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Two women, same passion for cooking, two destinies that changed because of this passion.

First we have Julia Child (Meryl Streep) a “high-spirited” American wife, who’s following her diplomat husband in Paris (Stanley Tucci – you know him from The Devil Wears Prada, where they acted together). Bored to death she decides to go to some classes. Bridge seems too complicated for her, while the cooking class for the beginners is really annoying “I know how to boil an egg” she says, asking to be moved to the advanced class. There she’s the only woman among male chefs, who really know their business.

After getting her feathers ruffled a bit, she comes home decided to change the situation. It’s one of the funniest scenes in the movie, she’s cutting onions (there’s a huge pile on the table) and her husband enters the home almost suffocating. Funny or not, she manages to catch up and becomes one of the best students in the class.

She then is invited to cooperate for a cooking book writing, then she’ll be the one to publish it – Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Meryl Streep is an excellent actress and seems to have found her funny side too, the only issue I had with the performance was that the “high-spirited” Julia seemed on drugs. First I thought she’s suffering from the Tourette Syndrome, the way she was speaking and moving. It looks like she’s not sick, not even on heavy drugs or too much Scotch (this was my second guess). So I do believe they could have toned it down, it’s almost clinical. Other than that, Tucci with Streep make a great team once again (it does seem like they got used to each other from the previous movie).

On the other hand we have Julie Powell (Amy Adams), who’s got a sinisterly boring job as a telephone call-taker in a cubicle, dealing with insurance questions after the tragic 9/11. She does feel she’s “really” a novelist, but was never able to actually finish something she’s started. So the project is to cook all the recipes from Julia’s book in one year time. And document this in a blog. 524 recipes in 365 days, all the cooking done in the evenings, when she’s coming home.

Though Paul (Julie‘s husband) is very supportive, Eric (Julie‘s husband) is getting annoyed after a while with her new passion. She does become utterly obsessed, forgetting than in the end it’s not such a huge deal. They live in a stinky apartment in a sordid house in Queens (NYC), one of those “all made of wood panels shacks” Americans like to call “houses” (in my country our houses are made from bricks and concrete – even the interior walls, so you can understand my opinion). Anyway, there are houses made “properly” in New York City too, but the 2 cannot afford rent in a better one. Interesting enough, she can afford all the groceries for her cooking undertaking.

The entire movie has its funny side, it’s very relaxing and a pleasant experience. Meryl Streep is adorable as usual, even if she seems high on something, while Amy Adams offers a cute version for the young chef-blogger. For such a Streep fan as I am, this is a “gotta see it” movie, but it’s a good one for you too. So, it’s totally recommended.

June 19th, 2010 | Biography | 1 Comment »