Julie & Julia
Julie & Julia | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Nora Ephron |
Screenplay by | Nora Ephron |
Based on |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Stephen Goldblatt |
Edited by | Richard Marks |
Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
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Running time | 123 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $40 million |
Box office | $129.5 million[1] |
Julie & Julia is a 2009 American biographical comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, and Chris Messina. The film contrasts the life of chef Julia Child in the early years of her culinary career with the life of young New Yorker Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook in 365 days, a challenge she described on her popular blog, which made her a published author.[2]
Ephron's screenplay is based on two books: My Life in France, Child's autobiography written with Alex Prud'homme, and a memoir by Powell, Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (later retitled Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously). Both of these books were written and published between 2004 and 2006. Powell's book was based on her blog The Julie/Julia Project,[3] where she documented online her daily experiences cooking each of the 524 recipes in Child's 1961 and 1970 two volume cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.[4]
In March 2008, Ephron began filming with Streep as Child and Adams as Powell. On July 30, 2009, the film officially premiered at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York; and, on August 7, 2009, it opened throughout North America.[5] It received positive reviews from critics, who praised Streep's performance. Streep and Adams previously starred together in Doubt (2008). Streep and Tucci previously starred together in The Devil Wears Prada (2006).
Julie & Julia was Ephron's last film before her death in 2012.
Plot[]
Julia Child – 1950s
In the 1950s, Julia Child (Streep), an enthusiastic and unabashed woman, moves to Paris with her diplomat husband, Paul Child (Tucci). She attends Le Cordon Bleu to learn French cooking and is initially met with skepticism as she is the only woman in the class. Madame Elizabeth Brassart (Buck), the proprietress of the school, clashes with Julia. However, Julia is undaunted and begins collaborating on a book about French cooking for American housewives with Simone Beck (Emond) and Louisette Bertholle (Carey).
Julia continues to work diligently on the book, despite such obstacles as Paul being repeatedly reassigned, Louisette's less-than-diligent efforts on the project (she's eventually told she will get a smaller share of the royalties than Julia and Simone), and Paul's being investigated for allegedly "un-American activities."
Although Julia's book is rejected by Houghton Mifflin as too long and complicated, it is ultimately accepted and published by Alfred A. Knopf.
Julie Powell – 2002
In 2002, Julie Powell (Adams) is a young writer with an unpleasant job at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's call center, where she answers telephone calls from victims of the September 11 attacks and members of the general public complaining about the LMDC's controversial plans for rebuilding the World Trade Center. She is discontented with this and disheartened at watching her acquaintances succeed in their own professions. She is happily married to Eric Powell (Messina), a writer for a magazine.
To do something she enjoys, she decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) in one year; Powell decides to write a blog to motivate herself and document her progress. She is initially met with criticism from her mother, who thinks that the task is pointless, but she begins to gain a following. Eric supports her in this.
She is asked to host Judith Jones (Dilly), who was Child's editor. Julie attempts to make beef bourguignon for the occasion but falls asleep while waiting for it to cook, and it burns. She reattempts it, this time successfully. However, Jones cancels at the last minute due to the weather, leaving Julie disheartened as she had hoped that her meeting with Jones would lead to a book contract. Eric remains optimistic, frustrating Julie. He is hurt over Julie's prioritization of her blog and readers over their marriage, and he leaves after an argument.
She takes a short break from cooking, but after her mother demonstrates support for her cooking, she decides to take it up again. Eric returns after he reads her blog post in which she demonstrates remorse for her actions. Julie is visited by The New York Times, who features her blog in a story, after which her project begins to receive the attention of journalists, literary agents, and publishers. However, Julie is hurt when a journalist tells her that Child was critical of Julie's blog project.
The last scenes shows Powell and her husband visiting a reconstruction of Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian Institution, and Child in the same kitchen at her home receiving a first print edition of her cookbook and celebrating the event with her husband.
Cast[]
- Meryl Streep as Julia Child
- Amy Adams as Julie Powell
- Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, Julia's husband
- Chris Messina as Eric Powell, Julie's husband[6]
- Linda Emond as Simone Beck ("Simca"), with whom Julia wrote Mastering the Art of French Cooking
- Helen Carey as Louisette Bertholle, co-author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking
- Jane Lynch as Dorothy Dean Cousins, Julia's sister[7]
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Sarah, Julie's friend.[8]
- Joan Juliet Buck as Madame Elisabeth Brassart of Le Cordon Bleu, where Julia studied French cooking
- Amanda Hesser as herself
- Deborah Rush as Avis DeVoto, Julia's long-time pen pal
- Vanessa Ferlito as Cassie, Julie's acquaintance
- Casey Wilson as Regina, Julie's acquaintance
- Jillian Bach as Annabelle, Julie's acquaintance
- Frances Sternhagen as Irma Rombauer
- Françoise Lebrun as The Baker's Mother
- Mary Kay Place as the voice of Mrs. Foster, Julie's mother
- Erin Dilly as Judith Jones, Julia's editor and friend
Release[]
On its opening weekend, the film opened #2 behind G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra with $20.1 million.[9] Julie & Julia ended up grossing $94.1 million in the United States and Canada, and earned a worldwide total of $129.5 million.[1]
Reception[]
The film received positive reviews from critics, and Streep's performance was highly acclaimed by critics.[10] Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 77% based on 227 reviews, with an average score of 6.71/10 with a "Certified Fresh" rating, and the site's critical consensus states: "Boosted by Meryl Streep's charismatic performance as Julia Child, Julie & Julia is a light, but fairly entertaining culinary comedy."[11] Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gave it an average score of 66% based on 34 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[10]
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan commented:
[Julie & Julia] does it right. A consummate entertainment that echoes the rhythms and attitudes of classic Hollywood, it's a satisfying throwback to those old-fashioned movie fantasies where impossible dreams do come true. And, in this case, it really happened. Twice.[12]
The A.V. Club gave the film a C, explaining, "Julie & Julia is two movies in one. That's one more movie than it needs to be."[13] Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+.[14] The review by Slate was also positive.[15] Streep has been widely praised for her performance as Child. Movie critic A. O. Scott of The New York Times affirmed:
By now [Streep] has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she's done it again. Her performance goes beyond physical imitation, though she has the rounded shoulders and the fluting voice down perfectly.[16]
Reviewer Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone that "Streep—at her brilliant, beguiling best—is the spice that does the trick for the yummy Julie & Julia."[17] Similarly, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon concluded that "Streep isn't playing Julia Child here, but something both more elusive and more truthful—she's playing our idea of Julia Child."[18]
Awards and nominations[]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Julie & Julia (2009)". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ J.C. Maçek III (2021-09-04). "Bless This Mess: Sweeping the Kitchen with Julia Child". PopMatters.
- ^ The Julie/Julia Project
- ^ Philadelphia Weekly
- ^ "Tweetin' Streep". Zagat.com. July 30, 2009.
- ^ "Chris Messina Joins Julie & Julia". 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
- ^ Bryon Perry (2008-03-05). "Jane Lynch". Variety. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
- ^ "24's Rajskub Cooks Up Role in Julie and Julia". Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
- ^ "BOX OFFICE BEAT DOWN" 10 August 2009
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Julie & Julia (2009)". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ "Julie & Julia". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
- ^ LA Times review, August 12, 2009
- ^ A.V. Club review, August 12, 2009
- ^ EW review, August 12, 2004
- ^ Slate review, August 12, 2009
- ^ A.O. Scott, The New York Times: Two for the Stove, movie review of Julie & Julia. Aug 7, 2009.
- ^ Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Movie Review of Julie & Julia. Aug 6, 2009.
- ^ Stephanie Zacharek, Salon: Movie review of Julie & Julia. Aug 7, 2009. Archived 2012-01-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gans, Andrew (February 2, 2010). "Academy Award Nominations Announced Feb. 2; "Nine" Receives Four Noms". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
- ^ Karger, Dave (January 21, 2010). "'Avatar,' 'An Education,' 'Hurt Locker' dominate BAFTA nominations". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 26, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
- ^ Verniere, James (December 14, 2009). "Meryl Streep, Mo'nique pick up Boston Film Critics' nods". Boston Herald. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "THE 15th CRITICS' CHOICE AWARDS NOMINEES". BFCA. Archived from the original on 2010-10-17. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
- ^ ""The Hurt Locker" Takes Top Honours". Chicago Film Critics Association. December 21, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ Tabouring, Frank (December 18, 2009). "Detroit Film Critics Society Awards 2009". IMDb. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "T2009 EDA Awards Nominees". [Alliance of Women Film Journalists]. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ "Nominations & Winners". HFPA. Archived from the original on January 8, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Kansas City Film Critics Circle Homepage". Kansas City Film Critics Circle. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ "Film". LFCC. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- ^ "Best Actress Awards". New York Film Critics. Archived from the original on March 26, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE AWARDS FOR 2009". Arizona Reporter. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ "North Texas Film Critics Association announces results of member voting for best of 2009". Pegasus News. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
- ^ "Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Names "The Hurt Locker" Best Movie of 2009". OFCC. Archived from the original on January 1, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "DLocal Film Society Announces Awards". KPHO Entertainment News. December 22, 2009. Archived from the original on June 14, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "2009 SAN FRANCISCO FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS". SFFCC. December 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 6, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "2009 14th Annual SATELLITE AWARDS". International Press Academy. 2009. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ Nominations Announced for the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
- ^ "SEFCA Awards". SEFCA. 2009. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2009". Archived from the original on March 23, 2010. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ "Our Awards: 2009". WAFCA. December 7, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "2010 Writers Guild Awards Screen Nominees Announced". 2010. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
External links[]
- Official website
- Julie & Julia at IMDb
- Julie & Julia at AllMovie
- Julie & Julia at Box Office Mojo
- Julie & Julia at Rotten Tomatoes
- Julie & Julia at Metacritic
- Archive of original blog at the Wayback Machine (archived December 17, 2002)
- 2009 films
- English-language films
- 2009 biographical drama films
- 2009 comedy-drama films
- American biographical drama films
- American comedy-drama films
- American films
- American nonlinear narrative films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Comedy films based on actual events
- Films about chefs
- Films based on adaptations
- Films based on biographies
- Films based on Internet-based works
- Films based on multiple works
- Films directed by Nora Ephron
- Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance
- Films produced by Laurence Mark
- Films scored by Alexandre Desplat
- Films set in the 1940s
- Films set in the 1950s
- Films set in the 2000s
- Films set in New York City
- Films set in Paris
- Films shot in New Jersey
- Films shot in New York City
- Films shot in Paris
- Films with screenplays by Nora Ephron
- French-language films
- Works based on blogs