Review of Julie & Julia (2009) by Eliasc — 20 Aug 2009

I wish I could split this vote; 8 for Julia, 3 for Julie. The problem with this film is Nora Ephron. She took 2 interesting books and reduced the plot to a Cliff Notes version and managed to make both stories uninteresting.

But even Nora Ephron could not hide the potential of a truly great film based on the life of Julia Child. I found myself wanting more. More story, more character, more drama. A bio flick about Julia Child would have been fascinating.

Tell us about her days in Ceylon. Tell us about her TV days. Tell us more about her relationship with Paul Child. All we get is snipes and tidbits here and there delivering in an incomplete story. The performances by the great Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci stand out as a testimonial of what could have been.

However such a film is apparently not within the capability of the writer/director. Instead we get a side story with Amy Adams as Julie playing a typical Ephron character - obsessive, depressing, and tiresome.