Julie & Julia (2009)
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The film contrasts the lives of a legendary French chef in the 1950s and a modern-day New Yorker attempting to recreate her culinary legacy.
The story
The film follows the parallel lives of Julia Child, an ambitious woman in the 1950s who moves to Paris to master French cooking and eventually publishes a seminal cookbook, and Julie Powell, a modern-day New Yorker in 2002. Julie decides to challenge herself by cooking all 524 recipes from Child's 1961 cookbook in a single year. As Julie documents her journey on a blog, she finds inspiration in the legacy of the woman who paved the way for her, while Julia navigates the complexities of her own career and personal life in the mid-20th century.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
The narrative jumps between the 1950s and 2002, following Julia Child as she moves to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu. Despite initial skepticism from her peers and the school's proprietress, Julia works with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle to create a book for American housewives. Her journey involves navigating her husband's career hurdles and the complexities of publishing. Simultaneously, in 2002, Julie Powell works at a call center in New York. She begins a year-long project to cook every recipe in Julia Child's masterpiece, documenting the process on a blog. This project gains traction, leading to a feature in The New York Times and interest from publishers. While Julie learns that Julia was critical of her blog, she remains inspired by the chef's legacy. The film concludes with Julie and her husband visiting a reconstruction of Julia's kitchen at the Smithsonian, while Julia is shown in her own home receiving a first edition of her cookbook and celebrating with her husband.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 123
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Nora Ephron
- Writers
- Nora Ephron · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Meryl Streep · Julia Child; Amy Adams · Julie Powell; Stanley Tucci · Paul Child, Julia's husband; Chris Messina · Eric Powell, Julie's husband; Linda Emond · Simone Beck ("Simca"); Mary Lynn Rajskub · Sarah, Julie's best friend; Jane Lynch · Dorothy Dean Cousins, Julia's sister; Frances Sternhagen · Irma Rombauer
- Genres
- biographical comedy drama
- Themes
- legacy; inspiration; culinary art
- Tone and mood
- light; entertaining
- Premise and plot tags
- biographical; culinary; non-linear narrative
- Source material / true-story basis
- My Life in France (autobiography) and Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (memoir).
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics, who particularly praised Meryl Streep's performance as Julia Child.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 77% · scale: 100% · review count: 221; Metacritic · score: 66% · scale: 100 · review count: 34
- Production trivia
- The film is the first major motion picture based on a blog.; It was Nora Ephron's last film before her death in 2012.; The film's screenplay is based on two books published between 2004 and 2006.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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