Julie & Julia

Rating: 5/5

In two separate worlds and times, Julie & Julia wonderfully weaves together the stories of two women determined to make their dreams come true.

In the year 1949, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) arrive in Paris for his new government assignment. Switching to the year 2002, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) and her husband Eric (Chris Messina) are arriving at their new apartment in Queens.

Growing tired of being a government wife, Julia Child begins looking for an occupation to fill her time. After testing out numerous activities, Julia realizes that what she truly loves more than anything else is food. She begins a cooking class and discovers that she was destined to work in the culinary industry. Back in New York, Julie is growing restless with her government job, and decides that she needs to find a purpose in her life. It is then that she starts a challenge for herself and it is to cook through every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year's time and write blog about it.

Julie & Julia masterfully combines the two women's stories together. Though in different decades and in different parts of the world, Julie Powell and Julia Child's lives echo each other in their determination to reach a seemingly impossible goal.

When I first watched this film almost ten years ago, I knew very little about the life of Julia Child, but that has since changed, and my love for the film has only grown. Meryl Streep's take on Child is respectful and accurate. She adds the unique warble to Julia's voice and is able to embody the larger than life spirit that Julia Child brought to those around her.

There are many ways that Julie & Julia could have gone in the wrong direction, whether it be from a poor Julia Child impersonation, or to having the two storylines feel too disconnected, but thankfully that is not the case. Julia & Julia is able to effortlessly tell two stories as if they were one, and create a film that I will always love and will never watch on an empty stomach.