Julie & Julia (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Film C

  
  Okay so from reading the back of the DVD i couldnt have expected much from this movie, but i did and it was just a bit of a disappointment! For two hours worth of movie i thought there might be a bit more going on in this movie but nope it moves along at a slow pace and at the end you… More
  Okay so from reading the back of the DVD i couldnt have expected much from this movie, but i did and it was just a bit of a disappointment! For two hours worth of movie i thought there might be a bit more going on in this movie but nope it moves along at a slow pace and at the end you just feel unsatisfied by whats happened! I like both Amy Adams and Meryl Streep in this movie but thats about it!

• Thomas B

  
  Constantly on the precipice of sickly sweet but tempered with some great performances from Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci. Full review later.

• Anthony L

  
  I'm 50/50 on this one. I loved the Julia Childs half of the story but loathed the Julie Powell half. Meryl Streep was perfect casting, I wasn't aware of Julia Childs before this film but after watching a few clips on the internet, I totally get it (if you're… More
  I'm 50/50 on this one. I loved the Julia Childs half of the story but loathed the Julie Powell half. Meryl Streep was perfect casting, I wasn't aware of Julia Childs before this film but after watching a few clips on the internet, I totally get it (if you're interested, the British equivalent was Fanny Cradock, a very different character but equally entertaining). Stanley Tucci was also on top form, the two of them making quite a lovely pair and it was very sweet to see them together. Amy Adams on the other hand, was not so enjoyable to watch. This is where I'm fuzzy though. Was it a bad day in the office for Adams, a great actress who so far hasn't had a bad performance in my opinion or is the actual Julie Powell as annoying as she is portrayed? If you go up against Meryl Streep you will always come out second but I don't think that was the problem here, maybe it was Nora Ephron's writing/directing that was the problem. I dislike most of her films, Bewitched being in my least favourite top 10 (which says a lot 3000+ reviews down). I think it's more likely that the problem is that while Julia Childs was a much loved personality with an interesting story and Julie Powell just isn't. There was nothing special about what she did, if anything, she rode on the back of Childs success. It's a sad reminder of the modern world we live in, people get successful off of other peoples work. It's funny though, I see by other peoples reviews that they felt let down by the anticlimax of the film, where I on the other hand (without spoiling it for others) loved it. Maybe it's the sadist in me, but to be honest, I found Julie Powell very unlikable and it beggars belief by how successful she's become by being such a vampire. If they'd stuck purely with the Julia Childs story this could have been brilliant, making it quite a painfully wasted opportunity.

• Alexander D

  
  JULIE & JULIA isn't quite memorable, but it makes a good comedy/drama. Unfortunately, cooking seems to be the only thing here (well, besides blogging), and much of the plot becomes shallow, making us feel as if Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are never going to reach the point… More
  JULIE & JULIA isn't quite memorable, but it makes a good comedy/drama. Unfortunately, cooking seems to be the only thing here (well, besides blogging), and much of the plot becomes shallow, making us feel as if Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are never going to reach the point they intend to get to. Overall, this was quite enjoyable.

• Drew S

  
  There are exactly two reasons to see this movie. Just reading that sentence, you've probably figured out the first one, and it is a true testament to her powers that she is able to essay such a loving, comical interpretation of a larger-than-life figure within the confines of… More
  There are exactly two reasons to see this movie. Just reading that sentence, you've probably figured out the first one, and it is a true testament to her powers that she is able to essay such a loving, comical interpretation of a larger-than-life figure within the confines of such excruciating vacuity. The second reason is so you can keep up with this. http://lawrenceandjulieandjulia.blogspot.com/

• Daniel P

  
  A friend recently told me that he has a hard time watching Meryl Streep, because he doesn't see characters, he just sees Meryl Streep Acting. Interesting. I was conflicted about her Oscar-nominated performance in this film, because I thought that for the most part, she was over… More
  A friend recently told me that he has a hard time watching Meryl Streep, because he doesn't see characters, he just sees Meryl Streep Acting. Interesting. I was conflicted about her Oscar-nominated performance in this film, because I thought that for the most part, she was over the top. The caveat to such a claim, though, is that Julia Child is someone who truly was larger than life. My point is simply this: for all that was said about Streep, there is a lot more to love about this film than her. Attacking from a different angle, let me compare this flick to the Brooklyn Book of Wonder (BBOW) phenomenon, as identified by (I think) Jonathan Lethem. This is yet another believable, slice-of-life story about the alchemy of an average person's self-discovery upon moving to the city. (It's a little Balzac.) Julie Powell is portrayed as someone who comes from a family of bumpkins (hear her mother's accent?!), but through the magical isolation that comes with a depressing job and an apartment above a pizzeria in Queens (after moving from Brooklyn), she finds herself in an unconventional way: by identifying with a forebear, Julia Child. But without overthinking the film, note the following: Amy Adams is good, and Stanley Tucci shines (again!) with Streep, as he did in The Devil Wears Prada. The just-turned-thirty, writing woman story will speak to Sex and the City fans, and given that Mark Ruffalo's too old for this role, we've got Chris Messina to ably play the charming and supportive-if-dopey partner to Adams. I liked Mary Lynn Rajskub's bit part ("Chloe Lite"), Jane Lynch simply disappeared into her bit part, and two scenes border on the iconic; I won't spoil them, but one puts Talking Heads' song "Psycho Killer" to fantastic use, and the other provides one of the more memorable, drastically hilarious "cut-to" scenes in recent memory. Overall, I thought the somewhat cliched story of the present-day writer was more gripping than the bio-pic-y flashbacks to Child's life, but given that the story's about the echoes between the two lives, a film that lifted one above the other might very well not have succeeded. So, a lot of good things to say, indeed. I think it boils down to this: if you love Streep (or, I suppose, Julia Child), you'll love this movie; however, if you're merely lukewarm to her or her character, you should watch it anyway. There's enough here that she herself won't make or break your experience. Er, I mean... uh... it's pretty good, for a chick flick.

• paul s

  
  Julia and Julie combines the efforts of two books, one the memoirs of Julia Child's experiences in Paris (with other bits included from her pen-pal writings), the other a self serving book penned by a woman who comes up with the gimmick of blogging about her efforts to produce… More
  Julia and Julie combines the efforts of two books, one the memoirs of Julia Child's experiences in Paris (with other bits included from her pen-pal writings), the other a self serving book penned by a woman who comes up with the gimmick of blogging about her efforts to produce all the 500 plus recipes in Julia Child's groundbreaking cookbook in one year. The concept is interesting enough, and through the first half of the film it is certainly entertaining, as you get to meet Julie (a solid, if perhaps too sweet performance by Amy Adams), a bright woman of 29 who (as the film drills into your head constantly) has problems completing a project (like a half finished novel that she gave up on after receiving a single rejection letter). On the flip side you are introduced to a force of nature - a former civil servant who is now married to another civil servant posted in Paris. This whirlwind who seems to savor every moment of life frankly could not have been portrayed by anyone other than the incomparable Meryl Streep. To say that she nailed the role, down to all the mannerisms and that one of a kind voice, is an understatement. The film moves back and forth, from Julia to Julie, showing a generational gap with a bit of feminism thrown in for good measure. I suppose that screenwriter and director Nora Ephron was intending to show that both these women were of the same silk - but it certainly didn't play that way. Julia's story of bringing French Cuisine to the American kitchen is simply her desire to do SOMETHING. Fortunate enough to be supported by her husband she is shown, in a series of humorous vignettes, to be searching for something to do to fill her days. Having had an appreciation for good food, she discovers her passion for cooking and presenting it as well - and has the brass to enroll in the professional chef's class at the famed Cordon Bleu school. Her competitive drive kicks in and the rest is history (of course with a few bumps along the way). Julie, however, is portrayed as a very bright woman filled with self-doubt, who stumbles upon a nifty gimmick and then challenges herself to stay the course, becoming so obsessed that she all but forsakes her relationship with her husband. This is the generational gap I was referring to. On one hand, you have a woman supported by her husband's job, who is given the opportunity to pursue her "hobby", while on the other you have a working woman, broadsided by the feminist expectations that have molded her into a self centered "all about me" girl. I found this juxtaposition interesting for a time, and, along with the tales being told, it held my interest throughout most of the film. I say "most of the film" because as it progresses the film losses momentum. The Child's story becomes more of a biopic, with several totally unnecessary scenes (Julia's sister's wedding comes to mind), while the Julie story begins to become simply tiresome and predictable. As both stories begin to meander, it gave me ample time to contemplate the overriding incongruity of the Julie story. Here is a young couple, living in small apartment above a pizza parlor, and yet able to come up with the coin to produce 1.5 recipes per day for an entire year. Never mind that Julie works full time and seldom gets home before 6 or 7 pm each night - and that most of the Child's recipes take a great deal of time to prepare and cook - I guess midnight meals are not a problem for modern day New Yorkers? And never mind that a great deal of the ingredients needed for these recipes won't be found at the corner bodega. And certainly never mind that Julie somehow is able to work all day, cook all night, find time to shop for ingredients, and still has time to write a blog - guess New York has 40 hour days. It also struck me that Child's great book is a testimony for the time in which it was written (the 50's). At that point most women did not inhabit the work force, so had ample time to prepare these scrumptious meals for their working hubby. My marital unit and I both enjoy cooking, but save the Child book for weekends, when we have time to execute the recipes. In a final note, I found Stanley Tucci to be totally wasted as Child's husband. He does nothing more than smile her way with affection - a kind of feminist and myopic view that became more off-putting as the film progressed, reducing Tucci to reactionary "gee whiz" statements. My final diagnosis: a solid 6, simply based on Streep's portrayal and a few humorous moments that take place in the first half of the film. The film goes on way too long and becomes cornered by it's own conventions, though I don't feel that these conventions made it necessary to have included any of the scenes that occurred after Julia left Paris - nor half of the refusal scenes portrayed as she tried to get her book published. This all took the Child story, which was funny and fascinating for the first half, and sunk it into a run of the mill biography. At least the film had the smarts to include the wonderful Child parody by Dan Akroyd on the old Saturday Night Live - those early days were magical. I should also mention that the film has some god aweful sound editing - the voice dubbing is almost japanese voice over terrible.

• Brad W

  
  Enjoyed it, but an empty and sad ending

• Jay H

  
  Meryl Streep's performance is a joy to behold, but that's about the only truly positive quality of this film. The film just sputters along, flopping back and forth between two supposedly parallel stories, trying very hard to mean something. But it's just unable to do… More
  Meryl Streep's performance is a joy to behold, but that's about the only truly positive quality of this film. The film just sputters along, flopping back and forth between two supposedly parallel stories, trying very hard to mean something. But it's just unable to do that. The end result is a feigned, sappy mess, the clear result of Nora Ephron applying her distinct film-making style to a story she should never have touched. At its core, the film is about an implied change in Amy Adams' character, a change that the film fails to tangibly deliver by the film's end.

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  A delight that's bound to please film buffs as well as foodies. Nora Ephron's funny, witty script and the marvelous cast are a match made in heaven. By now, everyone can count on Meryl Streep to deliver a great performance; she doesn't disappoint. Amy Adams, Stanley… More
  A delight that's bound to please film buffs as well as foodies. Nora Ephron's funny, witty script and the marvelous cast are a match made in heaven. By now, everyone can count on Meryl Streep to deliver a great performance; she doesn't disappoint. Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Jane Lynch and Chris Messina round out one of the best ensemble casts of '09. The food, obviously, plays a major role in "Julie & Julia". Exquisitely shot, Julia Child's (Streep) and Julie Powell's (Adams) tasty creations will surely get your mouth watering. The French sequences are particularly stylish.

• paul o

  
  Simple and Fun, I was a sucker for this movie. The story was just so entertaining while the acting in my opinion was real. Meryl Streep and Amy adams were just a joy to watch.

• Chris W

  
  I wanted to really, really like this. I wanted to be able to say that it was at least 'good', if not'really good'. Instead, I only merely like it, and think that it is not bad' or 'fairly decent'. I think the main thing holding this film down is the… More
  I wanted to really, really like this. I wanted to be able to say that it was at least 'good', if not'really good'. Instead, I only merely like it, and think that it is not bad' or 'fairly decent'. I think the main thing holding this film down is the real lack of drama-especially with the ending. I like the structure of the film, and how parts of the life of one of the women mirror the other, but the writing is just not really outstanding in any capacity beyond the bare basics of functionality. The two stories though, are good. The stuff with Julia is far better and more interesting than the stuff with Juile, but I think that that is something to be expected. In fact, I think it would have been cool had the movie just been about Julia Child. I liked the stuff with Julie Powell, but it's not quite as interesting or compelling. The acting is terrific, and that's really where the strength of this film lies. That should probably be expected though given the cast. Streep is perfect, and is the only possible choice I can think of for the role. Adams is great as well, though not as strong. This performance reminded me of why I really like her, why she's become one of my favorites, and why she'll be around ofr a long time to come- she's got great spunk and energy, is good looking, and really charming. She's really hard not to like. Stanley Tucci gives a terrific performance as Paul Child, and Chris Messina is okay as Eric Powell, although i would have liked it had more been done with him. This was a great film to watch around Thanksgiving like I did, and it really made me hungry looking at all the great food. This is a flawed movie, but it's strong enough to merit a mild recommendation.

• Brian D

  
  Nice hearted and a gentle film.Meryl Streep givers a wacky and wonderful performance.Not normally my cup of tea but was very watch able with all players providing good solid performances.

• Cynthia S

  
  One of my personal favorites. I really love both these actresses, and they did a wonderful job.

• Leigh R

  
  Turned out to be an okay film. A little upset with the ending but that is because I have a deep desire to know what happened after. There had to something that happened after to get the true happy ending, right? : )

• Richard C

  
  C

• Aliyanto L

  
  It's rare to see happy marriages portrayed in Hollywood but this movie presents us with not one, but two marriages in which the husbands and wives genuinely love one another and stand ready to support, encourage, and laugh together.

• Lenny M

  
  French cuisine trying to make a comeback, where da fries at? Not an Amy Adams fan, Meryl Streep is solid but a little too solid ya dig? Who knows what that means but seriously I want some fries. Update: Amy Adams is whining the whole movie with one of the worst haircuts ever, she… More
  French cuisine trying to make a comeback, where da fries at? Not an Amy Adams fan, Meryl Streep is solid but a little too solid ya dig? Who knows what that means but seriously I want some fries. Update: Amy Adams is whining the whole movie with one of the worst haircuts ever, she looks like someone from a Judy Blume novel. The Julia part is pretty French and solid, the Julie part sucks so much French cuck.

• Carlos M

  
  A flawed film that attempts to comprise two stories in one, though failing in the editing process by never making everything flow naturally. Still, what raises this light comedy above average is definitely Meryl Streep, who once again turns something quite ordinary into a pleasant… More
  A flawed film that attempts to comprise two stories in one, though failing in the editing process by never making everything flow naturally. Still, what raises this light comedy above average is definitely Meryl Streep, who once again turns something quite ordinary into a pleasant experience.

• Cassie H

  
  This movie was excellent & Meryl Streep was adorable & I liked Amy Adams as well. It was a great movie :)

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