Julie and Julia

Julie & Julia (2009) starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. 2.9 stars out of 5 (without Streep it would be 2.5).

Everyone knows who Julia Child is but not everyone has seen her cooking shows. I've never seen her show so the accolades for Meryl Streep's portrayal of Child were lost on me. While watching the movie, I realized her warbling voice and lumbering movements were purposeful, but I could only appreciate Streep after the movie, when I watched a few clips of Julia Child on Youtube.

Based on two true stories, the movie alternates between the life of Julia Child, as she starts cooking lessons and writes a cook book, and Julia Powell, a blogger, as she starts her writing career. The tie in is that Powell challenges herself to cook all the recipes from Child's first book in one year. The two stories did not congeal, and the ending was simple: both women get book deals and Powell says something to the effect of "I define what Julia means to me and that's the important thing."

Without Meryl Streep the movie would be unbearable.