow the individuals crafting them to show out in ways they might not be able to in their everyday lives but it brings them something different. Julie & Julia examines this through two women going through their own struggles but managing to let their love of cooking push them beyond what they could have ever imagined.
In the 1950s, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) wants to take on something new and decides to attend Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, where she stands out as the only woman in the cohort and must overcome the bias of others. In 2002, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) finds no satisfaction in her line of work and goes on an endeavor where she will make every recipe in Julia’s famous cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blog about it.
The fact Julie spends all of her free time taking on a personal challenge and blogging through it puts a mirror right up to this writer right here and makes me feel more seen than any character in film. As someone who has given up days worth of free time to go on this journey of reviewing every single film I have ever seen just because, it allowed me to relate heavily to Julie’s situation. Except in my case, it’s very much a hobby and not the effort in trying to find a substitute for a vocational purpose. This little connection makes this film just that little bit more special and it helps it’s also great.
Navigating through the stories of two individuals living in different eras but having somewhat interrelated stories requires a deft writer to piece it all together, which makes it no surprise Nora Ephron excelled in what she crafts in this film. Each of these two tales have their own messages about perseverance and passion but Ephron ensures we know these characters beyond their passions and the well-rounded individuals they truly are. It remains a light film through its mood and comedy but still a story with so much meaning to it all, culminating in Ephron’s greatest directorial effort.
Films centered on food and capturing it well have the added benefit of not just telling good stories but making audience members salivate in the process. In a sense it finds a way to touch the sense of taste through a visual medium, allowing a different experience all-together. Julie & Julia definitely sits in the category of those that excel at it as it features so many eye-watering culinary delights in both timelines. We see Julia piece something together for the first time and Julie trying to replicate it during their timeline. All of it looks absolutely fantastic, but the film still lives in the reality of Julie not having advanced cooking skills and we see her mess up to a comedic degree, especially in her efforts to complete every recipe within 365 days. A daring effort but it represents the challenge she sought to take on.
At the forefront of this film we have two great actors in Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Seeing these two on the cover of this film made it no-doubt that I needed to watch it and they certainly delivered. Steep, as always, personifies class and portrays Julia Child in a way that no other could possibly dream of doing, and Amy Adams perfectly encapsulates the highs and lows of this journey for Julie. While never interacting directly, we can feel the connection between these characters but for all the great things the two leads do, the actors portraying their respective husbands also deserve praise. Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina each do a splendid job as the supportive husbands and the particular obstacles they need to help clear in order to help their wives achieve their personal goals. They each meet what the script requires of them and help complement their wife characters.
An utter delight in its exploration of personal and professional fulfillment, Julie & Julia combines so many elements I love to appear in film: food, a Nora Ephron script, Amy Adams, and Meryl Streep. This film was destined to be right up my alley and it certainly delivered in its comedic efforts as well as its more inspirational with each of their stories. In addition to all of it, their journeys display that naysayers will appear but that does not take away from the passion and work that goes into it even when the surprising reveal at the end comes forth about these two characters. Without a doubt the best Nora Ephron directorial achievement and one that provides all the warm feelings one could want and will certainly have them open up their fridge to find something to quench their hunger.
Films with Josh 
