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SYNOPSIS:
A culinary legend provides a frustrated office worker with a new recipe for life in JULIE & JULIA, the true stories of how Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) life and cookbook inspired fledgling writer Julie Powell (Amy Adams) to whip up 524 recipes in 365 days and introduce a new generation to the magic of French cooking. Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) co-stars in director Nora Ephron's delicious comedy about joy, obssesion and butter. Bon appétit!
MOVIE
REVIEW:
Oh, Meryl Streep. We know you can act, but must you hoard a nomination in the Best Actress category when it comes to award season? This isn’t really a grudge, but knowing how the system works, the folks handing out the awards cannot give you a trophy every year (sucks, isn’t it?). But judging from how you can also nab a nomination at the Oscars with your portrayal of a Parisian woman in the 1940s who discovers her passion for cooking, we really have to respect your ability to bring sparks to every role you play. And for the record, we shall heck the formality of those awards, and crown you the greatest actress of our times.
Nora Ephron directs you and Amy Adams in a story which finds two women whose lives by the memoirs they wrote. The thing is, one woman is from the 1940s and the other is from 2002. Julia Child is the wife of a diplomat who has to find activities to kill time. She eventually uncovers her talent for cooking. In 2002, Julie Powell is an unaccomplished woman who is unemployed and has an unpublished novel. She decides to cook her way through for one year and blog about her experiences. Lots of girl power emerge from these two tales of good food and great company.
While we shan’t go on being wowed by Streep’s flawless performance in this 123 minute movie, we cannot help but notice that the Oscar winning actress lights up the screen every time she appears. Not to say that Adams is lackluster in any way, but Streep does hold more weight between the two. Adams has her own strengths though – ever since her performance as a singing princess in Enchanted, we are convinced that she is one actress to look out for. And she proves herself well in this movie, balancing the delicate emotions and the eccentric behaviours of Julie Powell wonderfully. Supporting male cast members include Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) and Chris Messina (Vicky Christina Barcelona) as the two partners of Julia and Julie respectively, and the deliver engaging performances too.
The structure of the movie may get predictable after a while, and running at slightly over two hours, the impatience viewer may scoff at the picture’s lack of innovation. But we are here for the charismatic performances of the cast, so that really doesn’t bother us a lot. Besides, food always warms the heart (you may just be tempted to try out the recipes yourself), and coupled with the Streep and Adam’s smile inducing acting as the two lovely protagonists, we must admit that for its lightweight nature, the movie is one entertaining and pleasurable treat.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
The Code 3 DVD contains a Commentary with Writer/ Director Nora Ephron. With her motherly voice, Ephron talks about minor details like props and trivia of the movie in a very steady pace. There is also a 28 minute featurette Secret Ingredients: Creating Julie and Julia, where you can go behind the scenes to see how the crew visualised the film, and yes, it includes some very nice shots of food. Trailers of other Sony movies like The Ugly Truth and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs round up the disc.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The movie’s visual transfer is pristine. You can watch it in either English or Thai 5.1 Dolby Digital audio tracks.
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RATING :
Review
by John Li
Posted on 1 March 2010
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