Julie & Julia creates the perfect recipe to make it to the big screen
Posted by The Skyliner on September 30th, 2009Jordan Ecarma
Staff Writer
Julie & Julia is an unusual film in that it is based on two true stories. One is the story of Julia Child’s life in the 1940s, and the other is that of modern-day Julie Powell.
The stories begin with one enthusiastic woman living richly in Paris and the other barely making it in Brooklyn. Their lives intersect when Julie Powell sets out to conquer Child’s famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking, trying to make all 524 recipes in just one year.
Julie Powell is a woman who can’t finish what she starts. She had great hopes for a life as a writer, but somehow her dreams ended with an unpublished novel. Now she’s almost 30 and working as someone who answers telephones in a cubicle. She and her husband have just moved to a Brooklyn apartment. Julie discovers that what she really likes to do after the stress of the day is cook. This interest, combined with inspiration from a friend’s blog, helps her to decide what to do. She starts the Julie/Julia Project, a blog in which she describes her adventures while cooking her way through Julia’s entire classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Julia Child is an irrepressible spirit exploring Paris with characteristic eagerness. She has so much energy, but doesn’t know what to put it into. She attempts a hat-making class and bridge lessons, but finally lands on cooking. As a food enthusiast, she longs for more challenges than the tame how-to-boil-an-egg lessons offered for women. She plants herself in a class with male chefs, who are at first scornful of her, but eventually are won over by her zest for life. That same zest is what makes people love Julia. She is so full of joy that it can’t help but spread to the people around her.
Perhaps that is why she inspires Julie more than 60 years later. Their stories intertwine: tales of love, life, perseverance—and butter– Julia’s and later Julie’s favorite ingredient.
There is a lush feel to this film, and it goes beyond the usual chick flick in adding layers to the characters. While Julia Child—wonderfully played by the versatile Meryl Streep—is a happy person, all is not perfect. It takes more than eight years for her to get her cookbook published. But her greatest character trait is her tenacity. She never gives up.
Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams of Enchanted and Night at the Museum 2, is by turns adorable and exasperating. Neither heroine in this film comes across as a perfect person, but their flaws make them all the more relatable.
A great element to this movie is the way romantic love is depicted between husband and wife. Julie and Julia are each happily married. During the course of the movie, Julie realizes that she takes her husband Eric for granted. They have marital problems, but manage to work through them because of the love and commitment they share. Several camera shots also highlight her wedding ring. Julia and her husband are soul mates, loving each other through the ups and downs of life.
The best thing about Julie & Julia is that it truly is a happy movie. Yes, the characters have problems and conflicts and bad days, but they can triumph in the end. Sometimes hard work translates into dreams fulfilled. And there’s seldom been a nicer illustration.
Julie & Julia is rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality.
Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 4