  
Julie & Juliaa.k.a. “Julie and Julia”MPAA Rating:
 for brief strong language and some sensuality.Reviewed by: Thaisha Geiger Average
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:
Adults, Teens
Genre:
Biography, Comedy, Drama
Length:
2 hr. 3 min.
Year of Release:
2009
USA Release:
August 7, 2009 (wide—2,300+ theaters)
DVD: December 8, 2009 
“Based on two true stories.” While the film isn’t stellar, it did help cement one already known fact: Meryl Streep is a classic. Responsible for the film’s charm, Streep delivers a delightful performance as Julia Child, the chef whose “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” revolutionized American cooking. The film also tells the simultaneous true story of Julie Powell (Amy Adams) who, depressed with her dead-end life, decides to embark on a year-long challenge to cook through all 524 recipes of Child’s cookbook while blogging daily of her progress. Julia Child’s story begins in postwar France in 1949. After she’s introduced to the delicious cuisine of the French culture, she becomes enamored with its exquisiteness. She enrolls into a cooking school and eventually joins forces with two other women to create an American cookbook on French cuisine. For eight years, the women gruel over the recipes’ precisions and finding a publisher. Julie Powell’s story begins in Queens 2002; the majority of her story is her becoming a slave to her kitchen and even jeopardizing her marriage all for the sake of her blog and feelings of self-worth. The film combined two memoirs: “My Life in France” and “Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously.” I wish the film would have been based entirely on Julia Child. It appears as if director Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle”) leaned more toward this idea. Being that Child’s film portion had more plot substance, better character development, and ultimately more charm. We could still see her love for her husband (a charming Stanley Tucci), her passion for cooking, and her relentless determination to complete her cookbook. On the other hand, Julie Powell’s story was quite lackluster, filled with prosaic cooking scenes and meltdowns. While Amy Adams is a splendid actress, she did not have much to work with. Julie is portrayed as a selfish, cloy woman who likes to wallow in her self-created pity. When the time finally comes where her husband gets fed up and leaves, the movie sadly doesn’t delve into this deeply enough, but quickly resolves it and moves along. Perhaps a closer look into their marriage would have strengthened her portion of the story. Julia Child becomes Julie’s obsession. She repeatedly mentions that Child is who saved her and is all that she has. Even when her marriage is suffering, the thought of quitting her goal is never an option. She was placing all her potential happiness, energy, and effort in such a perishable goal. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.' On a positive note, the husbands were shown to be extremely selfless and patient in the supporting of their wives and their goals. They were an excellent example of Philippians 2:3: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” “Julie & Julia” could have been a completely acceptable film were it not for the profanity. There’s 1 use of the ‘f’ word and about 16 other milder profanities throughout the film; the Lord’s name was profaned about 3 times. Worth mentioning is that there’s kissing between the married couples and one shot of Adams’ back while she’s in a bra. I do not personally recommend the film. While there are some very funny and charming moments, the rather thin plot was overly extended, resulting in a very long viewing. My advice is to wait for the DVD release. Violence: None / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Minor Addendum of reviewerI normally do not comment on my reviews after their publication, but due to a recent comment felt I should. One commentator left a rather harsh comment, questioning my qualifications to review a movie of this kind since I mentioned little of the food or Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Julia Child. If one reads the review, he would see that I actually do praise Streep’s acting ability and the true story of the legendary Julia Child. Most importantly, one should remember that Christian Spotlight is actually an amazing nonprofit ministry that assists Christians in making wise choices of their movie viewings. The commentator is correct, I am not a film critic nor even a food expert. In actuality, I’m a middle-school teacher who is a follower of Christ. I volunteer to review these movies to help other Christians be informed of a movie’s content. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Some have done this respectfully and even listed an offensive comment Child made while cooking that I forgot to mention. Despite disagreements, Christians should remember when Paul wrote to “let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt…” See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Positive
Positive - I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, as did the audience with me. We laughed out loud many times, especially at the Julia Child scenes, which were quite clever. I thought the script was very well written—a concise merger of two story lines so deftly done that the switching from the life of Julie, struggling in her Queens kitchen, to that of Julia, working hard in France to learn French cooking and then compile her enormously influential cookbook, was seamless. Positive - I would recommend this movie, and I disagree with the reviewer who shouldn't really be reviewing this movie. This is a movie for foodies, Julia Child fans, and fans of Meryl Streep and since the reviewer mentions very little of these three aspects of the film, I don't know why they undertook the review. I was inspired by the food and the celebration of this gift of God to us. I was inspired by the motivation the two characters portrayed and how they never gave up. Positive - “Julie & Julia” follows in the footsteps of “No Reservations” and “Ratatouille” in focusing on food. I can't quite agree with the main review above on the artistic merits of the film. Sure, it has a slow spot here and there, but overall I found myself enjoying it and laughing pretty often. In some ways, the film is as much about writing as it is about cooking; as a writer, I was inspired by both of the main characters and their attempts to get their cookbooks published. Nora Ephron, the director of “Julie & Julia,” was also the director of “You've Got Mail” and “Sleepless in Seattle.” If you've seen either of those films, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this movie, content-wise. Positive - I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I appreciate the reviewer's hard work, but I have to give the film at a little more support. The reviewer is right on target in pointing out the excellent acting of Meryl Streep, who is at the absolute top of her game. She is a wonderful actress and fun to watch. I brought two jr. high girls and they appreciated the film for portraying plucky women who work hard toward a goal despite setbacks. No disrespect for the reviewer from me... it's a review, after all, and the free flow of contributors' opinions are what makes this web site shine! Positive - I really enjoyed this movie, it was fun to watch and a great story. I've seen some criticism of the cinematics but I thought it really was appropriate for the type of movie where they were trying to merge such a large time span. Meryl Streep is always wonderful. Amy Adams was wonderful as well, she was great fun to watch. Not a movie for youth but great for 20-somethings and up. There were a few instances of using s*** and f*** and of course they could have been left out - but profanity was minimal. Some suggestive scenes but they were in appropriate relationships. Positive - I loved this movie, and actually saw it twice this week, once with my husband, then with my daughter. The characters were fun, and of course there was food galore! The only disconnect was that the movie characterized Julie as a “b****,” but, fortunately, Amy Adams did not come across that way. All in all, a very fun time! Positive - I did not know what to expect in this film after reading the review and the comments. I have wanted to see this movie since I saw the first trailer, so I'd already decided I was going, but I was concerned when I saw that the movie involved profanity and was rated PG-13. The rating is appropriate because of the language and infrequent crude humor. Other than the mild nudity (underwear and a short shirt) and the language, the movie was delightful. Positive - I liked this film very much. The acting was superb, especially Meryl Streep's performance. I, too, thought the cuts between the two women's lives were done very well. I have heard more than one person say that they wished it was only about Julia Child. I couldn't disagree more. The two women had a lot of similarities in their lives. Both had government jobs. Both shared a love for cooking. Both had loving, caring and devoted husbands. That should be much appreciated, especially in this world of affairs and divorces. And, yes, even among Christians. Positive - I read all the reviews here before viewing the film and was very curious about the language issue because everyone seemed to harp on it. I seem to recall a verse: "husbands, love your wives." I only have one thing to add: the reviewers who are so focused on the language miss the point of the two stories and do not do justice to them. In particular, the main reviewer was incredibly over-critical. Go see the movie and appreciate a husband loving his wife and encouraging her... actually two husbands loving their wives. Go see the movie because Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci are so fun to watch. Positive - I must admit that, although I am not a cooking fan and prefer a book to scrambling eggs (or making an omelette :), I do love to eat. And watching all of that delicious looking food on the screen was wonderful (of course it probably helped that I hadn't eaten dinner). I think this was a delightful, funny, and touching movie about two "Jules," French cooking, and true love. There is some swearing (including one really surprising and unnecessary F from Stanley Tucci), a few rather risqué comments, and several preludes to sex (but within the context of marriage, for once!), but overall, it was sweet and charming. I enjoyed both portions of the story; Meryl Streep was the bubbly American in love with Paris and Amy Adams was the depressed but determined survivor of Queens and blogger extraordinaire. Neutral
Neutral - What a tremendous shame! If only Nora Efron could have left out the foul language that burned the edges of this beautiful story the audience would have been treated to a well marinaded, slow cooked treat. (sigh!) Neutral - There were a couple of funny LOL moments but on the whole, I was bored throughout the way too long film. Other than the 1 F word the other profanities are common place these days on prime-time TV. I don't think children would enjoy it all. But it might make you hungry. Neutral - My main reason for commenting is that I disagree with the comments that downplay the part of the film dealing with Julie—the weaving together of the two stories is what makes this film work. Even though Meryl Streep does a good job playing Julia, a biographical movie based just on her life would have been boring and trite. The same can be said about Julie's experiences. The most positive aspect of this film was the way both husbands supported their wives—if the movie had only been about Julia, then the viewer could have come away feeling that husbands used to be that way, but not any longer. With Julie's story being played out, the viewer can see that husbands in the 21st century, as well as in the 20th, can and should be supportive of their wives. Another aspect that makes me believe that the storyline dealing with Julie is important is that the most noble point in the movie deals with her correct choice towards the end of the movie. I was also very disappointed with Julia's response to Julie's project. Negative
none Comments from young people
Neutral - I saw this movie with my friends and my little sister and her friend who both are 10 yrs old... I loved the setting and what was taking place in this film, but there were a couple of scenes that were offensive, and I hoped that some of the things they said went over my sister and her friends head, but I doubt it. The bad scenes (setting the mood for sex) in this movie were not needed at all, I thought it would've been a cute movie without the uneeded things taking place. |
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