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

The idea to use Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer" in the scene where Amy Adams cooks lobsters came from Chris Messina.

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Goofs

Throughout the film, Paul Child'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.

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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 Mad: Force Code/Flammable (2011)

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Soundtracks

A Bushel and a Peck
Written by Frank Loesser
Performed by Doris Day
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

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

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