Aaaah, I loved it and I highly recommend it! I blogged about it here and here before and was hoping to see it at that point. Julie Powell and her 365-day Julie/Julia Project led to a book deal as well as a movie.
I watched enraptured. The weird thing is, even today, I can hardly understand how I got into this business myself and why my life, amongst other things, revolves around recipes, cookbooks, dreaming about food (much too much!) and blogging (although I'm so very small in this universe compared to the great ones like Julia, I know, and I really don't care). Haha, last night, while sleeping, after watching the movie, I dreamed about Julie and Julia, and I was cooking up a storm as well, with the result that I woke up not at all hungry, the way I usually am. My eldest son, Daniel, surprised me with the movie - what a sweet thing to do! I was so touched, as I'd been really wanting to see this movie for a while, and it seemed everyone else but me had seen it.
Meryl Streep, one of my favorite actresses to admire - not so much for her beauty (although she can be very pretty), but for her spirit, her talent and integrity - did a fantastic job of portraying Julia Child. I loved her in this movie. Fabulous, Fabulous!!
Julie, is petite, and adorable, and pretty, and ridiculously skinny for a cook! I have to wonder if she really ate all her creations as she seems to indicate. Not that I'm very big, but I could always lose up to 10 lbs (my New Year's resolution is to get serious about that for once). Oh, wait a minute - that is the actress! A quick Google found a more "real" looking foodie doing a cooking demonstration on Food Network. The actress did a great job and was quite funny at times too - prone to tantrums and emotional meltdowns. The husbands - hmm, they were great in their supporting roles too, but I'll admit I was almost totally focused on the intriguing cooks leading their parallel lives during different time zones.
Here is an interesting interview with the real live Julie Powell.
The only part of the movie that made me feel bad was that Julia did not appear to appreciate Julie's efforts with her cooking and her public blog to showcase the famous cook's recipes. The husband hinted that it might be her occasional bad word (this girl reminds me of Bridget Jones) that Julia found offensive and disrespectful. I felt sorry for both of them, and somehow wanted that "happy ever after" to come at the end, but that part of the story did not resolve itself. However, Julie, to her credit, although she was very upset and cried bitterly, got over it, and still continued to love Julia and her recipes from afar.
I did go and look at Julie's blog. Oh my, talk about a popular blog! She reminds me a bit of Bridget Jones from the movie, Bridget Jones's Diaries. The only exception I took was the occasional bad language (bit more than that and her irreverend use of the Lord's name), but her writing style is anything but boring - quite entertaining and lively. Her posts read at a quick pace, and for me, brings Julia Child and her recipes alive again in an offbeat sort of way. However, the blog looks very unassuming - as in really blah - no pics or anything - just goes to show talent will out, even without the tinsel trimmings. It looks like the blog ended the day after Julia's death at the age of 91 on August 12th, 2004. Geesh, did she really smoke as well as eat all that butter? LOL
Oh wait a minute, Julie has another blog and she is still writing!! What Could Happen? and a website for her book/s: JuliePowellbooks.com
Bless you Julia! Your love of food and cooking was catchy and left a lasting impression on many, many people - me included. Bless you, Julie Powell, as well, for continuing her dream and creating your own at the same time. Bon Appetit!
P.S. Few people know this, but More Splendid Desserts was picked up by a French Publisher in Quebec, Canada, years ago and translated into the French language. I always used to sign my first two books - Addressed to the person in particular, then "Bon Appetit! Jennifer Eloff. That book is still selling but the publishing company quit paying me royalties years ago. That French version and the English More Splendid Desserts had stories attached to them where the publishers ripped me off - sadly! That is why I switched to self-publishing.