Short Takes: Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia (2009)
Dir. Nora Ephron
Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams
Grade: C+

"Julie & Julia" tells the stories of two women in search of a creative outlet. They find that outlet in cooking with their husbands quietly cheering from the sidelines. This film would have been right at home at RKO Studios circa 1940.

The two Julias are played by Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, each inhabiting different eras which might as well be different worlds. Streep plays famed American cook Julia Child, trying to find her way in post-War France. In the contemporary half of the movie, Adams, as Julie Powell, has what may be the most depressing job following 9/11: she has to deal with insurance inquiries from victims’ family members. Understandably in search of a distraction and a way to challenge her interest in writing, she challenges herself to cook her way through Julia Child’s Mastering The Art of French Cooking (first published in 1961). The film interweaves the stories of the women and, in its own clumsy way, attempts to show both how much and how little has changed between the two eras for those of the female persuasion. How Nora Ephron could have turned an interesting premise into something so disposable is beyond me.

Perhaps the most egregious aspect of the film is its need to parallel the women’s lives to each other’s. Child comes across as a fighter, a woman who refuses to be put in a box (or kept out of it). Powell, on the other hand, comes across as a petulant child at times. I would often marvel at her gigantic apartment in Long Island City, supportive husband and steady job and tried to figure out a way to empathize with her plight, whatever it was, but repeatedly failed. This is not Adams’ fault, who has blazed a trail as one of the most charming actresses in film, but because the Powell storyline is so flimsy and emotionally lacking.

Streep, not surprisingly, emerges as the emotional anchor of the film, taking on the Child persona with contagious gusto. She, of course, sounds exactly like the real Child, changes her posture and walk completely and thoroughly inhabits the role. Her story arc, however, was weakened by what I came to see as the intrusive Powell storyline, and after the admittedly exhilarating scenes where first Child masters her cooking lessons, a meandering and anticlimactic plot involving whether or not her cookbook will be published, not even the fanciest looking feast could keep me focused.

I’ll stop short of calling the film a complete disaster solely because of the performances. Streep’s is the flagship performance, but Tucci and Adams to some solid work. I was particularly thrilled by the surprise but all-too-short appearance by Jane Lynch, who always manages to bring every project she’s involved with up a notch. There are also some beautiful vistas of Paris to enrich the eyes but, for the most part, “Julie & Julia” is a dreadfully boring affair.