Julie and Julia - A Delectable Flick!

Rarely would you miss films made by Nora Ephron and especially those starring Meryl Streep and Meg Ryan. Writer, director and screen player Nora Ephron is known for her ability to showcase parallel stories and romantic comedies like 'When Harry Met Sally'; 'You’ve Got Mail' and 'Sleepless in Seattle'. So yesterday when Julie and Julia were released, Vrushali and I were indeed ecstatic. The film touches your heart and enlivens your taste buds.

Julie and Julia is based on true stories and takes a sneak peek into the lives of two women. Nora delicately slices, squeezes, squashes and subtly blends Julia Child’s book 'My Life in France' and Julie Powell’s book – 'Julie and Julia' based on Powell’s blog in 2002 documenting her attempt to cook recipes from her idol Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking.'

Powell and Child have a lot in common. They are emotional, childless, extrovert, restless, and bored of their government jobs. Both of them relish food and are happily married to loving, compassionate and supportive husbands.

The film combines culinary history, travel, culture and moves between Paris in 1950 and New York in 2002. Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and her diplomat husband Paul Child (Stanley Tucci) arrive in Paris. The film unravels Julia’s journey from being a bored housewife in Paris to her enthusiastic trips in the local markets, from learning French cooking to eventually becoming a star chef on TV. Pucci gives an incredible performance and prefers to stay in the background.

Meanwhile in New York, Julie Powell’s (Amy Adams) husband Eric Powell (Chris Messina) encourages Julie to cook and write. He eagerly reads her blog and greedily gormandizes like a hungry bear. Both Julie and Julia enjoy experimenting in their kitchen and feeding their friends. Julia’s colleagues Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle (Linda Emond and Helen Carey) are brilliant, encouraging and together they co-author a magnum opus on French cooking.

The direction is brilliant and intimately indulges you in Julie and Julia’s struggles and their triumph of discovering themselves through their culinary skills. Some scenes remain etched in your memory. Julia innocuously blanches tomatoes, seasons the food, chops onions, and shares her candid opinion about butter. Her visit to local bakeries and the joy she experiences from the aroma of fresh, green, leafy vegetables are strikingly infectious and adorable. The conversations between Julia and her husband Paul, and later with her sister Dorothy McWilliams (Jane Lynch) are engaging, lively and simply enriching. Jane Lynch plays a memorable role.

Pitted against these two talented actresses, is the charming Amy Adams who marvelously displays Powell’s mood swings and frustrations. Her kitchen in Queens, N.Y. would perhaps give jitters to Julia but her attempt to dish out all 524 recipes in 365 days is indeed laudable.

Meryl’s inimitable acting and mannerism distinctly re-creates Julia Child – the gourmet and gourmand. The near perfect intonation of Julia appears little melodramatic but that itself brings life into the character. Through her dialogues, Meryl inspires, endears and provides a wonderful glimpse into Julia’s life and yet cleverly avoids making her mockery.

A random check on the internet would show you original videos of Julia Child and also allow access to Julie Powell’s famous blog featuring the ‘F’ word and the one she wrote upon hearing the sad demise of Julia Child in 2004. Both Julia and Meryl are blessed with abundant talent, grace, charm and clearly demonstrate their tenacity to pursue their dreams and passion. No wonder, only Meryl Streep could have played Julia Child!

The film is immaculately blended but long and moves at a gentle pace. The plot lacks some thickness but not consistency and could have delved deeper into Julia’s life. The film ends almost abruptly and creates some curiosity to grab the original manuscripts. The music is loud and distorts the pathos or humor of moments. The director has an amazing eye for detail and the screenplay is fantastic. With amazing dexterity, the camera moves in and out of the characters lives, carefully capturing every emotions, joy and the mouth – watering vibrant texture of food including the few mishaps.

By the end of it all, you begin to love butter, and enjoy the delectable, sensuous French cuisine, peppered with challenges, but garnished with joy and passion and eagerly relish dollops of raspberry cream dessert with rich icing of respect, humour and love.

Bon Appetit!...