Julie vs. Julia

If you haven't guessed by now, I love me some movies, especially during the sweet summertime when the movie selection is at its finest. Recent movie review? Julie and Julia, based on Julie Powell's novel of the same title. My feelings on the the film are actually quite split. I read, correction listened, to the book on tape during a recent trip, and was immediately in love with Powell's narrative of a 365 day journey through Julia Child's famous cookbook Mastering The Art of French Cooking. Her rich descriptions were almost as flavorful and decadent as the heavy french cuisine she daily challenged herself to create, creating in bits encouragement and inspiration.

Inspiration and encouragement in the sense that Powell's life before the fore mentioned project was dull, lifeless, and like myself at too often a time, in a constant state of "funk." Discouraged by her dead end road (my words, not the authors), she set out to complete this book and it's 500 plus recipes in exactly one year, all the while chronicling with witty words and gained insight in a blog. The result? Self discovery and an even greater sense of accomplishment.


It's so easy to see why I've fallen in love with this book, however, I'm not quite so sure that love is equally devoted to it's counterpart, the film adaptation. While potent and comical in many ways, it lacked some of the rich, personal narrative that I so enjoyed in my long car rides, the sense of identification I felt with Powell, as well as the deep examination of character developments. The film did however focus on Child's early days and her penmanship of her now incredibly famous cookbook. Child's character and persona is in many ways amusing, entertaining and equally comforting. Meryl Streep played the culinary genius, and without a shadow of a doubt I believe that as enthralling Child's was, so is Streep's imitation of her, giving even more reason in my book that Streep is a phenomenal actor.

The film and book while varied, are both worth at least a gander. I've come to discover that rarely do films live up to their expectations on the big screen, and while this should discourage me from either reading or viewing each work, alone, piece by piece they each are incredible pieces of film, enriching in so many senses. Buy the book, indulge your senses in Powell's magnificent descriptions of distress and devotion. Go see the film come August 7Th and laugh along Streep and Amy Adams as they attempt to reach into your hearts. Both won't serve as a disappointment, the combination however might. Bon Appetite!