Nora Ephron
Julie & Julia
Julie & Julia (2009)
Reviewed by Mike Attebery
Now this was a pleasant surprise! When I first saw the trailers for this film, the account of Julia Child’s life in France, and the parallel tale of cubicle dweller Julie Powell’s attempt to cook each and every recipe from Child’s touchstone work, Mastering The Art of French Cooking, and recount her experiences in her blog, I must admit that I turned to Steph and rolled my eyes. It wasn’t that I’m not a fan of the people involved. Nora Ephron has made some turkeys in her day, but when you have ‘When Harry Met Sally’ on your resume, I can’t help but cut you some slack. A lot of slack. As for Meryl Streep and Amy Adams (who previously worked together in the fantastic film ‘Doubt’), well come on, who could find fault with them?!). No, for some reason the trailer, with Streep chirping and yelping away as she chopped up onions and exclaimed how much she just loves to “EAT(!)” struck me as annoying. After the film had run its course in theaters and eventually hit video,only to receive some positive reviews from people whose opinions I respect, I begrudgingly added the film to our Netflix queue and checked it out. Well, I’ll admit it, I loved it. The Julia Powell storyline did rise a few octaves too high at points, but the portion on Julia Child and the way she handled rejection after rejection as she and her collaborators attempted to find a publisher for their first of its kind cookbook, really hit home with me. Anyone with a creative bone in their body is all too familiar with rejection, and worse, rejection when the person turning you down hasn’t even checked out the work you’ve set before them, but not everyone is capable of handling such setbacks with the class and positive attitude we see Streep’s Child display again and again. Whats more, though again, a couple of moments in the Powell storyline didn’t ring true, (particularly a moment of marital discord that left Steph and I looking at each other and asking, “They call that a fight?!”), the real revelation was the depiction of Julia’s marriage to Paul Child. Talk about a supportive relationship, where as Ephron put it, one waits for the other when they fall behind! We should all be so lucky as to maneuver the challengs of life and love with such aplomb and class.
If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to keep working toward a creative goal. If you’ve ever wondered how a great marriage endures. And if you’ve ever salivated at the thought of boeuf bourguignon, I can’t recommend this movie highly enough. The Blu-ray features sparking video and sound and a few interesting extras. Make sure you’ve prepared a nice meal before you pop this one in the player. Pick up a copy here.