Julie & Julia

As a longtime fan of both Julia Childs and Meryl Streep, I knew I had to see this on opening weekend. Julia was an original. A woman who stood tall, who never apologized for her clumsiness or for anything for that matter, she was an icon, a pioneer for women cooks and a hero to anyone who used to watch early PBS cooking shows, long before the Food Network, before there was ever a Giada, a Paula or a even that puffy wastoid Emeril. As a child, I watched a regular rotation of Julia, Justin Wilson, Jeff Smith (!!!) and that guy who made vegetarian Indian food, who taught me to saute the spices before you grind them. Julia was the best of them all. I remember fondly the episode of the Buche de Noel, in which Julia makes her jelly roll look like a festive Christmas log and then vendalizes her studio kitchen with threads of molten sugar in order to make the moss that laid on top, and subsequently, looked nothing like actual moss. Julia was entertainment.

Meryl's Julia was tall and jovial, lightening the hearts of every sourpuss frog that crossed her path (all but the beyotch at the Cordon Bleu who tried and failed to keep Julia out of the kitchen.) Her performance as the French Chef was absolutely perfect, hilariously funny and of course, touching and lovable.

The Julie half of the film was typical Nora Ephron, please-the-people filler, Hollywood-style. I love Amy Adams but this role did nothing to showcase her acting abilities. This was akin to Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. No big challenge to the role. Just be cute and quirky, and let's finish this movie.

I give it 3.5/5 stars!