Before the blogosphere blew up, Julie Powell started the Julie/Julia Project in 2002. The objective? To change her self-proclaimed status as a powerless “government drone” and spice up her monotonous married life in Queens. Cooking her way through Julia Child’s culinary magnum opus “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” — 524 recipes in 365 days — Powell achieved the dream of every amateur writer on Blogspot or Wordpress: comments galore, a feature in the New York Times, a book deal and a movie.
Julie & Julia, the manifestation of said movie, depicts Powell’s year of cooking adventures. The film splits Powell’s screen time with the life of Julia Child herself (Meryl Streep), as told in Child’s memoir, My Life in France.
We meet Julia as she too is having a life crisis. Living in Paris with her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci), she wants to do something more with her life than learn French and make hats. Despite opposition from a traditionally male-dominated field and a bitchy French school-owner, Julia enrolls in Le Cordon Bleu and proves herself to be truly “fearless.” As we watch Powell transition from dismal obscurity to national recognition, we also see Julia change her fate from that of a traditional housewife into the beginnings of a culinary empire.
While Amy Adams convincingly plays the pathetic, lost twenty-something, Streep steals the spotlight with Julia’s persistent optimism and effervescence. She portrays the cooking legend with a hilarious and endearing personality that is as gargantuan as her physical size (Julie towered at over six feet). Though Adams plays a somewhat relatable New Yorker of the modern day, Streep’s sparkling performance leaves viewers wishing she would never leave the screen.
Although Julie & Julia focuses on the female roles, a Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle) production would not be complete without romance. Both Powell’s and Child’s significant others, played by Chris Messina and Stanley Tucci respectively, stand by their wives’ culinary aspirations. While it may be hard to imagine Julia Child engaged in any sort of romantic relationship, Streep and Tucci capture a genuine partnernship filled with love and support between Julia and Paul.
Aside from providing an endearing biopic of Julia Child and a modern rags-to-riches tale, the film also offers an apt critique of the narcissism that all-too-often characterizes our blogging, tweeting society. It also touches on issues past and present, such as McCarthyism, the publishing industry and of course, the evolution of “home cooking,” all against the beautiful backdrops of Julia’s France and Powell’s New York.
Though fitting two separate stories into one film makes Julie & Julia feel a bit drawn-out in parts, its transitions between the two women are clever and well-timed, rarely lingering on one character long enough for the audience to become bored.
While Powell’s story is uplifting, watching Meryl Streep waddle her way through France and stuff her face with buttery delicacies makes her alone worth the trip to see the film... just don’t come hungry.
