The Courage of Your Convictions

Julie and Julia

I hate people that pigeonhole a movie into a certain audience. I think there have many such complaints with the release of Julie and Julia recently because people realized that it was actually, you know- a good movie. I went into the theater alone, probably the youngest male inside (mildly surprised at how many people had come to a 4:05 Monday showing) and hightailed it for one of the back rows so nobody could see how embarrassing it was for a teenage male to be sitting alone in a movie classified by mainstream audiences as a "chick flick." True this sort of pigeonholing would ordinarily deter me from seeing such a movie but, damn it, Meryl Streep rocks! And the trailer actually had me excited for the film so fuck it all!

And I liked it (of course). Nora Ephron managed to hold my attention through You've Got Mail so no surprises considering the movie was actually supposed to be good. Meryl Streep is obviously wonderful but I was much more interested in the storyline of Amy Adams' Julie. I know Streep is more entertaining but her storyline lacks a hook for me to grab on. I understand that the drama with her stems from her seemingly futile attempts to get her cookbook published. However, we know that she eventually will since Julie Powell is reading from it in the future. Julie, on the other hand, is stuck in her dead end job, with shallow dead beat friends and finds solace in cooking but also the people that support her blog.

I was very interested in the argument that Julie and her husband have about halfway through the film. She has become completely immersed in her blog and in the emotions of hundreds of people she has never met. Amy Adams plays this moment off subtly but her final admission that she cannot be as good a person as Julia Child is quite riveting and makes you feel rather sympathetic to a character that doesn't charm quite as much as the icon she looks up to. And Chris Messima is supportive and subtle in his best Paul Rudd impersonation. I understand that Streep is remarkable in her role but, from what I have read in reviews, people insist that a movie just about her would have been better. Honestly, two hours of just Julia Child (especially when there doesn't seem to be any real drama with her) would make me go crazy. Her discovery and journey of cooking just isn't as interesting to me as the one Julie Powell takes. Maybe the performances are vastly different in quality but from a plot standpoint, I wanted Julie to succeed and cheered for her when she realized the only Julia Child she needs to worry about is the one in her head.

Grade: B

2009 Marlon Welles Awards Nominee:

Best Actress: Amy Adam's subtly
Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep's effusiveness
Best Adapted Screenplay: Nora Ephron and her seemlessly fractured narrative
Best Scene Stealer: Jane Lynch, who I'm convinced should play Big Bird in a biopic