JB Seriously 55:

This gets five stars because it was wonderful entertainment. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci in the same film spells greatness. Streep hit Juilia Childs right on the spot. Her outgoing attitude and flair for the unconventional especially in France. This film was not a biography of Julia Childs, rather a film version of a book written by Julie Powell, played excellently by Amy Adams, who decided to cook all of the recipies in Child's first book, Mastering the Fine Art of French Cooking, within one year. It switched between Powell's life during this tense year and Child's arrival in Paris as the wife of a mid level state department employee. It takes us through her looking for something to do other than making hats like many of the other state department employee's wives. She loved to cook, but did not have the expertise. So, she enrolled in the Cordon Bleu school and the rest is history. It stops after they move from Paris. It would have been nice to see more of Child's life, but that was not the purpose of this film. It was funny, charming and very entertaining. (8/8/09)

Bunched Undies:

I was a bit worried about this movie. As someone who dabbles in cooking, I was a reader and admirer of Julie Powell?s ?Julia Project? blog back in the day, and I had misgivings about how it would translate onto the screen. More precisely, how Nora Ephron would glamorize the gritty, earthy material from the blog to make it palatable to multi-plex audiences. But my fears were unfounded. The filmmakers wisely chose to combine Ms. Powell?s story with Julia Child?s memoir ?My Life in France?, and the result is a highly entertaining comedy that shows us how some of life?s simplest pleasures - food, love and sharing with others - can bring us our greatest joys. At first, Meryl Streep seems a bit silly as the gawky TV chef Child, but she?s clearly having so much fun that she quickly wins us over. A testament to Streep?s performance is the fact that here she often shares the screen with two of Hollywood?s most notorious scene-stealers, Stanley Tucci and Jane Lynch, but the two of them can only sit and marvel at her with the best of us. Amy Adams, as Julie, does a fine job as well, and hits the right note of frustration and desperation without trying too hard; a quality that has marred some of her earlier performances. Lovers of good food, good wine, and the occasional martini will enjoy the re-enactments of the Childs? idyllic life in France, and draw inspiration from the many setbacks Julia Child overcame in her unlikely and circuitous route to becoming a household name. And it is that same inspiration that fuels Julie Powell to undertake the ambitious project that would forever change her life, and turn her into an American success story for a new generation. Ephron does a fine job of blending two distinctly different stories into one seamless and uplifting message and creates a film as light and tasty as one of Julia Child?s soufflés.

Jeremy Thomas:

This dramedy from romantic comedy queen Nora Ephron flies on the strength of its wonderful performances, primarily that of Meryl Streep as Julia Childs. Streep embodies the idea of the famous chef in every measurable way and paired with a wonderful performance by Stanley Tucci as Paul Childs, they lift their half of the story into something that can easily be enjoyed. The more modern duo of Amy Adams and Chris Messina doesn't have as much flair or meat to their roles, but they do a good job with the material they have. This is a film that will make viewers hungry for certain, and the food provides a very pleasant distraction from the fact that Julie's story doesn't have quite enough to sustain its half. In attempting to find the parallels between the two women Ephron seems to be stretching, but thanks to the work of the actors and the wonderful attention to detail strewn throughout the production this is only a relatively minor complaint. While one could easily hope for more from a seasoned filmmaker like Ephron, what she gives us is something perfectly enjoyable on its own.

gil 588096:

Following their successful movie together, DOUBT, Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as Julie Powell team up once again to bring us another gem called JULIE & JULIA. As indicated at the beginning of the film, this is two true stories shown interchangeably. Julia Child is portrayed at middle age in the late 1940's and early 1950's living primarily in Paris. Julie Powell is a 30-year-old wife in 2002 living above a pizzeria in Queens, NY. The parallels begin because neither Julia nor Julie is quite grounded at those times in their lives - they each are seeking a passion. They both have loving, supporting husbands, but something is still missing. And it turns out to be: Cooking. Meryl Streep is phenomenal as Julia Child capturing perfectly everything about her (just as I remember Julia Child on TV). And because of that, the most interesting parts of this story were the events that propelled Julia Child into a household name. In fact, that period of Julia's life was so entertaining that I found myself wishing there was a little less of Julie and a lot more of Julia. I realize that the original story was written by Julie Powell regarding her love affair with Julia Child's French recipes and her popular blog that documented her experiences with each recipe over the course of a year. And although Amy Adams as Julie was adorable (as Amy Adams always seems to be), I was much more interested in Paris and Julia's real life. This one is likely to appeal more to women than men, but it's a solidly charming film with an adorable theme song, some beautiful shots of Paris, and wonderful looking food. 01-12-10

beeswax:

Under normal circumstances I might have reviewed this DVD, but when NetfIix implemented the new DVD page design they removed friends' ratings, top 10 lists and the ability to send movie notes. That made it harder for me and others to find movies we'd like to see. If you are reading this, please call NetfIix at 1-866-716-0414 and ask them to give us the community features back. Thank you, and I apologize for this non-review.

Moshe Litwack:

Ok, I rarely write a review but this movie needs criticism. Meryl Streep is amazing. She is why you want to watch this movie. I went in expecting to see a movie about Julia Child played by a terrific actress. Instead, you get snippets of Meryl Streep and then Amy Adams. This is like putting a steak in front of you and then swapping it for a hamburger. Amy Adams, plays a boring housewife who complains about her easy government job and then tries to make a buck off of Julia Child by writing a blog. Guess what, I dont care about Julie Powell and her use of cooking as an escape from the dolldrums of life. Everyone has that problem. You get bored, you take up a hobby. Not movie magic. Why not instead, just create a movie about Julia Child and her amazing life. So, basically if you want to fast forward through Julie Powells boring story, you might like this movie.

DfwForeignBuff:

Julie &Julia gives us the improbable true story of a 40-year-old woman, with no previous experience, who discovered her gift & her passion for cooking - & went on to become the most influential American cook of the 20th century. Contrasting the life of Chef Julia Child, with Julie Powell, a woman who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child's cookbook. In 1949, Julia Child is in Paris, the wife of a diplomat, wondering how to spend her days. She tries hat making, bridge, & then cooking lessons at Cordon Bleu. There she discovers her passion. In 2002, Julie Powell, about to turn 30 & underemployed with an unpublished novel, decides to cook her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year & to blog about it. We go back & forth between these stories of two women learning to cook &finding success. Sympathetic, loving husbands support them both, & friendships, too, add zest. Streep is great is this role & she should/could win the Oscar this year for it. Childs is an ever fascinating character & Streep really becomes her. Julia Child made French food accessible &you will want to eat/taste more French food. Directed by Nora Ephron, the movie is about Julia Child. Ephron adapted the script of Child's published 2006 memoir (w/ Alex Prudhomme) My Life in France & Julie Powell's entertaining, soufflé-light memoir -- from which the movie gets its name -- a recounting of the year Powell spent cooking every recipe in Child's 1961 classic "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." This movie is so good it should become an instant classic. I WOULD LIKE TO TRY COOKING ALL THOSE 500 recipes. I loved the parts about her & her husband¿s life in Paris France in the 1940s &1950s. The McCarthyism issue bored me. This is an abundant almost irresistible film & is really good entertainment. You don't have to be a gourmand or a gourmet to savor Julie &Julia. It's a light and entertaining treat, with winning performances, sharp writing and some happy surprises. 4 stars

1d56bcdd85:

Well, I like the Julia part, but I was a bit bored with the Julie part. Mery Streep is wonderful being Julia Child. I guess the Julia Child story is more interesting to me.

T-Bone:

I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I only wish the movie lost the Sex and the City vibe it had at times and concentrated on how interesting Julia Child's life was. Still I would recommend this movie to all. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams were great in their roles.

lolagranola:

This is two interwoven stories, with scenes of Julia Child coming of age as a gourmet chef juxtaposed with Julie Powell, a frustrated young New-Yorker blogging her way through Julia Childs cookbook. Half of it was a joy to watch. I wish this had been a Julia Child movie only. Her story was compelling, and Meryl Streep was divine, witty, and amazing. The story of Julie Powell was cartoonish and slow-paced, with Amy Adams just trying too hard. I did love the richness of color and location, so kudos to the set designers and cinematographers. I wish the movie had let the food (and the characters) speak for themselves, rather than overseasoning the soup.

AtTheBeach:

"Julie and Julia" have been panned by critics as being two separate movies crammed into one (I am paraphrasing to save space). I understand their point. Having said that though, I found the movie to be creative, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable. Admittedly, I like watching any movie with Amy Adams. She has a screen presence that is appealing. She is perky, feminine, charming and cute with blue eyes, reddish hair and freckles. She comes across on the screen as the classic American girl that fits an endearing stereotype. It would be difficult not to like this woman. Meryl Streep is an incredible actress. It is hard to imagine the same woman singing in last year's "Mamma Mia." She plays Julia Child with the same simultaneous charming/irritating mannerisms that undoubtedly helped her to succeed. The mixture of Julia Child in France in the early 1950's and Julie in Queens in the current day worked well in keeping the character mix more interesting and the storyline moving along to keep the interest of the viewer. I found the movie fun to watch, entertaining and a unique story line that incorporates the power of the blogosphere with the appeal of good writing. It is probably a good date movie as it focuses on strong female characters with husbands who stand by them and put up and cherish their eccentricities. Ignore the critics. "Julie and Julia" is worth watching.

lastliberal:

Meryl Streep deserved all the awards and nominations she got for her role in this film. She was absolutely superb as Julia Child. Stanley Tucci was also very good in his role as Julias husband. He had to have the patience of Job to live with her. Amy Adams as Julie, trying to do over 500 recipes in 365 days while working in a demanding job, showed an obsession that almost cost her her marriage. She was an interesting character, but nothing compared to Streep as Julia. It was a funny film in many instances, and it kept my interest throughout. I wish the men (Tucci and Chris Messina) had beefier roles. They just seemed to be there to eat.

BlueVoid:

Julie and Julia is a completely generic, but all and all entertaining romantic comedy with a good acting turn by Meryl Streep. There is nothing too original to be found here, and the conflict points are a bit muted. It did benefit from doing a split story approach, as either story individually would have gotten stale. Its a fine weekend watch, but is ultimately forgettable.

mabell3368:

I don't know if I'm getting soft in my old age, or I'm just getting better at picking the good ones. This is definitely one of the good ones! This viewer thoroughly enjoyed this interweaving of the story of Julia Childs (Meryl Streep) writing her now iconic French cookbook, and that of Julie Powell (Amy Adams) cooking her way through the cookbook and blogging about it, several years later. This is so much more than a foodie-flick. This gives us insight into the relationship of these two women and their adoring husbands. Stanley Tucci plays Julia's husband, Paul and is excellent. His devotion to Julia, with all of her quirks and her towering height (6'2"!) comes through loud and clear. Streep is, well, Streep, flawlessly portraying Julia with her high pitched screech and her enthusiasm for everything she does. And Amy Adams mixes just the right amount of self-doubt with a spirit of adventure and brings it off with that famously pixie-ish twinkle in her eye. Chris Messina was adequate as Julie's husband, Eric, but maybe his performance only suffered because of who one had to compare him to. The story was expertly told by the incomparable Nora Ephron, who directed and wrote the screenplay. Masterful in that often volumes were communicated with only a look, and Ephron knew to leave it at that. The DVD extras include a fascinating look at the making of the movie and how this all came together. Even at two hours long, the story never dragged. One always felt completely engaged in the tale. One of the best films of the year, for sure.

moviesorfilm:

This was a delightfully entertaining drama/comedy about the life of chef Julia Child and author Julie Powell. There were so many facets to this story, which made it so entertaining. Bringing these two stories together in one movie was a fantastic and well thought out idea. I loved the chemistry each couple brought to the screen, especially Streep and Tucci--they were the epitomy of Child and her husband John. Everything about this movie seemed very authentic--the sets, costumes and especially the food. As a foodie, I was really looking forward to seeing this movie and was so glad that I did. Amazing performances that surely deserve it's accolades. One of Amy Adams best roles. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves some "meat" (pardon the pun) to their story--love, McCarthyism, society's portrayal of women, it's all here and it's fun to watch. Very highly recommended.

Jeff in Durham:

This was going so very, very well, and then they decided to interject Joseph McCarthy into it with the traditional negative spin. Julia Child and Joseph McCarthy...think about how stupid that connection is for a second. WTF is up with these Hollywood people who feel compelled to inject leftie politics into their work, even when it has nothing to do with the story being told? But the film recovered, and I was planning to write a glowing review about my deceased Dad's love for Julia and my family's enjoyment of her TV appearances (and recipes) as I was growing up. Then, out of the blue, the writers, producers, and director(s) decided to inject some entirely gratuitous Republican-bashing into it, again for no discernible purpose. That ruined an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable movie for me, and I turned it off before it ended. This could have been a remarkably good movie that could stand the test of time over decades. The arbitrary and pointless insertion of trendy "progressive" politics reduces it to just another rental that will be forgotten in a few years.

burnmatoaka:

The evermore-fabulous Meryl Streep carries this entire film and it is totally worth watching just for her Julia Child. I totally could have fast-forwarded through the parallel story: Another New Yorker, struggling to find herself in a post 9/11 world, decides to undertake a ridiculous and somewhat narcissistic year-long project. And blog about it, thus rediscovering herself and her marriage. I can see why Julia thought her project was kind of stupid.

MIJ:

Ok, so maybe a little too fairy tale-ish, but one based in fact. And maybe the male characters took a backseat to all the female talent, but how often do we see the reverse? I thought Streep and Adams were delightful and Tucci, a sweetheart.

raghus:

Julie & Julia is really two movies in one. The modern, Julia part of the story is very chick-flick-y but the half with Julia Child played by Meryl Streep in post-war Europe is very compelling. The chemistry between her and Stanley Tucci is remarkable. Overall, I'd rate this a 4 star but the Streep/Tucci half is a 6-starrer.

Apocaknits:

I loved Meryl Streep and all the parts with her in it but when Amy Adams character complained about being fat I wanted to walk out of this movie. Even the hard work of Streep just couldn't pull the movie back for me after that. At the end when 'Julie' is like "why does she haaatttteeee meeeeeee" I was like, seriously? Who likes you? Who liked her enough to make a movie about her? There was enough to make a movie with just Meryl Streep being Julia Child and that's what they should have done.

Juzie:

3.7, 4-16-10. Streep and Adams are both adorable in their own ways. Combined two lives, cities, and time periods almost seamlessly. Cant make myself call this a chick flick, as I know many straight dudes who recommended it to me.

Greg House:

To clarify: I loved the Julia Child portions of the film, and thought the Julie Powell portions were so/so. I gave the movie four stars for Meryl Streep... and for Julia.

Andsav:

If Meryl Steep isn't at least nominated for her portryal of Julia Child I will be in utter shock. She owns this movie, and does so without ever impersonating Child. Instead, she characterizes a much beloved cooking legend. Tucci and Adams also give solid performances that may very well land them supporting noms. The double story made the development of the story a lot of fun, and while i could sympathize with Julie, it was really Julia's story that I was most interested in. While I'm not likely to try to master the art of French cooking, this movie does give me new respect for Child, for Streep, and for the culinary arts. This is easily one of the best films of the year. I highly recommend it!

Supercords:

I enjoyed Julia?s side of the story much more than Julie?s, who I found to be a bit grating at times. As a food lover myself, I loved seeing an entire film revolve around cooking. Don?t see this film on an empty stomach. The love story between Paul and Julia felt authentic onscreen?who could resist Stanley Tucci? I watched most of the extras on the Blu-Ray as well, which were informative, yet a bit long-winded. Meryl certainly was deserving of the Oscar. She?s quite brilliant in her roll. Rating: B-

fvn 1852792:

Frame rate on the Starz Play instant-watch version made me too sick to watch this all the way through. This is not the first time this has happened. They have to get Starz up to the quality of their other offerings.

mr_bean:

Meryl Streeps performance in Julia and Julia blew me away. She really captured the personality of Julia Child. Amy Adams performance, and that whole section honestly, could have been a lot better. I think in the Rotten Tomatoes Show, they said that this movie was like two movies. The movie with Meryl Streep was incredible, the movie with Amy Adams was...you know, not that great. That being said, I think Meryl Streeps performane is enough to see this movie, but not enough to keep you from shouting at the screen whenever Amy Adams comes on. Also, the food looked delicious.

Peter Olafson:

An unnecessary contrivance and hence more annoying than heartwarming. The actresses do their best. Reaching back to the days when she did accents, Streep brings off a marvelous impersonation of Child. Adams as blogger Julie works hard to channel a young Meg Ryan; here and there, you can catch her replaying Ryan's acting-with-the-eyes tricks from When Harry Met Sally. But both performances just hang there in the air -- unattached to one another and the world around them. Ephron's script builds up Child's part to give the movie better balance than Julie Powell's 2004 book, but can't force substantialness on the trivial subject matter.

Chernobyl:

There are two movies here and one of them should not have been made. I would love to see Streep and Tucci revise their roles in a full length movie about Paul and Julia Child.

pah 1857541:

I'd have given theis movie 4/5 stars except that it contained a needless F-word. Without it, it might have been a heartwarming movie I'd consider owning. MPAA, how is a movie with more than one F-word rated R but one is PG-13? The point is for kids not to hear the word...

Kat Daddy:

Okay, so Im a sentimental sap. I gave it 5 stars. It had blog, struggling writers, Queens, New York, and Streep. It had France, an antique camera, and Amy Adams. It had 911 reference, cooking, and Tucci. It had modern-day and 1940s appeal and even McCarthyism. The acting was superb and amusing. It even had Jane Lynch. So, whats not to like?

mef 610899:

Chick flick all the way, but my husband did watch a little of it, the lobster scene is quite funny. I enjoy both these actresses, so of course I gave it 4 stars. These days is such a nice suprise to watch a movie that hasn't been done a thousand and one times. If you love cooking, and even if you not a "chick" you might enjoy this light hearted, very cute film.`

ykf 483620:

Julie & Julia as has been written before is both a success and a failure. It tells the story of Julia Child writing her cookbook and a young women named Julie finding her purpose through Julia Child's work. So, you know off the bat that this is going to be two stories and essentially two films. And the bottom line is that Julia Child's story is compelling and interesting... Julie's story is not. The main problem is that Child's story deals with her overcoming major obstacles and establishing herself as a world famous cook. In other words, it has a plot. Now on the other hand Julie's story is about a self-involved blogger who finds "meaning" by cooking her way through Child's book. So, basically it's a lot of voiceovers and meltdowns. Not much of a plot. The main problem is that we never see Julie accomplishing anything significant outside of the kitchen and her blog. And both of those victories seem egocentric and quite shallow. During the film, I felt like I was enduring the Julie scenes to get to the stuff I liked. It doesn't help that Streep gives an amazing performance as Child. The sad thing is that Adams and the Julie cast are not bad, but they're not given anything to do. I think I'd still give this a very mild recommendation to foodies, but everyone else shouldn't order off this menu... you see, cause it's about cooking.

vui 309409:

This movie is cute to watch, with no real plot or anything serious. Its a bit incomplete in telling Julia Childs story, though it leads with a sense that that is what its trying to do. Meryl Streep was really good at capturing the essence of Child, her voice, her mannerisms and her look. Cute, fun, non-serious movie.