Based on true stories, Nora Ephron’s dramedy is actually based on two novels. This allows Ephron and co. to take parallel storylines and turn “Julie and Julia” in to a bonding ground for a lost woman and a budding chef, both of whom are starting their lives out in new places when we first meet them, and are about to embark on a rather interesting adventure involving food, changing the way they and others think, and fulfilling ambitions regardless of how grand or minute it may seem. Julie is a woman just starting out in her new job as a woman who takes complaints involving 9/11 in Queens. After days of listening to people’s problems, she decides to emulate her hero Julia Child pursuing a different kind of natural high after realizing her life hasn’t been taken advantage of after a meeting with her high powered best friends. Back in the forties we meet a young Julia Child who is just beginning to follow her dreams as a professional chef in Le Cordon Bleu.
Normally I’m not a fan of Nora Ephron’s films but here she manages to capture the hero relationship in which Julie slowly figures out that her hero is indeed Child when emulating her cooking styles. Ephron’s film is never weighty and takes the affairs of Julie and Julia with tongue in cheek wit and a light tone (in spite of Julia’s more dramatic central storyline) that keeps the film moving at a speedy pace. The performances are rather good as Amy Adams is charming as the light weight cook Julie who starts a cooking blog to emulate Julia while proving she has something in her that wants to achieve the same level of success that surrounds her.
Meanwhile Streep is priceless as the legendary chef and makes the film a worthwhile experience. “Julie and Julia” isn’t just about two women learning to cook, Ephron proves that, like any art form, cooking is a connecting thread in our dreams, our wishes, and our society. The fact that Julie finds a bond with her predecessor Julia is a common ground plot element that acts as a connecting thread for the basic premise and brings them closer together whether they’re aware of it or not. It is through this skill that Julie connects to her own peers and eventually her husband.
It’s one thing any audience can take away from Ephron’s time jumping dramedy. Both women represent some part of the modern woman looking to break free from the doldrums and conventions of their world and hope to accomplish something with their hobby that eventually becomes a serious practice with them. Ephron accomplishes these undertones with grace and keeps “Julie and Julia” a finely tuned dramedy with replay value, worth watching again and again. Ephron surprises with a charming and witty biographical tale of two women who were brought together as soul mates through the art of food and the joy of cooking. With great performances and a tight script, “Julie & Julia” will connect to even the most jaded female viewer.