We watched the film ‘Julie and Juila’ nearly nine years ago, and liked it very much. So we decided to watch it again last night. I had forgotten the plot, but did recall that it was based on a true story, and also that it was about cooking.
What we had not remembered, until it got going, is that it’s actually based on two true stories. One is that of Julia Child, who was an American living in France in the 1940s. In the film, played brilliantly by the wonderful Meryl Streep, she is quite an outspoken woman who adores French cooking.
Her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) is a diplomat who is regularly posted in different places, but Julia doesn’t like to be inactive. So she decides to take cookery classes, and ends up amongst a group of men training in Cordon Bleu. And when - eventually - she finishes, she determines to write a book that will help American women learn to cook in the French way.
It’s a long and complex journey to publication, but the end of the film sees her holding in her hands a copy of ‘Mastering the Art of French Cooking’. It’s not a spoiler to say this because the other storyline, running concurrently through the film, is that of a young woman called Julie (Amy Adams), in 2002, who is persuaded by her husband Eric (Chris Messina) to start a blog. For her theme, she determines to work her way through every one of the recipes in Julia’s book in the course of a year.
In a sense there isn’t much plot; we know that Julia’s book is eventually going to be published, and we assume that Julie is going to succeed in her challenge. But there’s a great deal of characterisation, and many little subplots, laced with some humour and also some poignancy. Julia’s relationship with Paul is contrasted subtly with Julie’s relationship with Eric; both are strong, loving marriages, but Julie’s inevitably has a different kind of balance; for one thing she’s working full-time as well as learning to cook.
There’s also a huge contrast in the large house where Julia and Paul live, versus the small flat with a tiny kitchen where Julie and Eric find themselves. And Julia is a much stronger personality, while Julie is sensitive and easily upset. They have friends; Julie does a lot of entertaining with the dishes she produces, and Julia collaborates with various people over her book.
But the four main characters carry most of the story. And they’re all excellent, but of course Meryl Streep still stands out; she IS Julia. Stanley Tucci is great as her husband, and the two have quite a believable chemistry. But he’s still Stanley Tucci, and I was reminded, several times, of other roles I’ve seen him in. I didn’t recognise the younger couple at all, so they were easy enough to believe in. But Meryl Streep is unique. We’ve seen her in many, many roles but each one is entirely different. Other than a few facial expressions and a characteristic eye roll, we kept forgetting that it was an actress, let alone one we’ve seen in many other parts.
The ending is a little strange and abrupt, but generally encouraging. And there’s a ‘making of’ documentary with our DVD which was watched, and found very interesting. The only bit I really didn't like was a scene involving a live lobster (shudder).
Rated 12A, which seems a little high; there's some bad language but it's not excessive, and nothing explicit. However it's not likely to be of interest to children anyway.
Highly recommended.
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