Julie and Julia

“Julie and Julia” is a fantastic movie, one that many will overlook because it is being misleadingly advertised as nothing more than a bland comedy with a stale script and cardboard characters. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This lively film is driven by a script that is full of energy and emotion, its characters far from your typical comedy stereotype.

Written and directed by Nora Ephron (“When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle”), “Julie and Julia” tells two different stories. The first is that of the Queens-dwelling Julie Powell, who set out in 2002 to cook her way through Julia Child’s bestselling cookbook in exactly one year. Powell is played by Amy Adams, but this performance is bereft of the charm of “Enchanted” and the complexity of “Doubt.” I think Adams wants us to find her character charming in her own way, but not once did I find myself rooting for her. At times I found her obsession with Julia Child to be more creepy and stalker-like than respectful and motivational. Given that it seems she’d do anything for her fifteen minutes of fame, Adams comes across more as a whiny brat who would do anything to get her way.

The second and by far the more engaging story focuses on Julia Child herself in 1940’s France as she works her way to becoming the legend that is recognized as today. Child is played excellently by Meryl Streep, who not once goes over the top with her depiction of Child and is by far the most charming woman on the screen. She throws herself into her character as she always does and even leaves us with a hint of unexpected nostalgia. In contrast with Adams, we don’t see an actor playing somebody else, but a believable character that leaps off the screen and immediately wins our hearts.

The film seems longer than its running time of 123 minutes, but rarely does it drag. This movie has a lot of material to cover, and Ephron takes her time telling both Julie and Julia’s story. However, the segments centered on Julie are the weaker of the two. This is not as much the acting as it is the writing.
There is less elaboration and character exploration with Julie than there is Julia, and the script suffers because of this. Where Julie’s story is more streamlined and bleak, Julia’s story is more elaborate and engaging. Where Julia has friends with different sides to them, Julie’s friends seem only to care about eating. The dishes that Julie prepares may be appetizing to the people she feeds them to (and the sound effects team made us very aware of this by amplifying the smacks, slurps, swallows and burps to an almost gluttonous level), but not once are they appetizing to us.

The husbands are of vital importance to both women, and the movie shows us this in the best way possible. Neither marriage is glamorous or over the top. It seems real. Stanley Tucci plays Paul Child perfectly as an aging, reserved man who nonetheless has a passion for what he does. Julia is the center of his life, and we really believe him when he says that he loves her. The two are a thrill to watch and we truly feel every emotion that they are going through. Julie’s husband Eric is played by Eric Messina and he shares an excellent chemistry with Adams. While the majority of his time is simply going along with Julie’s mission and providing comic relief, he does an excellent job at confronting Julie about her narcissism and her misguided motives and how they are affecting him. These and other issues about Julie’s character are never resolved and we aren’t really sure if she has learned anything by the end of her journey, but at least they are acknowledged.

As is the case in many films about historic characters, their facts and achievements are not thrown out at us to make us marvel. Instead, we pick up on them and begin to find things on our own that we respect them for. It makes them more down to earth, and it makes them more human. It is definitely a more appetizing dish than many of the other less appealing outings from Hollywood.