JULIE & JULIA

4 out of 5 stars

upon watching this movie, i had cravings for three things: bruschetta (love the scene where julie’s husband is just devouring the tomato and fried bread awesomeness), chocolate cake (also love the scene where julie’s husband just stuffs it in his face), and beef bourguignon. (the fabulous and famous beef stew/trademark dish of the late julia child) I would say that this was one of the best food-related movies I’ve seen in a while, since chocolat and ratatouille. (SERIOUSLY!)

it all starts with just a simple american couple living in paris for the first time, and their names were paul and julia child. paul was working for the american embassy, and julia… well, she just needed something to do. so, why not take cooking lessons? she is in FRANCE, afterall! LOL the best scene is when paul asks her what she truly likes to do, and her answer is EAT! thus, the julia child we know today is born… (funny how one of the first phrases she learns from paul is “bon appétit”)


flash forward to circa 2002-2003, where a bored, underappreciated government secretary by the name of julie powell has a revelation that she can tackle all 524 recipes in Julia child’s master cookbook in 365 days. (and write a blog about it! this prompted by jealousy of one of her writer friends) it will be an experiment of whether she can complete her task in time, and also an experiment of whether her sanity will remain in tack… well, not before long, do we see her melt-down many times, especially when she’s trying to make the aspics (in case you didn’t know- it’s like a beef jello… i know, eww…), stuffing an actual chicken, and killing live/fresh lobsters, of course! that’s also the part where she starts to get on your nerves because ultimately, this blog of her’s becomes more about her than the adventure of going through the recipes, themselves. her tantrums and fights with her husband leave a very stale taste in your mouth. honestly, I thought it would have been better if they just did a movie on julia… JUST julia… should i REALLY care about some whinny bitch whose trying to prove to the world that she can cook?


the best parts of this movie (in my humble opinion), is watching the relationships of both julie and julia’s. paul child (played by the brilliant stanley tucci) is darling, and julie’s husband eric is just as sweet/level-headed. both are extremely supportive of their wives in their endeavors (julie- her goal; julia- her cookbook), and of course, and this is my favorite line:


paul: “julia, you are the butter to my bread, and the breath to my life.”
(later echoed by julie to her husband)


aww… ;)