Julie & Julia - Review

It has been a while since I've reviewed a non-new release, or at least one that's not immediately fresh on people's minds. I actually was hoping to write about Black Swan, but unfortunately that movie only got a limited release this weekend as isn't playing anywhere in the Vancouver area (Seriously, you have no idea how much that irks me off). Plus, the number of chick flicks reviewed on my blog is somewhat low. So I thought this would be a good time to review a movie I had watched recently, Julie & Julia.

Julie & Julia is two stories in one movie. Both based on true stories, the first narrative takes place in the 1950s and follows renown cook Julia Child (Meryl Streep) detailing when she was writing her French cookbook that would eventually make her world famous. The second story takes place in 2002 and features Julie Powell (Amy Adams), a young aspiring writer working a mundane job who decides to enliven her life by cooking through Child's aforementioned cookbook every day and blog about the project.

Julie & Julia is one of those movies that is quite difficult for which to write a review. Its not bad, but it isn't particularly great either, yet still is not completely average either. The storyline is where this is most obvious. There's an inherent problem when you make a movie with two separate storylines... they often feel disjointed. Unfortunately, Julie & Julia does fall victim to this... albeit only moderately.

The Julia segments are filmed more like a biopic, detailing the life and experiences of a familiar public figure. The characters are entertaining, the set pieces are interesting, and it doesn't come off as particularly dramatized or glamorized (a typical flaw in many biopics). The Julia segments were an enjoyable movie in itself, and were definitely the better half of this flick.


The Julie segments are more of a romantic comedy... and an average one at that. I know its based off of a true story, and that it needed to follow its real life counterparts, but the characters just aren't particularly relateable, creative, or interesting. I suppose these were the everyday kind of folk that we, as the audience, are supposed to relate with and sympathize. The characters are believable, but believable doesn't always equal entertaining. Plus the ending and outcome of this particular storyarc ends on a predictable outcome.

The two narratives are only loosely connected, mainly via Child's cookbook. This is admittedly a clever way to connect the stories, as both Julie and Julia had never actually met each other, but by the time this was over, I couldn't help but feel like this movie would have been immensely better if they dropped the Julie story and just stuck with the biopic about Child.

What is one way to remedy a hit and miss storyline? The answer is, of course, good performances. Julie & Julia is a movie that I like to call "One Actors Shows." This is an otherwise decent or average movies that become immensely more entertaining thanks to the performance of one particular actor (Think Robert Downey Jr. In Iron Man, Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). In this case, Meryl Streep is the actress who makes this movie special. Her performance as Julia Child is fantastic, and by far the best in the whole movie. She nailed Child's demeanor, personality traits, and her famous voice. She was a real blast to watch and was by far the best part of it.

Amy Adams plays Julie Powell and, despite being out-shined by Streep, does an admittedly good job in the role. Adams has a good range of emotions, some funny comic timing, and gets the job done. Again, there's just not a whole lot to her character, making it a bit of a challenge to give an in-depth critique. The same can be said for most of the supporting cast. Although, I did enjoy Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, Julia's husband. The two had great chemistry together and looked like they had fun in their roles. Not to mention, the Julia segments featured older, and seemingly, more experienced actors who could easily outshine the younger cast of the Julie segments. Again... the Julia storyline is just better.

Finally, there's some creative production design, some pretty settings, decent cinematography, and an tasty array of food. It goes without saying that a movie about one of the world's most famous cooks would feature a variety of tasty delights, and Julie & Julia certainly delivers on that front. You'll probably get pretty hungry after watching this.

Overall, Julie & Julia is a fun movie and definitely worth watching. It would probably blend in with the crowd if it weren't for Meryl Streep, but this is still a solid movie that's worth at least a rental.

My Score: 3.5 out of 5!