REVIEW: Julie & Julia (2009)
Julie & Julia
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 123 minutes
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
My rating: 3.5 stars
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Pause for a moment when you view Julie & Julia and marvel at Meryl Streep’s performance, which could have easily delved into parody but instead added dignity to the beloved Julia Child.
The film, itself, did not always live up to Streep’s performance, and the narrative is to blame.
As you all know from the trailers, this film is “based on two true stories.” The problem is they don’t really come together; they just co-exist on screen.
There’s the Julia Child story, which follows the famed television cook and writer as she develops her love of cooking in Paris, meets two cookbook writers, writes her own book and then tries to get it published.
Then there’s Julie Powell, who bought Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” book, started a blog and writes every day as she works through all 500-plus recipes in one year.
The two never meet, and it is unclear if Child is even aware of Powell’s blog. This fundamental truth in both stories hindered the film. That didn’t stop writer-director Nora Ephron for teasing at it on several occasions. The payoff needed to happen for Julie & Julia to rise to unforgettable ranks. Without it, it becomes two cute stories, neither of which particularly resonates with the audience once they leave the theater.
That’s not a warning to avoid the film; it’s a reason why it won’t be remembered come Oscar time.
Streep, however, will be. Her performance is the best of the year so far, and Ephron knew it. That’s why, even when Julie watches “old” footage from the Julia Child cooking show, it’s still Streep as Child. A customary film practice is to use real archived material because lesser actors can’t fully embody the real person. Streep does, and it’s sensational.
The only thing that would cause the Academy to overlook her is because of the powerless story, which is merely light and entertaining, but not deep. It only becomes a classic film if the two characters meet, but the true story doesn’t deem it so. It was flawed before Ephron even penned a word.
Let us not forget Amy Adams, either, as Julie. She, too, is fantastic. This role, like most of Adams’ others, required her to be sweet, determined and immediately likeable. There was almost more pressure on Adams to make the character and the film work than on Streep because everybody knows Julia Child. The audience needed to know Julie Powell and Adams makes it happen immediately.
I suppose my issues with the film aren’t with the film at all; it’s with the true story. I can’t fault Ephron’s screenplay for not giving me what I wanted – a meeting. It didn’t happen in reality, and I would be criticizing Ephron for putting it in if she had. Instead, I’m disappointed fate didn’t give me something more. The pieces were put into place, emotionally, but the final icing on the cake, if you will, never came. 3.5 stars.
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Where it's playing:
Canton/PotsdamSHOWTIMES
Watertown SHOWTIMES
