‘Julie & Julia’ puts Meryl Streep and Amy Adams together, yet apart
Weaving a story that unfolds in different time periods can be tricky, but “Julie & Julia” does it with skill and charm.
Currently streaming on Amazon, the gentle 2009 comedy takes its cues from two books cleverly merged by the late writer-director Nora Ephron: “My Life in France,” the autobiography of famed “French Chef” Julia Child; and contemporary blogger Julie Powell’s document of attempting to make every recipe in Child’s seminal work “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”
The hugely clever conceit of the film is that it tells the stories of both women without their ever meeting. The closest they get to that – though time and space make that impossible – is the attendance by Powell, played engagingly by Amy Adams, at an exhibit paying tribute to Child. The latter role belongs to Meryl Streep, who gives it her trademark dedication, effectively transforming herself into another well-known personality.
Not only do Julie and Julia share a passion for the same culinary style, they both are uncertain about their respective pursuits when each begins hers. Though supported and encouraged by her diplomat husband Paul (Stanley Tucci, wonderfully developing an on-screen relationship with Streep vastly different from the one they had in “The Devil Wears Prada”), Child has no idea whether the book on which she’s collaborating will find a publisher. And Powell doesn’t know whether her own goal will amount to anything beyond a hobby beyond her job to deal with aftermaths of the 9/11 attacks.
Ephron moves the proceedings back and forth very smoothly between time periods separated by about 70 years. That also involves big shifts in costuming, production design and even music, given the different eras and settings – and Ephron’s team meets those various challenges brilliantly.
Streep and Adams obviously are the star attractions in “Julie & Julia,” but in addition to Tucci, superb support is provided by Chris Messina as Powell’s sometimesovershadowed husband and several standout actresses playing assorted friends, relatives or collaborators of the two women: Jane Lynch (in one of her last parts before she burst into her own major stardom on “Glee”), Linda Emond, Helen Carey, Casey Wilson and Frances Sternhagen.
A certain movie magic pervades “Julie & Julia,” and it’s a rare kind, the sort that makes a true story seem like a lightly floating fantasy. Achieving that feel is a colossal challenge, and Eprhon demonstrated just how special a talent she was by accomplishing it here .. and bringing everyone else, be they co-worker or viewer, along for the extremely pleasant ride.