Tuesday 15 December 2009

Julie & Julia

On the way over to Dubai I watched Julie and Julia a Nora Ephron film based on Julie Powell's blog "The Julie / Julia Project"

Watch the trailer care of YouTube.

Julia Child was an American chef who brought French cookery to the masses. Julie Powell's blog was about her trying to cook all the recipes from Child's book Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year.

The film cleverly, and effectively, switches between Child's post-war experiences in France as she writes the book and Powell's challenge to cook the recipes. Meryl Streep gives a very strong character performance, but I have no idea how close it is to the truth. Apparently Child was an American icon, if Streep's performance is near the truth then she was certainly a striking individual.

The film is quite engaging but it is far easier to relate to Childs than Powell. Just what was Powell's motivation - was she after her 15 minutes of fame? It's a question that lies unanswered at the end of the film. It is clear that Childs loved food and was unapologetically enthusiastic about it too.

It a gentle film that probably hold more for foodies than most (there are a few sequences of excellent foodporn) but I can't imagine that I'll actively watch it again. It's a movie to watch when it's on TV, don't rush out and buy the DVD.

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