Julie & Julia

"Julie & Julia" is written and directed by Nora Ephron (who wrote "When Harry Met Sally" and wrote/directed "Sleepless in Seattle) and stars Meryl Streep ("Mamma Mia!," "Doubt"), Stanley Tucci ("The Devil Wears Prada"), Amy Adams ("Enchanted," "Doubt"), and Jane Lynch ("Role Models") has a brief role. This is another good movie that came out this summer...putting Meryl Streep in the lead role is always helpful.

The movie is base off two books, "My Life in France," by Julia Child and "Julie and Julia," by Julie Powell

"Julie & Julia" follows the lives of two women, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) starting in 1949 and Julie Powell (Amy Adams) in 2002. Julia Child has moved to Paris, France with her husband Paul (Stanley Tucci). She decides to enroll in a cooking school and soon impresses the class full of male chefs with her talent. This leads to teaching aspirations as well as writing a French cookbook for American chefs. 53 years later Julie Powell (also married) decides to start blogging about her plan to cook all 524 Julia Child's recipes in one year. Throughout the film Nora Ephron goes back and forth between the two women's stories.

Meryl Streep is an amazing actress and I am convinced that she can play any role. Her list of movies shows her wide range as an actress and this latest endeavor is no exception. She is excellent as Julia Child. She is convincing and gets the voice and mannerisms perfectly. Many of the successfully funny scenes and lines come straight from Meryl Streep. She also has great chemistry with Stanley Tucci. Of the two couples, their marriage was by far the most convincing. You can see the love that they have for each other and how much Paul supports Julia in her desire to fulfill her food-related dreams. Amy Adams is also a good actress but her scenes with Chris Messini, who plays her husband Eric, just don't feel as convincing as Streep and Tucci.

By far the best parts of the movie are the scenes about Julia Child's life. This story is just more interesting that Julie Powell's. The acting and dialogue is more believable and I just cared more for the interactions between the Childs'. Both couples deal with how the wives' fascination and time spent with food affected the respective marriages.

The movie visually looks very good. The scenes about Julia and Paul Child in Paris has a definite 1940s-1950s look. Everything in those scenes fits the era well and are a nice contrast to the 2002 scenes in New York City. There are some good aerial shots, wide shots, etc. Nora Ephron doesn't do innovative direction. But, what is here works for the type of film. Also, plenty of shots of delicious food add to the visual enjoyment.

At times the movie drags, mostly in the 2002 scenes, but overall works well. The switches between the two women's lives feel natural for the most part. At times scenes with both women mirror each other in the actions that are taking place.

The movie is highly entertaining. Some people may be skeptical about a movie about Julia Child, but it's a successful mix of comedy and drama. And the main thing is that Meryl Streep's the lead and is a pleasure to watch as usual. Without her the movie would not have been nearly as good. Although some parts have dialogue or chemistry issues overall it is a good movie-watching experience for me. 3 out of 4 stars...and way better than a certain "Sleepless in Seattle."

-Joseph Sbrilli