Julie and Julia plays on the similarities of two women who live two very different lives in two very different eras. The one thing, the overwhelming thing, the two women have in common is that they’re both looking for something to do, something that’s both fulfilling and matters to them.
Julia Child (Meryl Streep), the famous chef (although I can’t say I know too much about her), finds herself living in diplomatic splendor in France in 1949 when her husband (Stanley Tucci) is sent there on a government posting. Julie, who is a frustrated writer and unhappy cubicle bod, decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” cookbook and blog about the experience.
But that overview barely scratches the surface of the story. Both women endure joy and pain, successes and setbacks. And with scenes that alternate and twine between the two disparate lives, we come to see the parallels that Julie does between her and Julia for ourselves.
This may be the only movie ever based simultaneously on two true stories. The real Julie Powell really did do that cooking and write that blog (and eventually a book). The real Julia Child did write an autobiography and a cookbook that serve as references for the other half of the film. Fortunately for us, both stories are interesting in and of themselves, and the combination is very, very good indeed.
I was as much prepared to dislike Julie & Julia as to like it. What surprised me was just how very much I did like it. I’d recommend it with no reservations whatsoever although I think I really would not have enjoyed this movie as much a few years ago.
