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ShareMumbai: Film: Julie and Julia (U/A)
Cast: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, Chris Messina
Director: Nora Ephron
Rating: * * *
Written and directed by Nora Ephron, based on the books Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life In France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme, this film basically intertwines the lives of the two lead characters, Julie (Adams) and Julia (Meryl Streep), reprising theirattempts to make their lives more meaningful by mastering the art of cooking.
Both Julia and Julie are shown to chop, stir, bake, and whip their way into history; Julia as an iconographic figure whose tome is considered seminal by every American interested in food (is there any other kind?) while Julie's blog on her attempt to recreate Julia's gourmet magic through the Julie/Julia project, garners a book deal and several columns of newsprint.
Julie is a failed writer who regains her confidence and ability to write by attempting the year-long project. Ephron's screenplay, albeit a trifle manufactured, implies a certain kinship between the two main characters who appear united across time and space in their search for meaning through cooking and their struggles to see their work in print.
The problem with the film is the superficial way in which it showcases their respective attempts. Both women appear to be selfish in pursuing their dreams, their husbands left with little choice but to grin and bear their obsessions with self-sacrificing zeal. The entire effort appears trivial, a project to enhance vanity than to pursue self-actualisation. Both are shown to be middle class and the amount of food they waste in their pursuit of gastronomical glory appears a bit far-fetched.
Ephron may not have achieved much depth in the telling, but there is a certain fluency and pluckiness evident in her narration -- one that lends an effervescent buoyancy and charm to the dramatic comedy of conflating lives. Streep's Julia is implicitly studied. She seems to have put in a great deal of effort to approximate the legend's vocal pitch and mannerisms. But the result is not necessarily endearing. Her dialogue delivery and its accented tone appear exceedingly aggravating -- lending a kind of daffy campiness to her performance.
Amy Adams's Julie is much more bearable. The film has its fair share of humour, drama, and boeuf bourguignon. Ann Roth's costumes and Mark Ricker's production design also appear impressive. But Ephron's busy narrative, despite its fair share of humour, still appears wanting. It's more or less like having a sugar-free soufflé!
