Julie & Julia (2009)

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.

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers:

Nora Ephron (screenplay), Julie Powell (book)

Stars:

Amy Adams, Meryl Streep, Chris Messina

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 24 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 McCreary	...	Ernestine (as Crystal Noelle)
George Bartenieff	...	Chef Max Bugnard
Vanessa Ferlito	...	Cassie
Casey Wilson	...	Regina
Jillian Bach	...	Annabelle
Andrew Garman	...	John O'Brien

Storyline

Julia Child and Julie Powell - both of whom wrote memoirs - find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

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Plot Keywords:

cook | cooking | blog | french cuisine | food | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Meryl Streep earned her 16th acting Oscar nomination for this film, but her loss to Sandra Bullock for her role in The Blind Side (2009) marked Meryl's record 12th consecutive loss at the Academy Awards (11 of these in the Best Actress category).

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Goofs

At the 6:14 mark, Julie is walking down a street in Queens with Midtown Manhattan's skyline behind her. Despite this part of the movie was set in 2002, Bloomberg Tower is clearly visible on the right. It was built in 2004.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Paul Child: Repeat after me, okay? Nous cherchons un bon restaurant Français.
Julia Child: Nous cherchons un bon restaurant Français.
Paul Child: Quelque chose de typique et charmant.
Julia Child: Quelque chose de typique et charmant.
Paul Child: Typique et charmant.
Julia Child: Typique et charmant.
Paul Child: Typique et charmant.
Julia Child: Typique et charmant. Oh Paul, leave me alone.
Paul Child: [the couple arrives at a restaurant] Bon appétit.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Cravings: Gyeolsan-ui mas (2013)

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Soundtracks

Stop the Train
Written by Henry Gummer (as H.W. Gummer), Mark Noseworthy and Tay Strathairn
Performed by Henry Gummer (as Henry Wolfe)

User Reviews

"Julia hates me!" and for good reason.

The moment that Julie flops on her bed, lamenting "Julia hates me!" is the only moment that made me credit writer/director Ephron with some small degree of insight and artistry, because in that moment Ephron acknowledges that Julie deserves no admiration for her kitchen marathon. Throughout the movie, it's obvious that the supremely accomplished Julia Child would never have respected Julie Powell for turning the former's masterpiece into the latter's superficial stunt.

Streep is superb as Julia Child, playing her as she gloriously was, larger than life and vull of vigor, making believable her passion for food and for cooking. Amy Adams is fine, too, but Julie is a thankless role. The most obvious problem: Only a fool would cook 524 recipes in 365 days, let alone 524 French haute cuisine dishes from a two- volume tome that, incidentally, isn't a simple cookbook. And by the way, Julie the fool would also have to be (1) wealthy enough to afford the rich and meaty ingredients and the well-equipped kitchen that the 524 recipes call for, and (2) willing to eat leftover boeuf Bourguignon or lamb stuffed with kidneys for breakfast or lunch.

But let's just accept that Julie is a determined fool (and a wealthier one than she pretended). What I could not accept in Ephron's formulaic film or in Powell's original project is the fact that Julie never actually learns how to cook, or even seems to want to learn-- yet she miraculously succeeds in nearly every recipe the first time! She cooks by rote, more like an assembly-line worker at an auto plant than a creative chef. Hardly admirable, or believable.

Julie needed to be a woman with the soul of a gourmand. She isn't. She's a blogger with the soul of a clerk.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Blog Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

7 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Julie & Julia

Filming Locations:

9-17 40th Ave, Queens, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,027,956, 9 August 2009

Gross USA:

$94,125,426

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$129,540,522

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Easy There Tiger Productions, Scott Rudin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1