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movie: Julie & Julia
Jan. 10th, 2010 04:39 pmWow. The rumors are true: there really is a character not even Amy Adams can make likable. Based partly on Julia Child’s memoir, My Life in France, and partially on Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell, a woman who created a blog to created all 524 recipes in 1 year hoping to use it to get famous, the movie succeeds in portraying Julia Child as an amazing, fascinating, and adorable woman, and Julie Powell as an attention hungry, self-serving twit.
Julie’s blog is supposed to be some sort of life-fulfilling, enlightening event for her, but it never comes across as more than a publicity stunt. And while Julie claims to idolize and Julia and find her amazing, she consistently seems to look down on Julia. The best example of this is likely the “climax” of Julie’s story, where she learns Julia (who loved cooking for cooking and for food, not fame) doesn’t like what Julie’s doing, and she and her husband agree that the important Julia Child isn’t the real Julia Child, but the Julia Child in Julie’s head, who’s her best friend and supports her. I mean, it’s one thing to say that you’re sorry your inspiration doesn’t like what you’re doing and you respect that, but what you’re doing is important to you. It’s another to say that they’re irrelevant because the idealized version of them in your head likes you.
Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are both in excellent form as Julia and Julie, but while Streep’s character and storyline can only favor her, Adams’s character and storyline are pretty much dead from her first few scenes.
Julie’s blog is supposed to be some sort of life-fulfilling, enlightening event for her, but it never comes across as more than a publicity stunt. And while Julie claims to idolize and Julia and find her amazing, she consistently seems to look down on Julia. The best example of this is likely the “climax” of Julie’s story, where she learns Julia (who loved cooking for cooking and for food, not fame) doesn’t like what Julie’s doing, and she and her husband agree that the important Julia Child isn’t the real Julia Child, but the Julia Child in Julie’s head, who’s her best friend and supports her. I mean, it’s one thing to say that you’re sorry your inspiration doesn’t like what you’re doing and you respect that, but what you’re doing is important to you. It’s another to say that they’re irrelevant because the idealized version of them in your head likes you.
Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are both in excellent form as Julia and Julie, but while Streep’s character and storyline can only favor her, Adams’s character and storyline are pretty much dead from her first few scenes.
