Julie & Julia was a movie that flowed like its portrayal of delicious meals throughout its length. It showed us the true passion these two people had for their food and its role in their lives. The spectacular performance by Meryl Streep was beautiful; she told me who Julia Child was, she showed me the life of Julia Child and her passion for french cuisine. Amy Adams was a soulful young woman of 30 who was seeking a way out of her daily routine which consisted of boring phone calls to angry people. A young woman who had friends that were only invested in their own lives who only saw their own path in life as valuable. She took the world on and decided to follow the footsteps of Julia Child's cookbook to show that she can complete something in her life with the help of her hungry husband.
The film was filled with sequences of Julie and Julia following their passion to seek something new, to find their love at the bottom of a stew. We saw their differences in time and in culture but both from the same American soul. Julia from California living in France trying to make her change in french cuisine bumping into many obstacles that made her ponder her passion. Julie riding against a wall that always shouted at her that she was unable to complete this task, that she couldn't blog her way through Julia Child's cookbook! They both ventured through these obstacles seeking their bright light at the end of the tunnel with the support of their loved ones. Even Julie's cat helped her with a recipe that was pivotal in her journey.
A short bump in Julie's relationship with her husband enabled her to realize her passion even more for food but didn't really sum up the husband's argument that she was being selfish and narcissistic. Maybe that plays into the role of the American husband.. "just shut up and weather the storm when the Mrs. is in the zone". Julia however, came into more obstacles trying to write her book on French cuisine for Americans than any relationship she had encountered. Acknowledging the difference in time and era that Julie and Julia were in might have played a big role in their different journeys through food. The contrast between the two points in time definitely keeps the viewer in tune with the story. You're left wanting more of the other story while watching the other and vice-versa.
Upon Julie's fame with her blog she is later acknowledged by Julia Child herself; this, my friends, is the plot point that was never explained, or even given the correct amount of attention. Julie's passion for food stems from Julia herself (as the viewer will most likely believe) but the subplot of the two in present time goes no further than Julia's comment of Julie's blog; it ends as quickly as it starts. Is this just something the screenwriter wants the viewer to wish upon and make up his or her own ending? That Julia begins to understand Julie's love for food and wishes her the best in her triumph through the culinary arts? Or is it best left untold? The life of Julie & Julia remain separate as it leaves us in the final moments with Julie's four word line, "I love you Julia". Does this work? Do these words cover everything she just went through? Does it give justice to the full strength and progression of her mind body and soul? Could Julia's cookbook have transformed Julie's life? After all, Julia transformed the landscape of American cooking and TV. She is a legend. But that is the true beauty of film my friends; the questions and debates that proceed the thousands and thousands of frames that have just been presented. I say bravo to this brilliant picture of two lovable characters that are consumed by measures of life and triumph that surround us everyday; this one just happens to appear in a cookbook.
