Julie & Julia (2009)

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers (WGA):

Nora Ephron (screenplay)
Julie Powell (book)

Release Date:

7 August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Passion. Ambition. Butter. Do You Have What It Takes?

Plot:

Julia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.

Plot Keywords:

Blogger | Recipe | Cook | Book | Cooking

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 6 nominations

Cast

Meryl Streep	...	Julia Child
Amy Adams	...	Julie Powell
Stanley Tucci	...	Paul Child
Chris Messina	...	Eric Powell
Linda Emond	...	Simone Beck
Helen Carey	...	Louisette Bertholle
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Sarah
Jane Lynch	...	Dorothy McWilliams
Joan Juliet Buck	...	Madame Brassart
Crystal Noelle	...	Ernestine
George Bartenieff	...	Chef Max Bugnard
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Cassie
Casey Wilson	...	Regina
Jillian Bach	...	Annabelle
Andrew Garman	...	John O'Brien

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #44272) | Ireland:12A | Mexico:A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | Norway:A | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:o.Al. (f) | New Zealand:M | UK:12A | South Korea:12 | Japan:G | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (re-rating on appeal) | Sweden:Btl | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures

Trivia:

Both the Paris and Boston train terminal shots were done in the beautifully restored New Jersey Transit Hoboken Train Terminal waiting room.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Throughout the film, Stanley Tucci's glasses can be seen to have a modern anti-reflective coating on them, years before such coatings became available. The tell-tale green sheen on the lenses is particularly visible during the outdoor wedding party.

Quotes:

Paul Child: Your book is going to change the world.

Movie Connections:

Features "Saturday Night Live: Eric Idle/Kate Bush (#4.8)" (1978)

Soundtrack:

Minor Swing

Bon appetite!

"Julie & Julia" is based on the book by the same name, which is based on the true story by Julie Powell about "The Julie & Julia Project". Julie (Amy Adams) is a government employee working in New York City in the year following 9/11. She, her husband Eric (Chris Messina) and their cat live in an apartment above a pizza parlor. All of her friends are successful in their careers. Julie is not. Of course, we all know who Julia Child is!! Meryl Streep was a fantastic Julia Child, who started out as a bored housewife in Paris looking to fill her time and ended up being a major influence on American cuisine.

One evening, while bemoaning the lack of meaning in her life, Julie picks up Julia Child's cookbook and decides to cook all 524 recipes in the book in a year, while blogging about her experience. At first, no one is interested, but as time goes by, Julie gets more and more followers of her blog.

I liked the parallel stories of Julia and Julie. They had similar experiences, yet there were drastic differences. Julia's husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) was extremely encouraging of Julia's cooking, while Julie's husband was kind of a jerk!! He was not very supportive of Julie's project. Seriously, if someone was going to be cooking me delicious food for a year, I would be 100% encouraging them along every step of the way!! Julia and Paul had a beautiful residence (with a maid!!), while Julie and Eric lived in a tiny apartment.

I enjoyed seeing the delicious meals both Julia and Julie prepared, especially boeuf bourguignon (YUM!!!). One of my favorite scenes in the movie was when Julia's sister Dorothy (Jane Lynch) comes to Paris to visit her. It was adorable to see two grown women squealing like little girls because they are so excited to see each other. There was quite a bit of passion in this film – passion (romantic and non-romantic) for each other and passion for food.

The movie dragged a bit, with a running time of just over 2 hours – I thought some scenes could have been trimmed down a bit.

Overall an enjoyable dish – go see this movie with your mom, your sister, or your best friend. Whatever you do, DON'T go hungry because you will regret it!! Madison Monroe - iratefilms