First Hit: Downright enjoyable to watch, especially if you recall Julia Child’s television programs because Streep brings her back to life.
If you ever had the opportunity to watch Julia Child’s cooking program, then you “get” Meryl Streep’s performance as Julia. She brings Julia back to life although some of the mannerisms might be a little over emphasized; they are never in poor taste or out of character.
The film is a story about Julia’s life from when she landed in France with her husband Paul (played by Stanley Tucci) and lasts through the moment her book is published.
The film is also about Julie Powell who is lost in her life, feeling unaccomplished, and is having to live over a pizza parlor because it is near her husband's work.
Her husband Eric (played by Chris Messina) supports Julie as she decides to create a blog and cook all of Julia’s recipes in one year. She's wanted to be a writer and she loves to cook. We watch these two stories in sections and the only real direct connection is when Julie and Eric watch the old Julia Child television programs.
It is wonderful to watch the different generations deal with their life issues in their generational ways and how love is shown through support of the partner. Julie and Julia are deeply linked through the peace and joy they each receive while cooking. This passion came to each of them while they struggled to find something meaningful in their life.
Cooking was their path to bring out another talent, writing. Although Julia lived an upper middle class existence and her husband’s position kept them out of financial difficulty, Julie’s life is different. She and Eric are living on a lot less which was a way to give this story a wider breath and, in a sense, give the audience two very different stories.
Yet these diverse stories were brought together by one book; Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Nora Ephron did an excellent job of directing the script written by her which was taken from Julie Powell’s book about her experience of cooking and blogging Julia Child’s recipes. I thought Tucci was excellent and beautifully supported Streep’s character. I thought Streep was excellent and really brought forth Julia Child and made me want to watch those old cooking shows again. Adams had just the right amount of drive with a slight bit of defeatist attitude to make the journey of the cooking and blog believable. Lastly I thought Messina was effective at being both a tolerant and supportive guy that really loved his wife.
Overall: This film was a joy to watch and in the end left a wonderful taste in my mouth.