Movie Review: Julie & Julia
I watched the movie yesterday and read the NYT review today. Full disclosure: I read this piece on food as a film prop and this Times magazine story on the transformation of American cooking into a “spectator sport.” (And now I just read this article on the uniquely happy AND realistic portrayal of marriage in J&J.) So while the movie was largely spoiled for me pre-viewing (2 bored women find fulfillment through cooking and writing about cooking be-all end-all chick flick blah blah blah) and while it may be no surprise to anyone that I really like it, I still found delightful surprises in it. It was funny, sweet but not saccharine, joyful but not without its moments of serious reflection, “domestic” but still very much pro-female empowerment, romantic but quite realistic.
A few notes:
- Meryl Streep. the woman is a goddess. a female Dionysus if you will. every moment spent with Julie/Amy was just a moment spent missing and waiting for Julia/Meryl to come back on screen, sorry to say. then again, as A.O. Scott rightly points out, Amy didn’t have much to work with and a megastar to compete with.
- Having started a food blog just days before, I was interested to see not only how Julie Powell tackled food blogging but also how Hollywood would bring a blog to the big screen (I’m surprised the tech community didn’t make a bigger deal about this). (Read the Julie/Julia Project blog here.) As a movie character, Julie Powell is not very likeable. As a blogger, she must be much more interesting (I have only read a few entries). I thought the movie did a good job observing the obsessive levels to which blogging can grow and the effect blogging can have on personal lives. The snarkiness, the self-absorbed whining, the detailed discursiveness, amusing on the computer screen, much less so IRL and on the theater screen. I mean, how much of a blogger’s personality and personal life do you want to see in a food blog? On one hand, no writing is good without a personal touch, a human behind the words. Maybe this is even truer for a blog. Online transparency was a trend that’s now nearly a rule. On the other hand, shouldn’t the discussion revolve solely around the topic at hand (food)? Isn’t everything else distracting and unnecessary?
- One of the articles noted that this was one of the rare few movies about women and NOT about the pursuit of men. After watching a chick flick (like He’s Just Not That Into You), I always get this sickening cognitive dissonance. It’s like driving past a catastrophic car accident; you know it’s really stupid to gawk (because it not only slows traffic down but also increases the likelihood that you’ll get into an accident yourself) and yet you can’t help but stare in helpless fascination. But J&J, I watched with guilt-free pleasure. The character of Julia was fearless. She knew what made her happy and pursued it whole-heartedly and she never apologized for it. In her artlessness, she made being different a venerable art. Here, finally, was a cinematic exemplar for personal and professional fulfillment for women outside of relationships. Maybe the story would have been different had either character not been in happy marriages with supportive husbands. But even a happy marriage doesn’t provide everything a woman could ever want and I admire that this movie focuses on the women’s development through their passion for cooking versus their relationships.
- But how CUTE were Paul and Julia?? I hope that’s the kind of marriage I’ll have one day. Passionate, devoted, supportive, fun.
- I love French food but this movie didn’t really do it for me, food-wise. I expected greater and better food pornography, to be honest. Maybe I’m just too conditioned to the obscenity of the Food Network.
- Nora Ephron included this SNL clip in the movie. Amazing.
If you love food, you’ll love this movie. And I judge people who don’t love food. Sorry.
