As I start this entry, I must say that my opinion of this movie aligns almost perfectly with all the reviews I have read. Julie & Julia, while highly enjoyable, is an unbalanced movie. It's like a pair of beautiful bright strappy heels, only one of the shoes is an inch shorter than the other; Sure, the colors and aesthetics match--but they are not equal. Some of the reviews found Amy Adams' character, Julie Powell, unsympathetic and whiny. I don't know that I would go that far. I would simply say she's rendered unglamorous, bland and marginal compared to the legendary Julia Child. Julie quickly falls flat like a flan in a cupboard. It's not that Amy Adams isn't a fine actress. It's just that the very recipe of this movie is stacked against her. As the movie progresses, you wish that, instead of the even amount of screen time, Julia and Meryl were the big entree and that Julie and Amy are a complimentary side dish.
Confession: I really had only a vague notion of Julia Child before this movie was promoted. Yes, I had heard my mom, aunts and uncles giggle over arcane quotes in the weirdest inflection I had ever heard: "SaaAAay-ve the live--uUUuh!!!" Though, I realize they could have been quoting Dan Akroyd from Saturday Night Live. (That skit is one of the show's finest, by the way.) So getting to know Julia Child in this movie was an absolute joy. Even without knowing much about Child, it is clear that Streep does more than justice to Julia. Streep is a truly divine force on the silver screen. I am confident that anyone who grew up knowing and loving Julia will be touched and thrilled with Streep's portrayal.
Like all of today's movies, Julie & Julia was twenty minutes too long. (Forty minutes if you include the ridiculous amount of previews.) In the broad scheme of long movies, however, this movie benefits because it means twenty minutes more of Meryl. So, do I recommend this movie? Yes. I also recommend dinner reservations arranged for shortly after you exit the theater.
I have to take this opportunity to share some of the ridiculousness that occurred at the 68th street AMC Loews theater where I saw this film. My two girl friends and I attempted to go a 7 o'clock show, which was sold out. Instead, we got tickets for the 10:10 and returned to the theater at about 9:10, knowing that many people would line up early having been sold out of the earlier shows. A number of classic NYC moments occurred, where we witnessed New Yorkers at their crankiest.
There was anarchy when a small crowd of people ignored designated waiting area, which placed the 10:10 crowd away from the doors so the earlier show could exit. This renegade crowd waited right outside the doors, not only cutting the patient people in the correct area, but also clogging up the exit area when the earlier show dispersed. One man, when told by a theater attendant that the roped off line area represented the actual line, had the audacity to say--in the snippiest of tones--that the area wasn't marked. He also told the attendant that his wife had been shoved by exit theater goers--as if the attendant was responsible for that.
Despite that slight drama, my girl friends and I got prime seats and waited the 30 minutes before the movie/previews started. In that 30 minutes, an older gentleman told off two teenage girls, presumably for one of them resting her head on the other girl's shoulder. Since we couldn't hear the exact exchange, we weren't sure if the man was simply homophobic, or if there really had been inappropriate behavior. Regardless, the teenage girls were with a group of friends and one of their guy friends kept turning around and staring down the older gentlemen. We thought we were going to witness the older gentleman crack the kid's head with his cane. Then, when the movie was starting, someone yelled out "TURN OFF YOUR CELLPHONE!" to their neighbor.
In the summer, it's no joke that tensions run high in the city--even the over-air conditioned movie theater isn't a safe haven.
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