Julie & Julia (2009)

Foodie and blogger Julie Powell (Amy Adams) takes on
another of Julia Child's recipes in "Julie & Julia."

Julie Powell is a struggling writer turned call center operator whose day job involves taking calls from frustrated loved ones of 9/11 victims at a government office in Manhattan. The work, along with a droning subway commute, understandably leaves her feeling emotional and stressed. Her only respite from the uncertainty and chaos is getting home at night to her tiny apartment in Queens and making dinner.

“You know what I love about cooking,” she says to her husband while whipping up a chocolate cream pie early on, “after a day when nothing is sure, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort.”

Thank goodness for the simple things. Julie (Amy Adams) represents one of the two true stories in the late writer-director Nora Ephron’s effervescent “Julie & Julia”; the other is cooking icon Julia Child (Meryl Streep). The movie is based on a pair of books, including My Life in France by Child, as well as on Powell's blog in which she documented cooking her way through Child's second book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, a quotidian, yearlong task that led to Powell’s loyal following on the web, sudden literary acclaim and television offers.

The movie volleys back and forth between present-day New York with Julie, who rises from the drudgery of her boring cubicle job to launch a blog in which she writes about cooking all 524 recipes in Child’s book in one year; to Paris in the 50s, around the time when Julia Child herself was first learning to cook, attending Le Cordon Bleu and later writing the landmark English book on French cuisine.

The strength of the film lies in its performances. Ephron always was been a better screenwriter (“When Harry Met Sally”) than director, so it helps to have a bravura cast. Adams alternates between bubbly optimism and frenetic exasperation with a charming enthusiasm that’s irresistible. And Streep once again burrows so uncannily into a character that the result is almost spooky; she mimics Child’s high-pitched vocal quirks with such virtuosity and aplomb that it's hard to distinguish between actor and the real thing. Extra points go to supporting players Chris Messina, as Julie’s ever-patient husband, Eric; and the great actor and sometimes director Stanley Tucci as Julia’s doting spouse, Paul, who knows a legend in the making when he sees one.

Along with the steady performances, the strong source material keeps Ephron from falling into the formulaic trappings of her clichéd romantic comedies (“Sleepless in Seattle” and “You’ve Got Mail”). Moreover, although it’s a lighthearted comedy, the idea of two smart women chasing their dreams—both as writers and cooks, though not necessarily in that order—introduces a subtle feminist slant and legitimate themes about ambition and creativity.

“Julie & Julia” is fun and frothy, sometimes a little sassy and ultimately, much like the food prepared by its dual heroines, highly palatable.