Julie & Julia
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina
Director: Nora Ephron
Rating: 3/5
For her role in Julie & Julia actress Meryl Streep bagged her sixteenth Academy Award nomination, more than any other actor.
She reunites with Amy Adams, despite never sharing a scene with her, in her latest movie directed by Nora Ephron.
Two women from different decades come together through their own true stories of culinary exploration when dissatisfied writer Julie Powell (Adams) decides to cook and blog her way through Julia Child’s (Streep) book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which launched Child’s career.
Ultimately Julie & Julia is a movie that celebrates friendship, partnership and the desire to achieve your dreams.
Meryl Streep central role is a perfect example of this as, with the passion and the heart that she has for cooking she becomes an icon in her field.
But it's her relationship with onscreen husband Stanley Tucci that is one of the highlights of the movie as the pair stick together and support one another through thick and thin.
It's a respectful portrait as the slightly eccentric cook who looked at life through very positive eyes.
And it was the Julia Child sections of the movie that were the most powerful as Julie Powell appeared to do nothing but moan.
Powell is a character that has never finished anything in her life, is in a job that she doesn't particularly enjoy and yet does nothing to change this.
The movie lacks a proper structure and it feels like you are getting two movies for the price of one instead of the whole picture gelling together.
It moves at a terribly slow pace and it just feels like it's missing that magic something that would make it more than the movie it is.
It does produce some good performances and it does give off that polished look but it's not the culinary spectacular that you expect.
Yes it's plodding pace and lack of drama does make Julie & Julia very disappointing and while there is nothing particularly wrong with the film it's just ordinary and run of the mill.
Julie & Julia is out on DVD now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw