Two women. Fifty-three years in time and an ocean apart. Both recently relocated for their husband's jobs. Both looking for their own role in this new location. Both feeling rather lost.
And both finding their way in the kitchen.
One of them is quite well known--Julia Child (Meryl Streep)--though we're introduced to her before she's made a name for herself. It's 1949 and her husband, Paul (Stanley Tucci), has just been assigned to the American embassy in Paris. The couple pulls up to the lovely flat that's to be their home for the next four years and Julia's beside herself. All this and a country full of amazing food to boot. The giggly, airy-voiced foodie is in heaven.
The other woman, Julie Powell (Amy Adams), is experiencing her own version of hell. It's 2002 in Queens and she and her husband, Eric (Chris Messina), have just moved into a 900-square-foot walk-up apartment above a pizza parlor. It's cramped and her kitchen is tiny. This is especially problematic since Julie's only escape from her dismal job--answering angry and distraught phone calls for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation on the heels of the 9/11 attacks--is the certainty of a well-crafted recipe. Nearly every day she returns home in tears and seeks solace in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
But back in 1949, Julia has yet to help pen this cookbook classic. And she's begun to grow restless. What to do with herself in France besides eat? She tries a hat-making class, and bridge lessons, and finally lands at Le Cordon Bleu, where she makes her way to an advanced class full of very serious men. Not wanting to be the "silly woman" in the class, she practices her chopping and roasting at home and soon is the star pupil. A new passion is born.
Julia eventually meets two French women who are crafting a French cookbook in English. This pleases Julia greatly as she found no such resource when she first moved to France. When their manuscript is deemed not English enough and a bit dry, Julia is brought into the project. With their meticulous recipe testing, the task of converting metric measurements to American standards, and the slow process of capturing all this information with typewriters and carbon paper, this project spans years. Many delicious, delightful years.
Fast forward quite a few decades to the present time, where Julie, a wannabe writer, is somewhat disgusted when one of her high-powered corporate friends launches a popular blog. Julie should be the one regularly penning clever words for an eager electronic audience. So while she whips up dinner one evening, she and her husband, Eric, brainstorm Julie's blog: She'll cook her way through her hero Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year, recording her journey through all 524 recipes in 365 days. Though the task is daunting--she'll have to debone a duck and tangle with some lobsters--she's also finally found a needed sense of direction.
The rest of the film continues to ping-pong back and forth between these women as they experience joy--and, of course, frustration--in their newfound cooking/writing projects. There are unsupportive parents, uncooperative lobster, and underwhelmed publishers to contend with. But there's also the delicious process of carving their own path and fighting their own battles, that, in some ways, is as much an answer to their earlier lost-ness as the easy successes are.
Though the film takes its name from one book, the 2005 best-seller by real-life Julie Powell, it's actually based on two. Beloved rom-com director Nora Ephron combined Julie's blog-turned-book Julie & Julia with My Life in France, a lovely travel narrative written by Julia Child and her grand-nephew Alex Prud'homme.
Though Ephron did a deft job of weaving these women's tales evenly and entertainingly, the segments featuring Julia Child are especially delightful. That's partly due to Child's winning personality and partly due to Streep's charming portrayal. Streep's turn never feels like an SNL sketch (though we are treated to Bill Murray's hysterical portrayal when Julie and Eric watch some late-night TV) but more like a loving homage. But would we expect any less from Streep? No, not at all. It's simply a treat that Hollywood keeps finding juicy characters for her to embody on the big screen.
And it's great to see her paired again with Stanley Tucci. They were a devilishly delightful editor/art director duo in The Devil Wears Prada. Here they form a sweet couple lovingly supporting each other through intimate dinner parties and McCarthy-era inquiries. How refreshing to see a veteran married couple so devoted to each other on film.
While the segments of the movie that feature Julie's story aren't quite as magical, Amy Adams gives us a lovely picture of a woman frappe-ing in her tiny kitchen, fighting with her husband, and tentatively finding her way in life. Her character isn't quite as charming as Child, but she's real and relatable and we do find ourselves rooting for her in the end. And for her marriage, which goes through a bit of a rough patch.
As with Julia's snippets, Julie's story is as much about her marriage as it is about herself. Both couples offer an insightful and intimate portrait of married life. We see the little wordless moments, the big blow-ups, and everything in between. You can tell these couples are based on real-life people. There's a humanity here largely missing in most Hollywood marriages. Yet another treat in this delicious film.
That said, the film does start to drag in the third quarter. Julie turns whiny and tiring, and there's a bit about her interaction with real-life Julia Child that's never quite resolved. And it would have been fun to see Julia go a bit beyond book author into the television personality that made her such an American icon.
But overall, Julie & Julia is a feast of winning characters, sumptuous food, loving marriages, and strong women who stumble and laugh and cry and write and, of course, cook their way into their unique paths in life--and consequently into our hearts.
SOURCE: Christianity Today
Comments |  RSS |
|
Between me and my husband we've owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I've settled down to one line of players. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.
I really appreciate the info you have provided for us. I assure this would be beneficial for most of the people.
Know whether the site is opened too late.
I’d like to say that you always offer valid information and I have been an fascinated reader of your site for quite some time. I wanted to say thankyou really :) for all the good work you do!
Where is link?
Millions of Americans take pills, powders and drinks to enhance body tone, lose weight, sculpt themselves and perform better at sports. But they may be doing themselves more harm than good, especially the male teenagers most likely to take the sports supplements that are so easily available in stores or over the Internet. This is what I read on the internet the other day, how come there's not health warnings on these things!
I come and read constantly. very nice blog
this really is an interesting post. helped me out thanks
I fully accept you and think you presented a few interesting and interesting points. Of course, there are a few things which depend on your own attitude towards Julie & Julia Movie Review - BCNN1 but still, thank you for this text. For the later, I would love to read many more articles related to this theme and written in this easy to follow language. Hopefully, I am not the exclusive one providing you the respect for your blogging activity, I will check this in a week. So long, keep on blogging, I will surely come back.
OMG,did you hear that shocking news? Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene in man returning from India! Check out daily NDM-1 superbug news now! Take care.
Howdy. Amazing job. I didn t not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a is a great story. Thanks!
This pavilion for entertaining and altering is an addition to the present house with a pool.
Nice article. It is truly a really great post. I noticed all your important points. Thanks!
Thanks .. saved me googling for more info.
Where exactly might I find this particular theme?
hello
Attempting to get this page showing up on my macintosh but no luck.
Greetings from India
link please :(((
perhaps you have heard of the brand new Kinect? Its truly awesome! I never had a great deal of fun playing video games before, eventhough I would call myself some sort of hardcore player this usually plays adventures like Call of Duty and so on. The Kinect is probably so different than anything I have ever before played before. your motion controles do the job really well, and not only this, but not required to use a controller to experiment with is the personification involving freedom! No bothersome button smashing any more, a single word is enough! You should think about getting the Kinect!.
to get heard of the modern Kinect? Its truly awesome! I never had a great deal fun playing video games before, eventhough I will call myself a new hardcore player that will usually plays adventures like Call of Duty and so on. The Kinect is simply so different than whatever else I have ever before played before. this motion controles work really well, and in addition to that, but not needing to use a controller to experiment with is the personification regarding freedom! No troublesome button smashing anymore, a single word is enough! You should really think about getting the Kinect!.
perhaps you have heard of the modern Kinect? Its definitely awesome! I never had much fun playing mmorpgs before, eventhough I will call myself a new hardcore player this usually plays video games like Call of Duty and the like. The Kinect is just so different than other things I have previously played before. the motion controles work really well, and plus, but not the need to use a controller to experience is the personification regarding freedom! No bothersome button smashing yeast infection, a single word is enough! You should think about getting some sort of Kinect!.
brand-new heard of the revolutionary Kinect? Its actually awesome! I never had so much fun playing gaming system before, eventhough I could call myself a hardcore player of which usually plays video games like Call of Duty etc. The Kinect is so different than other things I have ever played before. the actual motion controles perform really well, and plus, but not required to use a controller that can be played is the personification associated with freedom! No annoying button smashing any longer, a single word will do! You should think about getting the Kinect!.
hi very nice, good content i will back to your blog again.
Your attention to detail is astounding, props to ya.
i really liked your own blog, and still have obtained quite a lot of expertise concerning the matter. i've the website while in the identical area of interest. thanks for all your tips. i'm sorry regarding my personal terrible english, im out of indonesia.
I come and read constantly. very nice blog.Thank you.
took me a while to browse all the comments, but I really enjoyed the subject that you chose. It looked to be very helpful to me and I am sure to all the other people who have looked at this blog, It's always nice when your not only informed, but your also entertained! I'm positive you had fun writing this article. I'm going to grab your rss feed so I don't miss anything important that you guys may come up with in the future, Thanks..
I come and read constantly. very nice blog.Thank you.
i really enjoyed your own web site, also, I gathered quite a lot of information within the topic. i've a new blog while in the similar area of interest. thank you for all your facts. i'm sorry pertaining to this horrible english, i am just coming from philippines.
WoW!
Really nice!
Awesome!
WoW!
another really really good post. I find it really helpful especially for a rookie blogger like me. Thanks a lot..
That is finding a bit more subjective, but I much choose Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, as well as some cool features like 'Mixview' that allow you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users linked to the pain you are paying attention to. Hitting some of those will target that item, and another pair of "neighbors" will come into view, enabling you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune "Social" is additionally great fun, permitting you to find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with these. Afterward you can tune in to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what your friends are enjoying, and this is enjoyable. Those occupied with privacy will be relieved to learn it is possible to prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits when you so choose.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod's. It works well, but isn't as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that's not an issue, but if you're planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod's larger screen and better browser may be important.
Thank you for your post, and i think it helps me a lot.
Excellent article, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing a little homework on that. And he in fact bought me cocktail because I found it for him ~
Got it at http://www.sfbags.com for $10.
Between me and my husband we've owned more MP3 players over the years than I can count, including Sansas, iRivers, iPods (classic & touch), the Ibiza Rhapsody, etc. But, the last few years I've settled down to one line of players. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun to use the underappreciated (and widely mocked) Zunes are.
I also do this but haven't gone as far as creating a blogpost about it! good on ya!ss
Thanks for ones information but I'm acquiring some difficulties seeing images.
Stumbled into this site by chance but I’m sure glad I clicked on that link. You definitely answered all the questions I’ve been dying to answer for some time now. Will definitely come back for more of this. Thank you so much
I have read about this case and it was sensational. Although it was very clear that Al Hassan al-Majid and the rest of his group did it, they barely manage to counter it. Their defense was good but the evidence was overwhelming.
What I dont understand is how youre not even more popular than you are now. Youre just so intelligent. You know so much about this subject, made me think about it from so many different angles. Its like people arent interested unless it has something to do with Lady Gaga! Your stuffs great. Keep it up!
I really find this a interesting subject. Never looked at this subject in this way. If you are going to write some more articles about this subject, I definitely will be back in the near future! Btw your layout is truly briliant. I will be using something similar for my own site if you don’t mind.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this also - taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done… Regards…
I really find this a interesting subject. Never looked at this subject in this way. If you are going to write some more articles about this subject, I definitely will be back in the near future! Btw your layout is truly briliant. I will be using something similar for my own site if you don’t mind.
I am new to your blog and just spent about 1 hour and 30 minutes reading. I think I will frequently visit your blog from now on. I will definitely learn a lot from them.
I have been searching the internet for this, and I am glad I found it here! Thanks. Site has been added to my RSS feed for later browsing.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this also - taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done… Regards…
I am new to your blog and just spent about 1 hour and 30 minutes reading. I think I will frequently visit your blog from now on. I will definitely learn a lot from them.
I have been searching the internet for this, and I am glad I found it here! Thanks. Site has been added to my RSS feed for later browsing.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in composing this article. I am going for the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your fanciful writing abilities has prompted me to start my own blog now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.
I have been searching the internet for this, and I am glad I found it here! Thanks. Site has been added to my RSS feed for later browsing.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me.
Excellent information here. This interesting post made me smile. Maybe if you throw in a couple of pics it will make the whole thing more interesting.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in composing this article. I am going for the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your fanciful writing abilities has prompted me to start my own blog now. Actually the blogging is spreading its wings rapidly. Your write up is a fine example of it.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this also - taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done… Regards…
MICHELE9901: Confusion about Weight Watchers and overall diet advice: Lisa : Lowered calorie levels will result in weight los
Howdy, i simply just considering i'd post and let you know your blogs layout is really messed up on the K-Melon browser. AnyWellhow keep up the good work.
Excellent information here. This interesting post made me smile. Maybe if you throw in a couple of pics it will make the whole thing more interesting.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this also - taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get anything done… Regards…
Hi administrator I take pleasure fromI like what you all have to say. Very straight to the point.
Sorry for the huge review, but I'm really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it's the right choice for you.
Well I do think that article syndication is a good help for Search engine optimization.
This is really a extremely fascinating post, thank you for sharing! You will find many blogs on this topic but this one states precisely what I think as well.
I would be honest with your employer from the start. do not wait for them to run a credit check but tell them that you have a poor credit rating and that you hope to remedy it through working hard and paying some of your debts off. If they are the sort of people that one would want to work for and have a good relationship with their employees then this would probably do the trick.
It’s actually nice publish, nice blog..I'm really wanting ahead to your subsequent post. superb post informative content, Thanks for sharing
The Budget – The Ultimate Monetary Administration Software
Such a well written post.. Thnkx for sharing this post !! Also you can check my AV女優 !
The more I think about it, the more I agree.
Red Bull no doubt is the most utilized strength ingest but I foud it genuinely pricey. Some less wont hurt the corporation I guess.
Very insightful. I like the way you write. Do you provide an RSS feed?
Would you head if I reference a couple of sentences out of your submit? I am researching for venture for highschool. Thanks!
Sweet weblog! Terrific post, I??? ll stop by once more.
Got this website via Yahoo answers, a really good read, thanks.
As a Newbie, I am always browsing online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you
surefire suppressors
Thank you very nice presentation, I add it to Favorites
You made some clear points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found most people will go along with with your blog.
surefire p60
keep up the superb piece of work, I read few blog posts on this internet site and I think that your blog is rattling interesting and has sets of excellent information.
Thanks for providing useful information on the topic. Keep posting
I carry on listening to the news talk about getting free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i find some?
brightest flashlight
Good post?-.plz enable me i also need to post here?-.
Thank you very good site I suggest to my friends
Lovely website! I am loving it!! Will come back again. I am bookmarking your feeds also
5.11 tactical
Such a well written post.. Thnkx for sharing this post !! Also you can check my AV女優,A片,口交,熟女,中出,亂交,潮吹,癡漢,3P,癡女,人妻,肛交,巨乳,偷拍,搭訕,山寨,援助交際 !
Congratulations for the outstanding weblog posting! I observed your post very fascinating, I believe you are a excellent author. I added your blog site to my bookmarks and will return within the long term. I choose to encourage you to proceed that marvelous function, possess a fantastic daytime!
Thank you I love your :)
You are a very intelligent person!
surefire e1b
Foudn your site through search engines while doing research. I hope i found this earlier and will not be wasting time surfing around. I'm good to go with my project. Thanks!
Wow, thanks for publishing this great article. I’m a real enthusiast and get pleasure from reading your web-site. Believe it or not it’s generally rather tough to expose this information penned with any actual sense of quailty like it is here. Thanks.
What a great blog. I spend days on the internet reading blogs, about tons of different subjects. I have to first of all give kudos to whoever created your website and second of all to you for writing what i can only describe as an amazing post. I honestly believe there is a skill to writing articles that only a few posses and frankly you have it. The combination of informative and quality content is definitely extremely rare with the large amount of blogs on the internet.
Thanks very nice topic I'm best site :):)
Pretty good blog site, plenty of worthwhile details.
Thats some nice informationDo you have any more posts?.
Thats I will email it to my friends just what i was looking for
One must keep up with these kind of posts :). Already Bookmarked. Will come back for more soon.
Super-Duper site! My organization is loving this!! Will come back again - using you changes further, Merit.
Big Thing
extreme almanac you carry
Super-Duper site! What i am loving the product!! Will come back again - using you transmits also, Merit.
Your blog is realy and nice .it is not like all those auto-blogs popular now. Its a live one. Its cool!
You should definately write more about this! Please!
You should definately write more about this! Please!
qvccqwccwcwqcqwc
sacxwqcwqcwqc
Hımm very nice topic yess omeygat :):)
Kudos for the great article. I am glad I have taken the time to learn this.
That is an excellent article and I completely trust what you said. My organization is trying to setup the Feed but I am certainly not very computer literate. May someone tell me how I will setup the RSS feed so I get notified of any new blog post? Remember to explain it in an easy to understand way as I am getting old.
Just to inform you, I do believe you will find there's problem with the Feed, it's not showing right in my RSS reader. It only began happening a few days ago, did you adjust something on the website?
Appreciation for the great blog post. I am glad I have taken the time to learn this.
The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod's. It works well, but isn't as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that's not an issue, but if you're planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod's larger screen and better browser may be important.
Merry Christmas! Happy everyone! Wish you have a good day!
This is my first time to visit your blog and I would say you share nice information
Thank you for sharing