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JULIE & JULIA

With Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina, Linda Emond, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Helen Carey, Jane Lynch

Written by Nora Ephron based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell, and My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme

Directed by Nora Ephron

This very innovative combining of two real life tales in two time periods takes the viewer into a culinary world from Paris to New York.

But before getting to that, it's time to get something off my chest - What the hell is it with American movies and the absolute insistence upon having a minimum of one scene where somebody has to speak with their goddamn mouth full? Well, in this one it is a veritable barrage of annoying, disgusting jabbering with a mouth full of food, especially from Julie's husband. In the making-of extra, director Ephron tries to explain this, but fails to convince me, as all it spells out is: that just like a mainstream screenplay has to contain characters named Frank, Jack, or Molly, and the oft used essential cliché montage of one character having to sit and give a range of outfit changes the thumbs up or down, I don't believe a script gets greenlit unless it contains at least one scene with someone stuffing their face, and not having the manners to swallow their goop before speaking!

Now - the tall Julia Childs became one of America's cooking icons with her legendary book on French cuisine, also leading to TV shows. This combined biopic takes the viewer through Julia's travels in Paris and interest in food which grew into taking classes and becoming the figure she ended up being, and counters it with the present where a woman lost within herself decides to take up a task to give her life meaning. This task is to cook her way through the 524 recipes from Julia's famous cookbook in 365 days, and blogging about it.
These tasty biographies intertwine marvelously (if only they didn't eat with their mouths full!). Etiquette should be part and parcel when it comes to food, not?

Extras: a commentary track from writer/director Nora Ephron, and making-of featurettes.

PS. I was fascinated to see that Eric Steele, the director of the controversial documentary The Bridge is one of the producers of this movie.

5 / C
- Paul Blom


0 1 2 3 4 5 6
- A - B - C

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6 - Volcanic
5 - Blistering
4 - Hot
3 - Smolder
2 - Room Temp.
1 - Fizzled
0 - Extinguished

A: Multiple Viewing Potential
B: Deserves Another Look
C: Once Should Suffice

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