In 1949, Julia Child (Streep) is living in Paris with her diplomat husband (Tucci), looking to fill her spare time. She settles on cooking, and after completing Le Cordon Bleu teams up with two chefs (Emond and Carey) to write a French cookbook for the American market. In 2002 New York, Julie Powell (Adams) needs something to distract her from her job dealing with claims resulting from 9/11. With the encouragement of her husband (Messina), she decides to cook all 524 of Child's recipes in one year while blogging about the experience.

Ephron strains to make these two stories fit together. Besides Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the parallels between these two women's stories are a little forced, and the script leaves loose threads dangling, with the effect that the film feels somewhat unfinished. But Ephron does score points for linking the strands visually through dialog, themes and, yes, food. And the cinematography is truly beautiful, making each dish utterly tantalising. This is definitely not a movie to see on an empty stomach.

Of course, the film's real pièce de résistance is Streep. She's clearly having a ball as the larger-than-life Julia, with that distinctive voice and unstoppable exuberance. Streep is such a master at finding tiny details in the character that we laugh before she even does anything funny. And when the emotions rise, it's truly moving. Her scenes with the terrific Tucci offer a remarkable portrayal of a lively, healthy marriage. By contrast, Powell's storyline feels almost distracting. But Adams is refreshingly off-type and also has great chemistry with Messina.

Ephron has some tricks up her sleeve, from recreating iconic TV-show footage to actually replaying that hysterical Saturday Night Live sketch in which Dan Aykroyd forever defined the perfect Julia Child impersonation (and it sometimes seems that Streep is actually doing Aykroyd-as-Child). Despite some sentimentality, it's a wonderfully feel-good movie about delicious food, strong women and life-sustaining relationships. And at the end you'll want to rush home and cook something seriously decadent. With real butter.

themes, language

23.Jul.09