Thursday, September 24, 2009

Julie & Julia

Another summer hit from my beloved Meryl Streep!! This actress is blessed with so much talent that she's able to single-handedly make a movie successful even when, by all Hollywood standards, it should fail.

Not only is this movie a light, girly type of picture, it also features female leads and plays in the summer. By all accounts, it shouldn't go anywhere. Unless that is, one of the two female leads is the greatest actress alive.

After the delightful The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia!, which I haven't seen yet, Meryl strikes gold again with her portrayal of the famous Julia Child, a woman whose main talent seemed to be perseverance.

A record smashing 15th Oscar Nomination seems all but assured for Streep, but the rumors are growing that she might finally be handed a long overdue third statuette, which I ardently hope.

The movie is a constant intertwining of two women's stories: Julia Child is in Paris, where she learns how to cook and starts writing the cookbook that will make her famous once back in America; Julie Powell is in New York and, feeling like a total failure at everything, decides to keep a blog of her effort to cook all the over 500 recipes in Child's book in a year.

Although it doesn't sound like much when put that simply, the script and editing move the plot along deftly. Streep is the usual powerhouse, but Amy Adams as Powell is good too and so are Chris Messina, who plays Julie's husband, and Stanley Tucci, who play's Julia's.

The movie made me happy and sad, angry and euphoric and effortlessly took me from the romantic views of 1950s Paris to the polished look of Child's kitchen kept for posterity in the Smithsonian's.

If you like Streep (or food) this movie's for you.

Grade: 8

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