After the misfire of Bewitched Nora Ephron found form again by making a film on a subject she was really passionate about – food. When I say “found form” I really mean she made a good Nora Ephron film; my wife adored it but I found myself nodding off a bit.
Meryl Streep is good value as Julia Childs and her relationship with Stanley Tucci is one of the most believable depictions of a loving supportive marriage (very subtly played, like the way he’s supportive and how the fact the can’t have children is conveyed). The modern section is less good; it’s simply less of an achievement to cook a lot of stuff than it was to do what Julia Childs could, the character of Julia’s husband is nothing (if they didn’t give him a character why not just make him really good looking, or funny, or cast a TV star keen to break into features?).
Also Amy Adams is surprisingly un-engaging; I was always a big Amy Adams fan but it's like she's hamstrung by having to play a real character and has tried to dig in where she can, creating pain and frustration that's all too well. The film really just needed a good old fashioned bubbly star performance like from a young Meg Ryan, or say Reese Witherspoon or Kristen Bell. Bright support cast and great art direction if you're into that sort of thing.
The film also gets points for acknowledging that Julia wasn't particularly appreciative of Julie when she found out about what was going on.
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