Julie & Julia

Written by Greg VictorcloseAuthor: Greg Victor Name: Greg Victor
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About: Greg Victor (Parcbench Culture Editor) is a historian, pop culture critic, and theatrical dramaturg and has stage managed theatrical productions on Broadway and on tour, including Billy Joel's "Movin' Out", Monty Python's "Spamalot" and more.See Authors Posts (99) on August 21, 2009

“JULIE & JULIA” (Film Review)

Rating: PG-13 (brief moments of strong language)

Director: Nora Ephron

Before Rachel Ray, before Emeril, and even before Martha Stewart (before you were born), there was Julia Child.

Before the current “foodie” audience made possible the existence of the Food Network, Julia Child set out to write the first cookbook of French cooking in the English language. Julia Child taught Americans not to fear their food. Would that she were around today; she would have plenty to say about people’s obsessions with avoiding eggs and butter and meat and wheat and gluten and you-name-it.

She was like a favorite aunt who, although a bit eccentric, seemed to understand how to enjoy important things like food and life. She was larger-than-life when she was alive, and now that she is gone her legacy will grow, thanks to the movie “Julie and Julia.” Her legendary book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” is now in its 49th printing. Unfortunately, in the movie director/screenwriter Nora Ephron has reduced her, as one does a rich sauce by intensifying the flavor of her character, but also to half the screen.

“Julie and Julia” is two stories in one film. It is based on two books: “My Life in France” (Julia Child’s autobiography), and “Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen” (Julie Powell’s memoir). One story focuses on the life of chef Julia Child (played to the hilt by Meryl Streep). The other story contrasts Julia’s life with modern-day Julie Powell (played by the loveable Amy Adams) as an annoying woman who sets out to cook all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s cookbook in 365 days.

Both women turn to cooking out of boredom, and find in their search a recipe for life. Julia is a fine soufflé that seems to rise to any occasion, whereas Julie is a sponge cake that on occasion seems to have been left out in the rain.

Meryl Streep devours the character of Julia Child. She has an uncanny ability to deliver the timing, posture, and unforgettable voice of Julia Child, while at the same time finding ways to take the caricature we know through moments of real truth.

As Julie the blogger, Amy Adams is a little too cute, and has difficulty bringing much imagination to the poorly written character. Jane Lynch as Julia’s sister steals every scene she is in. Who ever imagined there was a woman who was more of a character than Julia Child? Apparently, there was, and Jane Lynch plays her with fearless abandon.

If Julia Child considered Julie Powell’s blogging “exploitative” and “disrespectful,” what would she think of this movie? She was always very wary of letting anyone use her name for commercial purposes. Alas, here she is – being forced to share the big screen with a character not even interesting enough for a television reality show. Worst of all, Julia gets second billing!

It is hard to believe that each half of the film had the same director. Nora Ephron finds such clarity and depth in the Julia Child sections, and cannot seem to find justification for most of the whining of the Julie Powell scenes. Consider the sources, as they say. Of course, one gets her fresh food daily from an open-air Parisian market, while the other stands in line at Quizno’s. Woe is us. There is the ubiquitous “let’s try to put a lobster into a pot of boiling water” scene. Of course, it’s been done before, and much better (by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in “Annie Hall”).

Cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt made me want to go to Paris on my next vacation, if not sooner. His camerawork suggests that each glorious entrée could be served in no other city on Earth.

I am hoping we are all in for a season of PBS pledge drives centered around re-runs of Julia Child’s cooking shows that were such an important component of that network for so many years. We could use the wit and wisdom of the woman who, when confronted by an irate viewer for adding tablespoons of wine in a recipe on-air, replied that, au contraire, she never measure wine by tablespoons. She poured directly from the bottle.

Unfortunately, this otherwise tasty meal is tainted by one ingredient too many: the usual Hollywood partisan politics. In an effort to clarify the political identity of the protagonists (Democrats, of course), writer/director Nora Ephron (a Democrat, of course) has also has whipped up as many anti-Republican remarks as she can. In one of the most glaring examples, she has Julie call in sick to work so that she can cook a Boeuf Bourguignonne. When her boss confronts her the next day, he says “If I were a Republican, I’d fire you!” So I assume the next time one of Nora Ephron’s personal assistants skips work so that she can focus on foodie priorities, there’ll be no problem. It is unnecessary, and leaves a bad aftertaste.

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Footnote:

The blog that is the basis for the Julie Powell component of the film is online at: blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html