Julie & Julia

Anyone saw the Oscars the other day?

Last week I needed to take a break so Sad suggested that I choose a movie to watch. So we downloaded Julie & Julia. I didn't know what to expect initially so you could say I was without expectation. When I saw that the leading actresses were Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, I started to get excited. Meryl... well it's Meryl! As for Amy Adams, I fell in love with her after "Enchanted". Some people might find her annoying but I think she's just so cute. Don't ask me about the male leads; I didn't know them. But Sad said that the guy playing Meryl's hubby played a supporting role in Devil Wears Prada.

It began quite slowly. I am not a fan of stories where lives intertwined; like the Malay movie (lupa lah title) yang pasal cite five couples intertwined. There's just too much to focus on! Initially, I think it focused too much on the background of both women but later you'll see how it collides. Amy (Julie Powell) is the contemporary character while Meryl (Julia Child) is the one that goes back in time. Julie is the quintessential working gal; working in a dead end job, living on top of pizzeria and looking for 'a meaning in life'. So, she decides to start a project, and she swore she would finish it in time. She finds a recipe book by a renowned American chef specializing in French cuisine named Julia Child and targeted to complete all the recipes in the book in one year. What begins as a lark slowly gets out of control as Julie's blog becomes popular. She never got to meet Julia; all that she ever hears from a reporter is that Julia didn't like Julie's blog. She probably thought that Julie was exploiting her by using her name in the blog! But all in all there were some similarities between the two women; both loved to cook (this is the best part about the movie you get to see lots of glorious food being prepared and consumed!), and they were both searching for something fulfilling to do. And both later became famous authors by publishing a book about their passion about cooking.

In real life, the blog created quite a furor I believe. I Googled the Internet and found the original blog still intact. Some people didn't like Julie Powell because they thought she exploited the situation to become famous. Some people also found her a fraud; actually Julie never claimed that she was a good cook. She also claimed that she is not a saint; and if you look at the movie Amy portrayed her as someone who is although flighty, but sweet to which Julie said "I am NOT sweet in real life!". A lot of people got pissed off also because when she later published another book, she revealed a lot of intimate details about her married life; apparently she had an affair that nearly destroyed her marriage. I thought that was pretty much what the essence of her personal life that was portrayed in the movie; you get the sense that her adventures, although initially fun was going to cost a strain in her marriage. 

My final take on the movie? Go see it if you want to just absorb the genius that is Meryl. I thought she portrayed the character so well. Every gesture, every laugh, every little movement, she was breathing and walking Julia. Even though you've not read Julia's book or even heard of her, you felt as if that's how she was in real life. In fact, the movie probably wouldn't have worked if she wasn't in it. And I found that although the character Julie Powell was flighty and very self-absorbed (a.k.a. selfish) there was some grain of truth in it. After all, doesn't everyone look for that extra bit of something that makes them special, something you just want to claim your own? It doesn't matter whether it's blogging or cooking or eating, it's just something you enjoy doing and gives some meaning to your busy (or maybe dreary!) life! I think there is a little bit of Julie Powell in all of us. :-)

And that's why I was disappointed that the movie didn't win "Best Picture" at the Oscars...

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